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Schumer calls on Biden administration to extend student loan payment hiatus amid omicron variant

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STATEN ISLAND, NY – With the student loan payment break set to expire in just 57 days, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer wants to give borrowers more time amid the uncertainty of the omicron variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

He cited new data – from the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), a student debt advocacy organization, and Savi, a social impact technology company working to help resolve the crisis – who says even among borrowers who have full-time job, 89% are not financially secure enough to start paying off student loans on February 1. Schumer said now is not the time for the federal government to restart the student loan collection process. He announced that he supports – and will push for – another extension of this pandemic repayment relief for those who currently hold student loans.

“The student loan payment break expires in just 57 days, but we’re still in the pandemic, and borrowers are saving an average of $ 393 per month, which has been critical amid COVID,” Schumer said. “If we don’t extend the break on payments then this horrible interest will accumulate at a time when too many people are still not financially ready to shoulder a giant monthly bill. Plus, with the spread of omicron, the uncertainty of what will happen next demands at least one more extension of the student loan payment hiatus. “

Schumer said the Education Department should also take into account the impact resuming those payments will have on borrowers who were in default before the break in payments began. These borrowers can potentially have their wages foreclosed and tax refunds withheld if payments now resume, further complicating COVID’s economic hardship, he said.

Most federal student loan payments have been on hiatus since March of last year under the CARES Act. Schumer said the bill also halted all efforts to collect delinquent federal student loans and froze interest. President Joe Biden has extended the break until early 2022, but citing new data, Schumer wants it to be extended again.

NEW DATA

Schumer said the new data shows “Americans are back to work in a recovering economy, but 89% of full-time employee student loan borrowers say they’re not financially secure enough to start performing. payments after February 1 “.

The recent SDCC and Savi survey found borrowers are going through an unprecedented economic time, Schumer said. Even though more than 68% of respondents have full-time jobs, nine in ten student borrowers are not ready to resume their payments in February. Respondents to this survey say student loan repayments will consume a large chunk of their income and prevent them from paying other bills like rent, car loans and drugs.

Schumer says the results of this latest survey reflect the challenges he hears when speaking to people who hold student loans.

“That’s exactly what I’m hearing across New York – that we have to keep the hiatus in place because the pandemic isn’t over and the relief has been a godsend, so that’s why I’m beats, ”Schumer said.

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