New Economic Hardship Deferment Form Approved

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 U.S. Department of Education has approved a new Economic Hardship Deferment Form, designated NEW HRD. The form has been revised to reflect the existing regulations governing the economic hardship deferment in 34 CFR 682.210(s)(6), and accurately reflects all of the existing economic hardship eligibility criteria contained in the existing regulations.

The attached copy may be duplicated for use as needed. This deferment form may be used immediately and must be the only hardship deferment form (NEW HRD) that lenders send to borrowers beginning on July 1, 1997. There are significant differences between this form and the previous form. Lenders and servicers should destroy existing supplies of the form as soon as supplies of this form are available for distribution. Should a borrower submit an old NEW HRD form after implementation of the revised form, lenders and servicers must determine whether a borrower may qualify under the expanded criteria reflected on this form before denying eligibility for the economic hardship deferment.