Federal Updates

Economic hardship deferment form updated with latest poverty guidelines

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated the United States federal poverty guidelines in the Federal Register dated February 18, 2005. The 2005 poverty guideline figure for a family of two is $12,830 for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. In Alaska, the figure is $16,030, and in Hawaii, the figure is $14,760.

Economic hardship deferments
The poverty guideline is one qualifier that may be used in determining a borrower's eligibility for an economic hardship deferment. The Economic Hardship Deferment Request form (HRD) and the accompanying worksheets have been revised to reflect the 2005 figures. Schools and lenders should immediately discard all previous versions of the HRD form and disseminate only the updated version. If a lender receives an earlier version of the HRD form, the form may still be processed. However, the lender must use the new poverty guideline figures when determining eligibility on or after February 18, 2005.

The updated HRD form is available on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/forms/frms_def.cfm.

More information and questions
For more information about the updated poverty guidelines, visit the HHS Web site at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty.shtml.

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