Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

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Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Forms

Conditional Discharge Period*

Once your lender and TG have made a preliminary determination that you meet the requirements for a total and permanent disability discharge, your loan(s) will be assigned (transferred) to the Department of Education (Department). The Department then reviews the certification and discharge application you provided to your lender to verify that your condition meets the criteria for a total and permanent disability discharge.

If the Department determines that you do not meet the criteria for a total and permanent disability discharge, the Department will notify you that your application for a total and permanent disability discharge has been denied and that the loan is due and payable under the terms of the promissory note.

If the Department determines that you are totally and permanently disabled, the Department will notify you that the loan is conditionally discharged and that the conditional discharge period will last for 3 years after the date your physician certified that you became totally and permanently disabled. During this 3-year period:

You are not required to make any payments on the loan.
You are not considered delinquent or in default on the loan, unless you were delinquent or in default at the time the conditional discharge was granted.
You must promptly notify the Department of any changes in address or phone number.
You must notify the Department if your annual earnings from employment exceed 100 percent of the poverty line for a family of two.
You must provide the Department, upon request, with additional documentation or information related to your eligibility for a total and permanent disability discharge.
You must not receive a new loan under the Perkins, FFEL, or Direct Loan Programs, except for a FFELP or Direct Consolidation loan that does not include any loans that are in a conditional discharge status.
You must return to the lender within 120 days the full amount of any disbursement of a Title IV loan you received during the conditional period from a loan that was made before your physician completed and certified your application.

The Department will also notify you that, if at any time during the 3-year conditional discharge period you do not continue to meet the eligibility requirements for a total and permanent disability discharge, the Department will resume collection activity on the loan. However, you will not be required to pay any interest that accrued on the loan from the date of the initial determination of total and permanent disability through the end of the conditional discharge period.

* The conditional discharge period does not apply if the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines you to be unemployable due to a service-connected condition, and therefore permanently and totally disabled for the purposes of discharging your loan(s).