Payback Settlement

General Discussion for SMART Scholarship Recipients
Guest1235813

Payback Settlement

Post by Guest1235813 »

Has anyone reached a settlement with their payback through the DFAS? If so, what were the details of the settlement such as the percentage taken off the original amount and the timeline of the process. Thanks!

DontCountOnIt

Re: Payback Settlement

Post by DontCountOnIt »

DFAS has a mechanism to "settle" debt for less than the stated amount - it is called a debt compromise. Details I have on how it works are as follows:
In order for a compromise to be considered, the debt would have to have gone through all other collection effort and returned to us as uncollected. So the process would be the debt is sent for treasury offset, where tax returns are intercepted if there is a refund, as well as the debt being sent to a minimum of 2 private collection agencies. Typically, the whole process will take over 2 years before it would reach a compromise review. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
It doesn't sound viable unless you are absolutely unable to make payments.

You can make smaller payments than requested and still have your account in "good standing." You may want to explore the financial hardship paperwork and DFAS' website on the topic.

I would encourage you to submit a debt dispute or hearing, especially if there was a breach of contract on SMART's behalf, with all documentation supporting it. I would also encourage you to join our discord discussing this very situation - search the forum and you'll find the address.

Post Reply