Mademma:

The Economic Hardship Deferment is a feature of federal student loans, only. There is no Economic Hardship Deferment for private student loans.

If your loans are Stafford loans from the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL), or from the William D Ford Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan), you must complete the Economic Hardship Deferment Form and mail it to the Department of Education.

If your loan is a Perkins loan from your school, you must contact the financial aid office, and complete their own version of the Economic Hardship Deferment Form.

Here, to get you started, is the FFEL version of the form:

A collection agency is not required to cease collection attempts because the debtor is unemployed. You must negotiate a payment arrangement with the agency. If you can not reach a mutually acceptable payment plan, the agency will almost certainly take legal action against you.

I’m sorry for the disappointing news. If you have government loans, you may be eligible for an economic hardship deferment. If these are private loans, the hardship deferment is not a feature of these loans.

Good luck to you.