The concept of hardship loans is quite different as they belong to a separate class of loans. Roughly parallel to the debt consolidation loans, hardship loans are utilized as means of solving financial junctures. Several people have successfully used such loans during the time of economic recession. In some cases, due to the negative status of the economy, the loans did not have a significant positive outcome. But in cases where the economy is booming, this category of loans tend to be of great financial help. The results, are thus mixed. Hardship Loans for Students The most common hardship loan is the one that is given to students, and is provided by many major banks such as Wells Fargo. More often than not, students are compelled to apply for common student loans as a result of high educational fee structure. During the course of their education, they are also forced to borrow various other loans such as cash advance loan and other personal loans. After their graduation, a large number of students are in grave debt or do not have any financial means to pursue their education further. The Federal Family Education Loan Program is a program that is offered for several such students, through which an Economic Hardship Deferment is implemented. This helps the students to defer the repayment of several loans. This deferment enables them to modify their loan. In such a case, the student loan installments are subsidized or rather reduced, with the hardship loan paying a part of the installments. The hardship loan is repaid later, and that too at a very low rate of interest. In order to use such loans to one's advantage, there are some strict qualifying conditions that are to be fulfilled by the student. Hardship Mortgage Loans Two very common real estate loans include 'hardship mortgage loans' and 'hardship refinance loans' that are availed by people in cases where the current mortgage tends to be troublesome. Now, the hardship loan in such cases can be used for 3 purposes, namely, refinancing, modifying the mortgage, or for consolidating the current mortgage. The process of refinancing involves differing the current installments. Any person can borrow such a hardship loan for real estate. The hardship loan amount is forwarded to the lender of the mortgage, who reduces the monthly installment. The reduced amount is then fulfilled by the hardship loan. The hardship loan can be repaid after the mortgage loan is paid off. Hardship Loans for Consolidation In several cases, loans are given for debt consolidation where the borrower is neck-deep in debt. This loan works exactly like a consolidation loan where it is used to repay some existing debt in full. After repaying all the lenders with differed payments, the borrower of the loan has to repay the lender of the hardship loan. The difference between a conventional consolidation loan and a hardship loan is that the repayment schedule of the hardship loan starts after some time, and not immediately, like it is in the case of a consolidation loan. Hardship Loans for Victims of Natural Disasters These loans or grants are utilized by people who are the victims of natural disasters. The grants are made available by Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) which help the victims recuperating from a natural disaster by partly providing them with the essential items they have lost and by supplying financial aid required in housing, clothing and basic food needs. Hardship Loans for Veterans Certain offices of veteran's affairs, offer hardship loans pertaining to health matters such as medical bills or surgery, when a veteran is unable to pay the net amount. A person can inquire in their own office and obtain information on such grants and if at all the benefits are available to them. The mechanism and features of these loans differ from lender to lender and also according to the purpose of the loan. Some common variants of the loan include hardship personal loans, hardship loans for bad credit and hardship home loans.