The Department of Education is restarting its collection of defaulted student loans after a five-year halt. Repayment requirements have been halted since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However,

The U.S. Department of Education said on Monday it will resume collecting federal student repayments from borrowers in default from May 5 after a pause of more than five years.

If your student loans are in default, you have less than two weeks to stop them from being sent to collections, which can result in the government garnishing your wages and possibly withholding your tax refund and Social Security benefits.