Credit Reporting

Information about your student loans is reported to the four nationwide consumer reporting agencies. Based on the information provided, each individual consumer reporting agency uses their own unique scoring model to determine your FICO credit score.

Standard Reporting Practices

These credit reporting practices apply to all student loans that are owned by the Department of Education.

  • We will begin to report a loan delinquent once it is 90 days or more past due on the last date of the month.

  • We report to the consumer reporting agencies (CRA's) monthly, on the last day of every month. Monthly reporting excludes loans that were previously reported in a final credit reporting status (for example, paid in full, transferred, etc.) and loans where credit reporting is bypassed or deleted. Please note the CRA's need time to update reporting once we have reported information to them.

  • We will report each individual loan to the consumer reporting agencies as one unique tradeline that will appear on your credit report.

  • We are not authorized to complete "goodwill requests" for credit updates, per the directive of Federal Student Aid.

NOTE: With a goodwill request, a consumer is not disputing an error. A consumer asks the creditor for forgiveness for a mistake they made, such as making a payment late, and requests a "goodwill adjustment" to remove the information that was accurately reported to the consumer reporting agencies.

Adjustments

Our goal is to report information accurately and with integrity. If you think something in our report is wrong or missing, it's your right and our responsibility that we examine anything you dispute (think is wrong) on your credit report. To dispute your credit report, you can submit a dispute directly with the appropriate credit reporting agency(s).

Under certain circumstances, we may be able to make an adjustment to how we initially reported your information to the CRA's. For example, if you were in school during the period a negative report occurred, please reach out to your school to confirm they have provided us with your most current enrollment information. If you qualified for any of the following options when the negative credit reporting took place, you may be eligible to have your credit report adjusted:

  • In School deferment

  • Internship/Residency forbearance

  • Cancer Treatment deferment

  • Chapter 7 Bankruptcy forbearance

  • Natural Disaster forbearances

  • Rehabilitation Training deferment

  • Permanent Disability forbearance

  • National Community Service forbearance

  • Military deferment

  • DOD Student Loan Repayment forbearance

Please note, documentation  this link will open in a new window may be required for us to make any retroactive adjustment. To request an adjustment to your credit report with MOHELA, please send supporting paperwork to us securely by logging in to your account on mohela.studentaid.gov, go to Upload in the menu, and select Miscellaneous for the document type. You can also send by postal mail to:

MOHELA
633 Spirit Drive
Chesterfield, MO 63005-1243

If you do not fall into a scenario where we can make an adjustment, the reporting must remain. For more details regarding deferment and forbearance options, please review studentaid.gov/deferment-forbearance  this link will open in a new window .

What Happens if I Don't Make a Payment?

We will attempt to contact you regarding bringing your account current and will also provide you with information regarding available repayment plans and options to help you lower or postpone your payment. If you make your payment late, the U.S. Department of Education does not assess a late payment fee. Your delinquency may be reported to all nationwide consumer reporting agencies.

Please note that even if you are enrolled in Auto Pay, if you miss any required payment before your automatic withdrawals begin, your account can become past due. In this situation, you would need to make a manual payment to bring the account current.

If you don't make your student loan payments, your loan may eventually default  this link will open in a new window . Review your options to prevent default.

Understanding Credit

More than 25 factors help determine your credit score, including five which generally fall in this order of relative importance:

  • Your payment history and whether you make payments on time

  • How much you owe

  • How long you have had credit

  • Any new credit you have requested

  • Types of credit (loans, credit cards, etc.)

If you have already identified a need to improve your credit score, there aren't any quick fixes but you can slowly work toward your goals of a higher credit score by doing some of these:

  • Reduce your credit card balance

  • Reduce the number of credit cards you have (particularly if they have small balances)

  • Make payments on time

You can get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each national consumer credit reporting agency (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Make sure you use these free reports to confirm the information is accurate and there isn't suspicious activity that could be a sign of identity theft. Your credit history can impact your ability to obtain favorable mortgage rates, credit card approvals and even jobs.

Here's how to request your credit reports and what you should do to ensure the information is accurate:

  • Request your free credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com

  • Evaluate your debt regularly to determine how you can reduce or eliminate any obligations you may have

  • Examine whether your borrowing and payment activities are negatively impacting your credit score (how much credit, how often you pay and how much you owe can all contribute)

If you are currently past due, or delinquent, on your student loan, it may be reported to the three major national consumer credit reporting agencies. Student loan servicers report all delinquencies of at least 90 days to the credit agencies. Late payments stay on your credit report for seven years, so it is critical that you work with your student loan servicer. If you are experiencing any difficulty making a payment, contact MOHELA to discuss alternative options.

Each national consumer credit reporting agency's report may vary slightly. Fair Isaac's FICO score is one of the most commonly used credit scoring calculations. Based on the information in your credit report, each credit reporting agency will assign you a FICO credit score ranging between 300 (extremely high risk) and 850 (extremely low risk). Your credit score helps indicate to potential lenders how likely you will be to pay back the loan according to set terms. Not only can the score affect your ability to receive credit at a reasonable interest rate, it can also impact whether or not you get a nice apartment or job.

Personal Information

  • Name

  • Current and recent addresses

  • Social Security Number

  • Date of birth

  • Current and previous places of employment

Credit History

  • Credit accounts, amount of the loan or credit limit, payment terms, balance and history of payments

Credit Report Inquiries

  • All inquiries from lenders, service providers, landlord or insurer from the past two years

Public Records

  • Tax liens, judgments and bankruptcies (bankruptcies stay on credit for 10 years)

Delinquency & Credit FAQ's

If your payment has not posted to your account on or before your due date, your account is considered delinquent.

To determine if your account is delinquent, visit your Account Summary page.

When an account is delinquent, calls or letters will continue until the appropriate option has been received, approved and placed on the account.

The status of your student loan(s) is reported monthly to the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. If your account is past due, your payment status, including late and missed payments starting at 90 days past due, as well as default, may be reported. Late or missed payments or defaults reflected on your consumer credit report may adversely affect your consumer credit rating.

You may download and/or print your account information by navigating to Tools & Requests in the navigation and selecting 'Printable Account Details'.

Information MOHELA reports to the Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) may remain on your credit report for 7 to 10 years (including loans paid in full, consolidated, forgiven or transferred to another servicer). Please find more information for each CRA MOHELA reports to by visiting:

Each loan serviced by MOHELA is reported as its own unique tradeline to the credit reporting agencies. Depending on the number of years you attended school and how many loans, you may have multiple loans that will each display separately. If loans are consolidated, they may be shown as multiple loans on your MOHELA account but are reported as one tradeline.

In most cases, negative credit reporting to the nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) will not be adjusted because the negative credit reporting was accurate as of the date of the reporting.