(Photo: Sean Gladwell/Getty Images)
DeKalb, IL — As the freeze on monthly payments and interest for millions of federal student loan borrowers is set to expire on Dec. 31, the Education Department is ordering the companies that collect federal student loans to temporarily postpone sending bills to borrowers.
The postponement may conflict with the deadline servicers would need to begin sending notices to borrowers for payments due at the beginning of January. Loan servicers are required to send borrowers a billing statement at least 21 days before a payment is due.
Last week, federal student loan servicers were told to hold off on sending billing statements to borrowers until at least Dec. 8.
In August, when President Donald Trump announced the extension of the loan benefits, he said he would “most likely” further extend the relief at the beginning of December but it’s unclear if that’s still his plan.
Discussions to possibly push the due date on federal student loans from January to February have taken place, which would include no further executive action from Trump.
Approximately 41 million federal student loan borrowers have had interest suspended on their loans since March 13, and roughly 33 million of those borrowers have had their payments paused.