Cnn
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When a car accident almost killed Davina Rush’s son three years ago, forcing her to leave her job and become her full -time caregiver, she stopped paying $ 49,000 in student loan debt. Now, Florida’s 42 -year -old single mother is one of the millions of default borrowers who may have their advantages and their wages garnished.
“I am very worried,” she said when he was asked what it would mean for her and her 23-year-old son, who claims to be a serious brain injury. “If they withdrew something from my salary, it would literally be removed from the food from our mouth.”
The Department of Education announced in April It would restart the collection of federal student loans on May 5, ending a break from the era of the pandemic which started about five years ago, and leaving more than 5 million Americans like Rush rushing to find a solution.
The change arrives at a particularly difficult time for borrowers, because the overall economy shows signs of flouillage. President Donald TrumpThe tariff plans have shaken the global markets and the American economy. Inflation could amplify the difficulties for borrowers, in particular those in default, experts say.
“Things like accommodation and eggs and lettuce cost much more than before. So what could have been affordable before might not be affordable now, “said Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a non -profit organization that provides free student loans.
Last month, the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, promised to put an end to what she called “the practice of the Biden of the Zero interest, omens with zero accounting”, arguing further on the policies of the previous administration taxpayer burden.
“Borrowing money and not reimbursing it is not an offense without a victim. The debt does not disappear; The Wall Street Journal. “If the borrowers do not pay their debts to the government, the taxpayers do it.”
Making heavy monthly payments could upset people like Leslie Gray, a 46 -year -old therapist who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. The Biden Administration break on payments was a “rescue buoy”, she said, allowing her to repay the medical debt she accumulated after overcoming breast cancer in 2017. Gray had put her student loans when she had lost some work to undergo several surgical interventions, but that did not entirely take her work.
“I gave great interviews to the sheriff’s departments to educate them on mental health with my bald balm,” she recalls. “My work is very important to me and I have never had the luxury of being able to really take care of what must be taken care of for my health.”
Gray faces $ 185,000 in student loan debt. His plan is to sell his house, to buy a small cheap motorhome and to live in the backyard of his parents’ house in Florida. While the deadline of May 5 is getting closer, she said that financial stress slowly extends to the perception she had over herself and her career.
“I did a great job for my patients in my life. I’m proud of it, ”she said. “I had to make a lot of sacrifices, you know, and I paid student loans when I could.”
“And then, of course, things have become more expensive and I still haven’t done much. It took me 20 years to make the amount I do now,” she added.
She told CNN that she would pay “with pleasure” a reasonable amount on her loans, but it was difficult to ask someone from the education department to answer her questions about how it happens.
In a response to a CNN request for comments on borrowers having difficulty discovering their reimbursement options, the education service noted that it had taken measures to communicate with borrowers, extended hours for default call centers and sent them instructions on how to contact their loan service, among other actions.
The Department of Education warned last month that there could be 10 million default borrowers in the coming months: in addition to the more than 5 million default borrowers, 4 million more are delinquent, which means that they have not made payment for more than 90 days.
The agency urged the default borrowers to contact the default resolution group of the student office and make a monthly payment, to register for a reimbursement plan focused on income or to register for the rehabilitation of loans.
For borrowers who face serious financial stress, it is also possible to reject bankrupt loans if They meet certain criteria.
The federal directives implemented during the Biden administration has simplified the heavy process of showing undue difficulties and facilitated government lawyers to recommend to the courts that debt be released.
Malissa Giles, a lawyer for the bankruptcy of consumers in Virginia, told CNN that his perception is that “the current administration will be less generous than the Biden administration”, but that bankruptcy could always be an option.
It is important for borrowers to act early and Finding a way to manage their loans before going by default, said Mayotte, the expert in student loans. “If you can’t afford your loan now, you really can’t afford it if you leave it by default.”
There are high fees that are nailed to federal student loans when they go to collections. Default borrowers can also lose more affordable income -based reimbursement options, postponements or absorption, which can temporarily postpone payments, added Mayotte.
The effectiveness effort of the Elon Musk government ministry to refuse federal workforce also has an impact on certain borrowers. When The second series of buyouts for federal workers offered By the Trump administration came to the internal service in return for service, Jim Mawhinney, a 55 -year -old Pittsburgh man, took him after only six months of work.
He estimated that he would finally be dismissed, and even if he would receive a pay check from IRS until September, the pressure improves.
“I could have had this work and do this retirement work and then have a pension afterwards. I know that I will not get this elsewhere. So, I think it’s the worst part. It is devastating because it was my dream work,” said the former income agent.
He said he was still on a debt of $ 100,000 in his university time in the 1990s. He was built over the years, he told CNN. A few years ago he paid; others that he does not have. “At this point, I simply pay interest, my loans are 30 years old,” he noted. “Report is the kiss of death. Interest has accumulated.”
He could not find a work that will provide the same amount of salary and stability and is not sure of how he will be able to make payments.
“(It is) ironic that they are starting to garnish federal wages after having forced me to leave my federal job where I could pay my loans by myself,” he said. “I am terrified by what will happen.”