Navient is forgiving the student debt of 66,000 borrowers. How to know if you're one of them

Another group that will get the cancellation are those with private student loans from Sallie Mae who attended certain for-profit colleges that have faced federal or state law enforcement action.

Navient should contact impacted borrowers by July 2022.

Who will get a check?

Among the accusations made against Navient was that the lender steered some consumers into costly forbearances rather than helping them to find a more affordable repayment option.

As a result, the company is required to write a check for approximately $260 to some 350,000 borrowers.

To qualify for the payment, you also have to meet a number of other requirements. Those include: You were enrolled in at least two consecutive years of forbearances between October 2009 and January 2017, you entered repayment before January 2015 and at least one of your federal loans was eligible for a payment plan that caps bills at a share of your monthly income.

The restitution should be paid out sometime in the spring.

Do I have to do anything?

No. The financial relief will be automatic.

“However, borrowers should make sure the loan servicer has their current contact information,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

You likely won't owe any taxes for the cancelled debt or $260 payment, Kantrowitz said.

So what's going on with broad forgiveness?

On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden vowed to deliver “immediate cancellation of a minimum of $10,000 of student debt per person.”

More than a year into his first term, however, there's been little mention of forgiveness.

At a recent press conference, a reporter asked the president if he still planned on cancelling student debt. He didn't answer.

Loan forgiveness has also been left out of Democrats' Build Back Better agenda.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.