The Benefits of Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing

Laurel Road Student Loan: Are you a student and your student loan interest is too high? Then you need to consider refinancing with Laurel Road student loan. Laurel Road (formerly DRB) is a bank providing competitive student loan refinancing. This is specifically to recent graduates with lower rates than you’d typically find at your local bank.

Laurel Road offers multiple perks to give you peace of mind, including; payment postponement in the face of disability or financial hardship and minimal repayments while you complete postgraduate training. Its perks are so called for student specializing in the medical field. Read on to learn more about Laurel road and how it can be of benefit to you.

Laurel Road Student Loan Review

Is refinancing medical school loans a good idea? Laurel Road is one of the biggest student loan refinancing companies for physicians and other professionals in the country. It majorly allows medical student to refinance as soon as they match into their residency or fellowship program.

Product Name: Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing

Minimum Loan Amount: $5,000

Max. Loan Amount: None

APR: 2.25% to 6.65%

Interest Rate Type: Variable

Minimum Loan Term: 5 years

Maximum Loan Term: 20 years

Requirements: All loans must be for qualified higher education expenses and in grace or repayment status and cannot be in default. You must have annual income of $60,000 or higher.

Pros

• You can refinance parent PLUS loans in your name.
• Refinancing available for medical and dental residents.
• You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.

Cons

• Payment postponement isn’t available if borrowers return to school.
• Laurel Road account required for discount.
• High minimum loan. (start at $5,000)

Benefits of Laurel Road

Below are well highlighted benefits of Laurel Road that you might be interested;

• Competitive rate. Laurel Road offers some of the lowest and most narrow rate ranges around.
• You can pick your loan term. Laurel Road lets you choose from 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years.
• You can save money. Less money spent on interest payments = more money towards the principal.
• Compare with other lenders. Shop around with different lenders to see who gives you the best rate.
• No limit on what you can refinance. Some lenders limit the amount you may refinance, but Laurel Road has no maximum limit.
• You won’t pay fees to refinance. The whole point of refinancing is to save money. You don’t want to throw away any of your hard-earned dollars on fees.
• Put your loans on hold if you lose your job. Laurel Road will give you up to a 12-month forbearance period if you become unemployed.
• You won’t lose your grace period. Laurel Road will honor a deferment or grace period from your current lender. If you’re in a medical residency, you may be able to defer your payments until six months after it ends.
• Rate discount if you’re a Laurel Road customer. Have a checking account with DRB? You can get an extra 0.25% knocked off your interest rate when your loan is set up for automatic payments.
• You can get paid for spreading the word about Laurel Road. Any time a friend or family member refinances with Laurel Road, you’ll get a $400 cash referral bonus.
• You can also choose to share some of this referral money with the person you referred.
• You’re not restricted based on where you live. Laurel Road is available in all 50 states, so that’s one less obstacle you must overcome.

Options for Parent Plus Laurel Road Student Loan Borrowers

Some parents want to keep the loan in their name and pay it off over time; while others are eager to have their child take over the debt once he or she has a stable job and can afford the payments.

Regardless of what path you take, refinancing Parent Plus loans is usually the way to go because the interest rate is sky high and forgiveness is very difficult to achieve since ICR is the only option and that’s 20% of your income.

Laurel Road will allow you to refinance the Parent Plus loan in the parent’s name or convert it into a loan in the child’s name. Not every lender can do this, so it makes Laurel Road stand out.

Read Also:

• Private Student Loans and method of Application
• Prosper Personal Loans 2020 Updates
• Nelnet Student Loan
• Scholarships for Low Income Students 2020

How Laurel Road has a Competitive Edge

One big advantage that Laurel Road has as a bank is that it offers deposits with a low cost of capital. That allows them to access funds much cheaper than online lenders that have to ask for money from investors.

Banks pay depositors much less than institutional investors can command. Hence the bank has a bigger margin to work within what rate they set their loan at.

I think banks tend to like long-term medical school debt. After all, they often make big mortgage loans or business loans lasting 10 to 30 years. That’s one reason why I think Laurel Road tends to show up well when you’re looking to refinance with a low monthly payment.

Eligibility & Requirement

To qualify or to become eligible for Laurel Road student loan refinancing, you must:

• Be a US citizen or permanent resident
• Have an annual income of $60,000 or more
• Have student loans that were used for eligible higher education expenses
• A student loans in grace or repayment status, not in default

Below are some of the things you will need when applying for laurel road student Loan refinancing;

• Government-issued photo ID.
• Two recent pay stubs.
• Loan statements, including payoff amounts.
• Proof of graduation.

Once Laurel Road makes its decision, you’ll receive a letter with your rate and disclosure information. The final step is accepting the loan’s terms and signing your promissory note. Go to the website now.

Conclusion

If you really need a cosigner to close a loan, I would look elsewhere than Laurel Road simply because it takes 36 months of on-time payments to be eligible for a cosigner release. Then the release is granted at the discretion of the company and is not automatic.