If you entered COVID-19 forbearance prior to the ending of this program on June 30th, 2021 and are continuing to experience economic hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic and require additional relief/assistance, you have the option to request an additional three months of COVID-19 hardship forbearance, if you have not previously used in total 9 months of COVID-19 forbearance. To inquire about extending your forbearance, or other hardship options if needed, please contact MOHELA at 1-877-292-6845 (TTY: Dial 711). Please be aware that your loan’s maturity date will be extended by the number of months that you are in COVID-19 forbearance. Interest still accrues but it will not be added to the principal balance of your loan (commonly referred to as capitalizing interest). Rather, the repayment of the interest that accrues during your forbearance period and your outstanding principal balance will be re-calculated over the remaining term of your loan to determine your new monthly payment. Your new monthly payment will likely be higher than your original monthly payment because of the interest that accrued during the forbearance period. Please see your Promissory Note for more information regarding the application of your payments. As a result of the interest that accrues during the forbearance period, you may pay more interest over the life of your loan than what was originally disclosed to you, even if you make timely payments. (Note: If the interest accrued during your COVID-19 hardship forbearance is not paid and you use a different type of forbearance or deferment in the future, the interest could be capitalized at that future time). The COVID-19 forbearance does not count against your total allowance for economic hardship forbearance under the terms of your loan agreement. Additionally, the COVID-19 forbearance will have no effect on meeting the requirements for cosigner release if available under terms of your loan (e.g., if you had made 30 out of the 36 required consecutive payments immediately prior to entering the COVID-19 forbearance, your 31st payment towards meeting the requirement would be due approximately 1-month after exiting the forbearance).