LOUISIANA STUDENT
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
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LPM NO.: | L2003-7 | Effective Date: | As Indicated |
Pub. Date: | September 8 , 2003 | Distribution: | Lenders and Schools |
Topic: | Common Manual Update |
To assure that your Common Manual remains current, please record this document on your LPM/LPB index, and retain it in Appendix E of your manual.
The nation's guarantors provide the following summaries to inform schools, lenders, and servicers of the latest Common Manual policy changes. These changes will appear in the manual's next annual update in July 2004. These changes will also be incorporated into the September 2003 Integrated Common Manual. The Integrated Common Manual is available on several guarantor websites, and it is also available on NCHELP's website at www.NCHELP.ORG in the e-library. Please carefully note the effective date of each policy change.
Closed
School Loan Discharges
Revised Common
Manual policy changes the formatting of subsection 12.8.B and creates a
separate subheading for language specific to suspending and resuming collection
activities during the closed school loan discharge process. This change conforms
text in this subsection with the text formats in other subsections within section
12.8. Selected text from the first and second paragraphs under the subheading
"Identifying Potentially Eligible Borrowers" has been moved to be the first
and third paragraphs under the new subheading "Suspending Collection." The first
paragraph of text under the subheading "Notification to the Borrower" has been
moved to become the second paragraph of text under the subheading "Suspending
Collection." Under this subheading, the text has been revised to clarify that
once a lender receives reliable information that a borrower may be eligible
for a closed school loan discharge, the lender must immediately suspend
all collection activities and may place any affected loan in an administrative
forbearance while awaiting confirmation of the borrower's eligibility for loan
discharge. If the borrower's account is placed in a forbearance status, then
the forbearance must continue until the lender receives confirmation of the
school's closing and confirmation of the borrower's eligibility for loan discharge.
Revised policy also moves text pertaining to skip tracing from the subheading "Procedure for Discharging Loans" to "Notification to the Borrower" and adds text to clarify that if the request is resent to the borrower, the administrative forbearance period must not exceed a total of 60 days after the date on which the lender originally mailed the request to the borrower.
Affected Sections: | 12.8.B |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §682.211(f)(7); §682.402(d)(7). |
Policy Information: | 632/Batch 99 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Claims
Common Manual policy in section 2.2 has been amended to more clearly
iterate that the life of a FFELP loan ends when the loan is paid in full-or
when the outstanding loan amount is fully discharged or forgiven. Phase 3 of
the life of a loan has been updated to include that in addition to when the
loan is paid in full by the borrower, the lender's obligation to maintain or
service the loan ends when the loan is paid by consolidation, paid by the guarantor
as a claim, or fully discharged or forgiven. In addition, subsection 2.2.C is
updated to include that a loan that is forgiven is generally eligible for claim
payment from the guarantor, and that certain forgiveness programs do not involve
the guarantor, but rather involve direct reimbursement from the Department to
the lender. Also, clarification has been added to state that permanently discharged
and forgiven loans are not subject to further collection activities.
Affected Sections: | Figure 2-1, 2.2, 2.2.C |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §682.215; §682.402; Federal Register, vol. 67, no. 168, dated August 29, 2002. |
Policy Information: | 692/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
"The
Life of a PLUS Loan" Flow Chart
The Common Manual has been revised to include changes to the information
in the "The Life of a PLUS Loan" flow chart, Figure 2-2, regarding the PLUS
Application and Master Promissory Note (PLUS MPN), and acknowledges that a PLUS
borrower enters repayment status when a loan is fully disbursed. The flow chart
has also been revised to more accurately reflect flexible processing scenarios,
similar to the processing scenarios acknowledged in the "The Life of a Stafford
Loan" flow chart.
Affected Sections: | Figure 2-2 |
Effective Date: | The PLUS Application and Master Promissory Note (PLUS MPN) may be used for PLUS loans certified by the school for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2003. The PLUS MPN must be used for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2004, or for any loan certified on or after July 1, 2004, regardless of the loan period. |
Basis: | Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-03-03 |
Policy Information: | 693/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Financial Responsibility for For-Profit Servicers
The Common Manual has been updated to align current text regarding
financial responsibility standards with the federal regulations. Updated policy
confirms that, in addition to other criteria, a for-profit servicer must have
debt obligations (without insurance, guarantee, or credit enhancements) that
are currently issued and outstanding and are listed at or above the second highest
rating level of credit quality given by a nationally recognized statistical
rating organization.
Affected Sections: | 3.6.B |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §668.15(b)(7)(ii). |
Policy Information: | 694/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Withdrawal Dates
The Common Manual has been updated to provide guidance for schools
to determine a student's withdrawal date if the student fails to earn a passing
grade in at least one class and the school is unable to confirm the student's
attendance through the end of the payment period or period of enrollment, as
applicable. In this case, the school must use either the midpoint of the period
or the student's last day of participation in an academically related activity-as
documented by the school-as the student's withdrawal date.
Affected Sections: | 4.6 |
Effective Date: | Unofficial withdrawal determinations made by the school on or after October 7, 2000. |
Basis: | §668.22; 2002-2003 Federal Student Aid Handbook , Volume 2 Institutional Eligibility and Participation, Chapter 6, pages 2-114 and 2-115. |
Policy Information: | 695/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Consolidating Alternative Loans
The Common Manual has been revised to clarify, based on the regulatory
change to 34 CFR 668.22(b), that a school is required to record attendance if
an outside entity requires this activity even for a limited period of time.
An exception is made to this requirement, however, if the outside entity requires
a school to record attendance for a single event (e.g., a one-day census activity).
Affected Sections: | 9.5.B |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §682.209(h). |
Policy Information: | 696/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Revised Claim Definition
The Common
Manual definition of "claim" has been amended to be more general, referring
to all claim, forgiveness, and discharge types. The definition reads as follows:
Claim: The process by which the lender (or the lender's servicer) requests reimbursement from the guarantor for its losses on a Federal Stafford, SLS, PLUS, or Consolidation loan due to the borrower's default or eligibility for loan discharge or forgiveness.
Affected Sections: | appendix G |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §682.402(l)(3). |
Policy Information: | 697/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |
Definition of Reaffirmation
The Common
Manual has been updated to include the definition of "reaffirmation" in
the glossary as follows:
Reaffirmation: A borrower's acknowledgment of a loan repayment obligation-including all principal, interest, collection costs, legal costs, and late charges-in a legally binding manner.
Affected Sections: | appendix G |
Effective Date: | Retroactive to the implementation of the Common Manual. |
Basis: | §682.201(a)(4). |
Policy Information: | 698/Batch 105 |
Guarantor Comments: | None. |