You Have Less Than a Week Before Defaulted Student Loans Are Sent to Collections

If your student loans are in default, you have until May 5 to stop them from being sent to collections. Getty Images/CNET The deadline is quickly approaching to stop your defaulted student loans from being sent to collections, which can result in the government garnishing your wages and possibly withholding your tax refund and Social Security benefits. After five years of payment pauses and delays, the US Department of Education announced last week that student loan payments and collections will resume May 5, with wage garnishment beginning this summer. "The Biden administration misled borrowers: The executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the statement. Loan servicers can report loans as delinquent after they're 90 days past due, damaging your credit score. Loans that are 270 days past due go into default, which comes with even more severe consequences, such ... Read full article.