Hello everyone,

The only negative aspect to my FICO score is my student loans. I was wondering if I put them in Forbearance my FICO would improve because those loans would not count against me when creating a score? Or would the fact that I have some late payments remain on the credit report? What happens to the FICO score when you go back to school and they are in deferrment? Any information supplied would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Forbearance would not affect the negative information already on your reports at all. As far as how the forbearance would affect your score, I don't think it would do anything to it. I think that, while it's technically a positive, it really isn't factored into the score at all (I believe that's because it's not being paid on, so it isn't a TL that can be used to determine your payment ability and tendencies). I think the same is true of deferment -- it doesn't get rid of the past information, but it doesn't hurt you either.

Who are your loans with -- are these private loans or with the government? Are you current on them now? Are the lates old? A very few people have had luck with goodwill letters to private agencies, but it's pretty rare for that to work with the DOE. The government keeps VERY good records on student loans and, since they aren't exactly a "keeping the customer happy so we can stay in business" sort of organization, they also aren't very receptive to these requests, although it can't hurt to try.

Good luck!!

Thanks for your reply! I needed that information. My loans are through Sallie Mae, and I have just put them in forbearance. I should have done this sooner, before the late payments started happening but I wasn't thinking it was one of my highest priorities until I pulled my credit report and saw how negatively those loans are affecting me. I am going back to school in January so can the status be switched over to deferrment and save my forebearance time?