Consolidate your loans
Loan consolidation removes your student loans from default by refinancing the debt into a new loan. But you have to act quickly. After 60 days from the date of default, defaulted loans appear on your credit report and can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. Loan consolidation does nothing to repair that damage.
When you consolidate your loans within 60 days of default:
- The default won’t be reported to credit bureaus
- Any legal action against you stops
Be careful when considering consolidating your loans—it may not be the best option for managing your defaulted loans. If you are unable to consolidate your loans within 60 days after defaulting, rehabilitation may be a good option. With loan rehabilitation, you may be able to remove the default from your credit report.
Contact your loan holder to discuss consolidation and other options including rehabilitation for dealing with default.
If you don’t know who your loan holder is, go to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which is the central database for all federal student loan information. If ECMC holds your loans, call us at 1-800-780-7997.
Log in to view the status and history of your ECMC loans.
