(a) All loans extended under this program to any borrower shall be placed by the Board into an "account," with the full amount of principal and any fees and costs that accrue over the life of the loans to be repaid in monthly installments which shall be calculated to repay the account over a period of not more than 15 years from the beginning of the repayment period. In no case will the minimum annual repayment on the account be less than $900.
(b) The repayment period shall begin no earlier than six months after the date on which the student ceases to be enrolled continuously in an eligible institution, as determined by the institution.
(c) An education deferment is available to any borrower whose account is not in a default status and who provides the Board with documentation of enrollment for at least a half-time course load.
(d) The Commissioner may grant periods of forbearance in the form of postponed or reduced payments for unusual financial hardship if the Board receives a request stating the circumstances that merit such consideration.
(e) A charge of 5 percent of the scheduled monthly payment or five dollars ($5.00), whichever is less, shall be assessed if the past due amount is not received within 20 days of the scheduled due date. These charges shall be collected for late payment of all sums due and payable and shall be taken out of the next payment received by the Board.
(f) In the case of delinquent accounts, the Commissioner may authorize the assessment of charges necessary to collect the loan, which may include returned check fees, court costs fees, attorney fees, skip-trace fees, and long-distance telephone charges.
(g) In accordance with the terms of the promissory note, the Commissioner shall determine the priority order in which the payments shall be applied to late charges, collection costs, principal, and any other charges.

Source Note: The provisions of this §22.339 adopted to be effective December 7, 2003, 28 TexReg 10757; amended to be effective August 26, 2009, 34 TexReg 5683; transferred effective June 1, 2017, as published in the Texas Register May 19, 2017, 42 TexReg 2739; amended to be effective November 22, 2020, 45 TexReg 8342