Trellis Company: How to Stop Student Loan Garnishment

Trellis Company collects on federal student loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

Trellis Company is a nonprofit organization that collects on federal student loans after a borrower misses nine straight monthly payments and defaults. If Trellis is calling you, look out! It’s because you’ve defaulted on your loans, and your student loan servicer has moved your account to Trellis to begin collections.

Since March 30, 2021, the CARES Act forbearance has paused wage garnishment and other collection activities for Trellis and other commercially held FFEL loans. If your money was seized after that date, you can get it back. Contact Trellis to request a refund.

The coronavirus-related payment freeze ends on August 31, 2022. Before payments resume, the White House plans to give all federal student loan borrowers a fresh start by returning their defaulted student loans to good standing. But in some cases, you might want to act now.

The Education Department hasn’t said how soon that would happen. If you need to get out of default before September, say to borrow more federal student aid to return to school or clear CAIVRS to qualify for a federally backed mortgage, look into loan rehabilitation and consolidation.

Ahead, learn what Trellis Company is and how it can help you with your student loans.

Trellis Company, which changed its name from Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, is a student loan guarantor. In its role as a guaranty agency, Trellis pays lenders after a borrower defaults on federal student loan debt. Basically, Trellis is responsible for getting the money that was defaulted on.

If your loans have been sent to Trellis, it has all of the collection powers that the Department of Education has. Trellis is a legitimate collector of federal debt, it can report late payments to the credit reporting bureaus, garnish your wages, and block you from receiving new financial aid. And it can do all of this without a court order.

Trellis student loan garnishment works like this: Default on a student loan and federal law* allows Trellis to take up to 15% of your paycheck and seize your income tax refund and Social Security benefits.

You have four options to stop the garnishment:

• Repay the delinquent debt in full or negotiate a settlement. Read more about student loan settlement.

• Enroll in the loan rehabilitation program and make nine monthly payments. Read more about student loan rehabilitation.

• Combine the loans into a new Direct Consolidation loan with its own interest rate before Trellis moves to garnish your wages. Read more about default student loan consolidation.

• Request a hearing to stop the garnishment due to financial hardship.

The best one for you depends on your priorities — i.e., raise your credit score, save on collection fees, move out of default quickly, and so on.

Learn More: How to Get Student Loans Out of Default

*Trellis and other guaranty agencies don’t need to wait for a court order to garnish wages to pay delinquent student loan debt. It can send an administrative wage garnishment order to an employer ordering it to withhold up to 15% of a debtor’s disposable income. See 31 CFR § 285.11.

Trellis student loans are eligible for most federal loan forgiveness programs, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, PSLF Waiver, Income-Driven Repayment Plan Forgiveness, and the IDR Waiver. You can’t just enroll in these programs.  You’ll need to get out of default and move your loans to the U.S. Department of Education before you qualify for relief.

You can do both things by applying for a consolidation loan from the Federal Direct Loan Program using studentaid.gov.

Learn More: Who Qualifies for Student Loan Forgiveness

Trellis phone number: 800-222-6297

Trellis fax number: 512-336-6297

Trellis hours of operation: Monday – Friday, 8 am to 5 pm CST

Trellis address to mail payments: Trellis Collections, PO Box 659602, San Antonio, TX 78265-9602

Trellis address for general correspondence: Trellis Company, 301 Sundance Parkway, Round Rock, TX 78681

Trellis website for defaulted loans: mytrellis.org

Trellis website for general information: https://www.trelliscompany.org

Trellis email: collections@trelliscompany.org

How to report issues with Trellis:

• Federal Student Aid Ombudsman: 877-557-2575 or by mail at U.S. Department of Education, FSA Ombudsman Group, P.O. Box 1843, Monticello, KY 42633

• FSA Feedback Center: You can submit a complaint to the Feedback Center after you’ve worked with the Ombudsman group.

• State consumer protection office: You can file a complaint with your state’s consumer protection division. That office makes sure you’re protected from fraud, deception, misrepresentations, and false promises.

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: If all else fails, you can also submit a complaint to the CFPB. They are a third-party government agency that helps consumers solve issues with financial products, including federal and private student loans.

You can also contact a student loan nonprofit such as The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, which provides free dispute resolution.

Federal student loan servicers:

• Aidvantage (took over for Navient)

• Edfinancial Services

• FedLoan Servicing

• Great Lakes

• MOHELA

• Nelnet

• OSLA

• American Education Services services Federal Family Education Loans only.

• Default Resolution Group only handles federal student loans in default.

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