§ 685.210 Choice of repayment plan.

(a) Initial selection of a repayment plan.

(1) Before a Direct Loan enters into repayment, the Secretary provides the borrower a description of the available repayment plans and requests the borrower to select one. A borrower may select a repayment plan before the loan enters repayment by notifying the Secretary of the borrower's selection in writing.

(2) If a borrower does not select a repayment plan, the Secretary designates the standard repayment plan described in § 685.208(b) or (c) for the borrower, as applicable.

(b) Changing repayment plans.

(1) A borrower may change repayment plans at any time after the loan has entered repayment by notifying the Secretary. However, a borrower who is repaying a defaulted loan under an income-contingent repayment plan or the income-based repayment plan in accordance with § 685.211(d)(3)(ii), or who is repaying a Direct Consolidation Loan under the income-contingent repayment plan or the income-based repayment plan in accordance with § 685.220(d)(1)(ii)(A)(3) may not change to another repayment plan unless—

(i) The borrower was required to and did make a payment under the income-contingent repayment plan or income-based repayment plan in each of the prior three months; or

(ii) The borrower was not required to make payments but made three reasonable and affordable payments in each of the prior three months; and

(iii) The borrower makes and the Secretary approves a request to change plans.

(2)

(i) A borrower may not change to a repayment plan that has a maximum repayment period of less than the number of years the loan has already been in repayment, except that a borrower may change to either the income-contingent or income-based repayment plan at any time.

(ii) If a borrower changes repayment plans, the repayment period is the period provided under the borrower's new repayment plan, calculated from the date the loan initially entered repayment. However, if a borrower changes to the income-contingent repayment plan under § 685.209(a), the income-contingent repayment plan under § 685.209(b), the income-contingent repayment plan under § 685.209(c), or the income-based repayment plan under § 685.221, the repayment period is calculated as described in § 685.209(a)(6)(iii), § 685.209(b)(3)(iii), § 685.209(c)(5)(v), or § 685.221(f)(3), respectively.

[59 FR 61690, Dec. 1, 1994, as amended at 65 FR 65629, Nov. 1, 2000; 68 FR 75430, Dec. 31, 2003; 73 FR 63256, Oct. 23, 2008; 77 FR 66142, Nov. 1, 2012; 78 FR 65833, Nov. 1, 2013; 80 FR 67242, Oct. 30, 2015]