RetroActive Deferment of Student Loans Question

[itsgettingbetter]

First--I want to thank all of you! Even though I just registered, I have been reading for a while and thanks to all the good advice here, I am beginning to take control over my financial life! More about that later--I have a question about my student loans that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I graduated from college in June 2003 and was not scheduled to begin repayment until Jan of 2004 on my loans. However, I consolidated my loans in Sept of 2004 (with the Federal Government) and that ended that deferment early. So the bills started coming due in Nov 2003 and I was unable to pay---I was only able to get a part-time job when I graduated.

I finally got a forbearance in Feb 2004. about 4 months of non-payment then the forebearance. I was working part-time at the time--and the person that I spoke to said the forbearance was my best option because I had a job. I did not know a forbearance could be retroactive, so I didn't even ask. My forbearance is scheduled to last until Mar 2005.

However--from reading this board I found out that you can ask for a retro active forebearance (or deferrment). I also found out that since I am unemployed--I should have a deferment instead of a forbearance at the very least as of July 1 so that interest does not acrue (since July 1, I have not worked at all).

Today, I called and they were very helpful--they told me that I could apply for a retroactive deferment for the entire time since graduation--since I have never been employed full time. I was very excited and I sent off the paperwork immediately (unfortunately it does not go to the same person that I talked with--she was in California and the paperwork will go to New York).

When I got home from mailing the paperwork, I was reading the fine print on my xerox copy of the papers that I sent--and it says that "my deferement will begin no more than 6 months before the date the Direct Loan Servicing Center receives this request, even if I became unemployed or began working less than 30 hours per week more than 6 months ago".

Now, I am worried. Do you think my application will be rejected? I have asked for a forbearance retroactive to the date of consolidation Sept 1 2003. That is nearly 14 months ago! But--I was told that I could do this (by someone at a totally different office). Do you think my request will be honored? Has anyone else ever had a situation like this?

Thanks for any help you can give me on this!