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LELA COVID-19 Notice
( Updated January 2023)
The Lela offices are currently open and are operating in accordance with any effective statewide mandates. Although not a requirement, we encourage anyone interested in visiting our offices to please contact us at 1-800-228-4755 for remote assistance or an appointment, to ensure we can provide you with the best experience possible. We are pleased to continue offering our full programs and services in Louisiana.
LELA BORROWERS- COVID-19 Payment Relief: The Louisiana Education Loan Authority is offering payment relief to our Lela Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) borrowers who are experiencing any financial hardship, related to unemployment, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, Lela is offering an administrative forbearance for Lela federal student loan borrowers who contact our servicer, Edfinancial, to request it. This forbearance will suspend any required payments on all of your eligible federal loans held by Lela. During this time, interest accrues but will not be capitalized (added to the unpaid principal) at the end of the forbearance period. While no payments are required during the forbearance period, you can always make extra payments to help lower the overall cost of your federal loan. To request an administrative forbearance, please call EDFINANCIAL toll-free, 1-800-337-6884 or by email customerservice@edfinancial.com
Extension Update for Lela Federal COVID-19 Forbearances: In response to the U.S. Secretary of Education’s (Department) payment pause extension for Federal Direct Student loans (FDSL)announced on 11/22/22, Lela has extended the offer for COVID-19 related administrative forbearances to Lela federal loan borrowers beyond December 2022, until the date the US Supreme Court resolves the Biden-Harris Debt Relief pending litigation case OR NO LATER than June 30, 2023, whichever date occurs first. This period was set based on the USDOE payment pause policy extension announcement for Federal Direct Student Loans.
All Lela federal FFEL borrowers may request a COVID-19 related administrative forbearance (VP) extension upon written request. Please note that verbal requests are sufficient for the servicer to apply an initial FVP, but written requests are required for us to apply an extension of the FVP. The extension forbearance will be applied for 90 days; however, the borrower may request that the forbearance be applied for less than 90 days.
A Lela borrower is not limited to only one extension of the forbearance. There are no restrictions on the number of extensions a borrower may request during the this period. As long as the extensions are requested within the allowed forbearance period, as defined above, Lela’s servicer should process the request.
The extension of an administrative forbearance may be requested at any time during the defined effective period (03/13/20 – until settlement date of the Biden-Harris student loan debt relief litigation by the Supreme Court OR NO LATER than 6/30/23, whichever date occurs first), and should be applied for 90 days (unless a shorter length is requested by the borrower) for federal student loans held by Lela. Depending on when the Lela borrower submits their written request for an extension, the forbearance may end after the administrative forbearance period ends on 06/30/23.
Federal Student Loan Debt Relief Updates
On September 29, 2022, the Department of Education announced that Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) student loan borrowers were no longer eligible to participate in the Biden-Harris One-time Student Loan Debt Relief Program. FFEL borrowers who followed the Department’s previous guidance and submitted a consolidation application with the Department of Education prior to September 29, 2022, will be eligible to receive loan cancellation if they meet the other requirements of the program.
The Department indicates that it is assessing whether there are alternate paths for FFEL borrowers to participate in the Biden-Harris One-time Student Loan Debt Relief Program.
On November 22, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced an extension of the pause on student loan repayment for Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP) beyond December 2022, under certain conditions.
For more details and the latest updates and information on this topic, please go to the following resource links:
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan Explained | Federal Student Aid
ASK LELA SERVICES TO STUDENTS AND FAMILIES: Lela remains committed to continuing to provide complimentary Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion assistance, scholarship opportunities for high school seniors and college access resources. If you need assistance with completing the FAFSA, please contact Lela, toll-free, at 1(844) 463-2372 or 1 (800)858-8198. You may also reach us via e-mail at info@lela.org.To register for scholarship opportunities and to learn more about college access resources, please visit www.lela.org .
If you are a Lela student loan borrower and need to view your account, please click the “Forms and Account” Tab within our (www.lela.org) site to access your account details, through our third party servicer, Edfinancial, or for supplemental, private Lela loan borrowers, through Aspire portals at lela.accountcenter.studentloan.org.
For information about refinancing your education loans to lower your interest rate or monthly payment, please visit www.lelarefihelp.org.
For information on supplementing your federal and/or state aid to help pay for college, please visit www.lelachoice.org.
If you need immediate assistance, please contact Joni Leggio at leggio@lela.org or Tricia Dubroc at dubroc@lela.org.
Stay safe and be well! The Lela Team