Credit Repair News Highlight/November,2011



= Learn Exactly How To Compare, Navigate And Consolidate Your Student Loans Into One Manageable Monthly Payment =

Compare Private Student Loan Consolidation
Unfortunately, there are not many choices when consolidating a private loan because you cannot take part in any of the federal consolidation programs, but you still could work on getting one single payment and lowering your interest rate with your lender. Lenders are not regulated by the government on what they charge for interest rates so you could work a deal with them, or it could go the other way and you could get a higher rate. The best thing to do is to just call your lender and see what choices are available to you. Being up front about where you are in your situation to pay back the loans will only help you in the long run.

Compare Federal Student Loan Consolidation Checklist

 * 1) Take inventory of your student loans – Look closely at each of them and contact your lender.
 * 2) Look at how much you would be currently paying without consolidating your loans including your interest rate (Contact your lender if you find you need to get your payment amounts).
 * 3) Do a federal interest rate calculation:
 * 4) Average daily balance between payments x interest rate x (Number of days between payments/365.25) = monthly interest
 * 5) Make a budget for yourself and figure out if a new payment will fit into your budget.
 * 6) Consider deferment or forbearance if you are having trouble fitting a loan payment into your current budget or if you need long term debt relief. This may be a viable alternative to having to consolidate the student loans.
 * 7) If you are consolidating federal loans that you received after July 1, 2006 the interest rate will not fluctuate much when you consolidate, but it may make your student loan more manageable with one monthly payment.
 * 8) Keep in mind when you consolidate you could be extending the life of the loan. It could also create more overall costs towards interest.
 * 9) Federal loans with a variable rate before 2006 could significantly be reduced when you consolidate especially if you take responsibility to work out a plan during your grace period which is about 6-7 months after you graduate.
 * 10) Next view the impact that consolidation might have on your rights to defer, principal rebates, and interest rate discounts, all of which can really reduce the amount of your loan. To get more information regarding the impact of consolidating talk to your lender.
 * 11) If you have gone through this process and have decided that consolidation is right for you then contact your lender to start the application process.
 * 12) Make sure that you have at least two months before the end of your grace period if you are going to start to consolidate to give yourself some lead time.
 * 13) Consolidating during the grace period is the best time because you could lock in a lower interest rate at maybe a half percent lower than the current repayment rate. It doesn’t sound like much, but those savings add up over time.
 * 14) When filling out the application make sure that it is filled out in its entirety and that you provide complete information.
 * 15) If you are in the repayment period and are going through the consolidation process make sure you are still paying on your current loan. If you need more time then you may want to request deferment or forbearance as discussed above.
 * 16) On all of the loans there should be a toll free customer assistance number for any questions that may arise.
 * 17) If you need information to find your lenders, the government has a website that can help you find them by going to www.nslds.ed.gov.