NY Attorney General Extends Pause On Collection of State Debt
Recorded on October 6, 2020
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Attorney General Letitia James has again extended the pause on the collection of the portion of medical and student debt handled by her office. Attorney Paul Harding of Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, LLP is on the radio with PYX106 discussing what this means for New Yorkers.
Please give it a listen or read the transcript below.
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Man 1: Quinn and Cantara, PYX 106. 1-800-LAW-1010, 1800law1010.com. Paul Harding from Martin, Harding & Mazzotti on the phone.
Man 2: The Attorney General made an announcement and anytime that happens, we turn to Paul.
Man 1: Yeah, I feel like we’re kicking the can down the road a little bit with this…the Attorney General story.
Man 2: Debt relief. Student and debt relief.
Man 1: Yeah.
Paul: Yeah, so, you know, the Attorney General, among other things, collects money that’s owed the state of New York, or agencies in this case. When we talk about the debt for SUNY students, again, folks who have not been paying their bills but they’ve done and suspended it in March and now they’ve suspended it again. You don’t have to pay any payments, you don’t have to pay any interest. Things are kinda on hold because of the pandemic.
Man 1: No fees for being late or any of that stuff. I mean, that’s a big thing for people that are struggling, you know?
Man 2: But do I have to, like, file anything for this to happen?
Paul: Yeah, so what happens, very similar to the Federal Government, put this out there that loans, just plain student loans have all been deferred. Interest, student loans have all been deferred. That’s through December 1st. And you have to go ahead and just download. You do go to the Attorney General’s website and you download an application, just kinda tell them who you are, what you’re doing, and then that debt is kinda frozen in space.
Man 2: All right. So, but the bottom line for people listening right now who have student debt, they can kick that can down the road…
Man 1: If you’ve been, yeah, you’ve been worrying about it.
Man 2: …till December.
Paul: The can is kicked, but do something. As you say, you gotta apply. You will be accepted. Doing nothing, again, I don’t know what they’re gonna do if you do nothing, but the best thing to do is do something. Download the application, it’s very short.
Man 2: That’s good advice, Paul. That’s good fatherly advice.
Man 1: Hopefully you can do something online, you know what I mean?
Man 2: I remember one time, I don’t know, I thought that my credit card company had burned to the ground. And I hadn’t heard from them so I thought everything was fine. Then I realized I never changed my address.
Man 1: They’ll find you, man.
Man 2: They found me.
Man 1: They got people.
Paul: They do always resurface, yeah.
Man 1: Thanks, Paul.
Paul: You’re welcome.
Man 2: Thank you very much, Paul.
Paul: You’re welcome, guys.
Man 1: And congrats to those who are trying to save for that monthly payment. Good luck.