|
Wiggy Marie posted:Are you certain here? Even if he doesn't have wages to garnish, they can go after other things. I know our own private loan program is pretty hardcore on those who default. I'd suggest going through the terms of the loan(s) with a fine tooth comb to make SURE this sort of thing can't happen. Oh, most definitely, go through it with a fine tooth comb, especially when there's a co-signer involved in the mess. However SS, SSDI, pensions, etc. That can only be attacked when it's Federal. Private stuff falls into the same ground as credit cards, it just can't be discharged. The simple fact of the matter however, is that there are tons of exemptions for stuff and for the majority of those who are looking at default, there's literally zero point in them going so far as to sue. The legal expenses for them are not cheap and the end result will be a judgment for far less than they would hope to get. Better business for them to just settle now for what they can get and take the tax writeoff.
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2012 03:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 03:50 |
|
|
I graduated school this year (out of school date, May 10, 2012). I have two federal subsidized loans serviced by myfedloan.org. Now that it's 6 months after graduation, the loans should be entering repayment. Within the last few days, the status online has changed from "deferred" to "repayment" on both loans, but there are still no billings available. Are they just a bunch of slowpokes getting an invoice out? Is it normal to have to wait a little while before a bill comes out (and subsequently comes due)?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2012 20:50
|
|
|
I'm at my wit's end, and I don't know what to do. I'm up to $1200+ and 162 days behind to Sallie Mae, and can't tell if my loans have gone into repayment or not. But I had those stupid "Smart Option" loans that seem to disqualify me from any level of forgiveness, deferment, or forbearance. Every time I've asked Sallie Mae about my options, they have ALWAYS told me they can't do anything until I make 3 consecutive on-time payments. I make loving $400/mo. So what are my actual options? I really hate their website and lack of understandable information. Edit: Reading further details, I'm still making the Interest Only in-school payments, and my school end date is marked as August 24th. I'm still hosed though, since I already can't even afford the $190/mo! Please help. 
moonsour fucked around with this message at 14:03 on Nov 15, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2012 13:56
|
|
|
Little Miss RKO posted:I'm at my wit's end, and I don't know what to do. I'm up to $1200+ and 162 days behind to Sallie Mae, and can't tell if my loans have gone into repayment or not. But I had those stupid "Smart Option" loans that seem to disqualify me from any level of forgiveness, deferment, or forbearance. I'm kind of in the same boat and I'm desperate and unsure what to do. My loan payments start December 1st and they're about $1200 a month. I make $1400 a month with $800 of it going to rent/utilities. I applied for food stamps so I could give the rest to my loans but they lost my paperwork or I got denied or something. My family is saying if I don't pay in full each month they're going to repossess my mother's house, which is her only asset, and destroy her credit. She's drilled that into me from the day I signed my loans. I just want my debt to go away already. We tried consolidating through Wells Fargo but my mom got denied as a cosigner for strange reasons. There has to be someone else in this situation. What the hell do I do?
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2012 20:48
|
|
|
Shnooks posted:I'm kind of in the same boat and I'm desperate and unsure what to do. My loan payments start December 1st and they're about $1200 a month. I make $1400 a month with $800 of it going to rent/utilities. I applied for food stamps so I could give the rest to my loans but they lost my paperwork or I got denied or something. So you have about $80,000 in loans? Are they federal or private loans? If they are federal you either defer them for years until you make a good salary or you put them on the Income Based Repayment plan. If they are private loans then you are part of a new generation of people that will have debt collectors hounding you because you went and received an education. You can try to consolidate your loans to extend repayment to 30 years, but private banks don't like to do that. Maybe you can convince them to consolidate with an elderly relative who won't live through your repayment? Bottom line, if you took out large amounts of private loans your option is to pay them in full every month or have them hound your family. By hound I mean garnish your paychecks, bank accounts, automobiles, and house (depending on your state). The banks also have no motivation to lower your payments since if you default, they tack on 20% collection fees.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2012 23:55
|
|
|
UnpaidIntern posted:So you have about $80,000 in loans? Are they federal or private loans? If they are federal you either defer them for years until you make a good salary or you put them on the Income Based Repayment plan. It's more like $100,000 in private loans. I feel like a stupid victim of a dumb scam  . Who else can I consolidate with besides Wells Fargo? I don't even think I make enough for them to garnish my paychecks. I have no assets to my name, which is why my family is afraid they'll go after them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 01:37
|
|
|
Wiggy Marie posted:Are you certain here? Even if he doesn't have wages to garnish, they can go after other things. I know our own private loan program is pretty hardcore on those who default. I'd suggest going through the terms of the loan(s) with a fine tooth comb to make SURE this sort of thing can't happen. Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Oh, most definitely, go through it with a fine tooth comb, especially when there's a co-signer involved in the mess. However SS, SSDI, pensions, etc. That can only be attacked when it's Federal. Private stuff falls into the same ground as credit cards, it just can't be discharged. The simple fact of the matter however, is that there are tons of exemptions for stuff and for the majority of those who are looking at default, there's literally zero point in them going so far as to sue. The legal expenses for them are not cheap and the end result will be a judgment for far less than they would hope to get. Better business for them to just settle now for what they can get and take the tax writeoff. Definitely watch out for this, with you and your father. I don't know the ins and outs of Sallie Mae or local laws but from my experience with a non-student loan from Capitol One in 2008, it didn't matter that I didn't have a job and that my "income" was exempt, they just found my bank account somehow and took out money. I then had to fight them to give me the exempt money back. Watch out for your dad's savings he might also be living off because if it's not exempt, he will be hosed in this way because he will not get it back.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 04:27
|
|
|
samizdat posted:Watch out for your dad's savings he might also be living off because if it's not exempt, he will be hosed in this way because he will not get it back. Easy loophole around this is to temporarily shift his funds over to an account not in his name with an underlying agreement that he, in fact, controls that money. As long as the main accounts under his name are kept fairly low balance compared to the amount of the debt, odds of them screwing with it are pretty low. Attempting to garnish bank accounts isn't free, and it's one of those things that results in higher resistance from the borrower side. It's not worth it unless they can get away clean with it and snap up a big chunk. Alternatively, as he says he is overseas. I'd advise setting up dad with an offshore account to funnel funds into. Untouchable. edit: if dad's on social security, unemployment, disability, or any kind of entitlement benefit, the accounts are basically impossible to levy. If there's some big ol' chunk of money laying around somewhere, I'd move it and get it protected. Basically makes ya judgement-proof and forces SLM into a low/no-leverage stance and you have all the power when it comes to negotiation of a settlement. If you're overseas, tell them you're never coming back and you already have a new citizenship.. you just want to give it a go to settle this if they are willing to be reasonable. If they say no at that point, you can just wait them out. Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 13:46 on Nov 18, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 11:26
|
|
|
Pro-PRC Laowai posted:How to never pay. Can you take this conversation to PMs or emails with the goon in question? This isn't really the thread for "how to avoid ever paying your debt." Although I will say this: I have seen government assistance garnished due to education-related loans, be they federal or private. I'm not sure if the laws have changed now, but in my personal experience this income is in no way free from garnishment. As another person said, it depends on the state. canyoneer, it generally takes 1-2 months to get the bills ready and out to the borrower (you). However, if you can start paying early, do so. The interest is still accruing and if you don't make payments you'll see a big chunk hit your interest first. To everyone asking for help with your massive private loan debt: there are only three options, no matter your personal circumstance. 1. Make the regular payments. 2. Contact the servicer for a forbearance/repayment plan change. You may have to qualify per their rules, pay for the forbearance, etc. There are many hoops they can make you jump through and no, there's nothing the government can do to help you. 3. Try consolidating your loans. Wells Fargo is not the only company, they are just the one goons have recommended in the past. You can actually use simpletuition.com to search for other consolidation companies, contact banks in your area, credit unions, etc. This is not the thread to discuss how to avoid payment. Please either start a new thread for that topic, or keep it to PMs. Wiggy Marie fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Nov 18, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 15:26
|
|
|
I did not know there were other places to consolidate! Ill check those out today. I just want to pay my debt on time and make it go away.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 16:04
|
|
|
Wiggy Marie posted:This is not the thread to discuss how to avoid payment. Please either start a new thread for that topic, or keep it to PMs. Oh, most definitely agree about that. However my comments are focused more on "how to fix a hosed up situation and settle the debt" moreso than "never pay". Private loans give no shits about your financial realities. If you had that $100k debt on a credit card, everyone would be screaming "bankruptcy". As that is not realistically possible with this form of debt, I do feel it's rather important for people out there to know that it's not the end of the world and there are alternatives to slavery. There is a TON of information out there about this, but most of it is completely wrong, and even more of it is generated by the loan companies to dissuade people from even considering the path. It ain't an easy path, but it's possible, just research your own situation thoroughly first and be aware of the pitfalls. For federal loans, there are reasonable safety nets out there and I highly advise never defaulting, they will always be willing to work with you. For private, until reasonable regulations are in place to protect borrowers from their profit-seeking blood funnels, "morals" don't even enter the equation. Do what ya gotta do.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2012 21:22
|
|
|
Wiggie Marie, can I send you a PM? I've got a potentially sticky situation with my Fiance defaulting on his student loans and the loans getting sent to collections. We want to settle the debt without getting screwed and we want to make sure we're doing it the right way.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2012 17:46
|
|
|
Of course! Make sure to let me know what kind of loans (private or federal).
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2012 22:08
|
|
|
I have an income based repayment question. I just got all my loans under the IBR with the department of education because I'm seriously under employed and my future earning potential is not looking any better in the coming years. The IBR has my payment down to $0 and the interested will start accumulating against the principal within the next 30 months. Unfortunately I have no surplus income to start paying down the principal for the next 30 months, I'm barely getting by as it is. My question is I just learned that IBR has some serious disadvantageous such as these, quote:1. You may pay more interest—A reduced monthly payment in IBR generally means you’ll be repaying your loan for a longer period of time, so you may pay more total interest over the life of the loan than you would under other repayment plans. It's #2 that has my wondering, so I did some research and discovered this. quote:let’s say that the graduate never starts making enough to cover the debt. At the end of 20 years, the government will have to forgive the rest. It looks like a great gift to the kid, but is it? First, the a forgiven loan is seen as income by the IRS. Uggh. Surprised? The house always wins. source: http://edububble.com/dpp/?p=2316 So in 25 years were going to see families who are drowning in student loan debts with anywhere between $100-300k since these families never could make enough to cover the debt as their interest accumulated against the principal. These families then will see $100-300k added to their income in 20 years and be expected to pay income tax on that? The worst part is that type of student loan debt being added to their income tax will throw them in a higher tax bracket and some families are going to be shocked by some huge income tax bills. Won't this be a major issue in 25 years when the first groups of people using IBR are hit with these huge tax bills?
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2012 17:18
|
|
|
stewdiny posted:It's #2 that has my wondering, so I did some research and discovered this. Well the first thing you should know about taxing forgiven debt is that you are not taxed to the extent that you are insolvent. That means that if your $300k is all forgiven and you only have $100k in assets (cash, home equity, car, etc), you will only pay taxes on $100k out of the total $300k forgiven. Second, your tax bill will be significantly less than your repayment. You can sort of ease the pain by withholding more money from your paychecks the year your loan will be forgiven. Also, the IRS is actually a friendly debt collector compared to Sallie Mae. They will work out a payment plan if you are willing to ask. This all assumes that there won't be any political pressure to create a rule that makes this forgiven debt tax free. You really shouldn't worry about it too much if you can't actually make your standard repayment obligations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2012 19:41
|
|
|
I entered repayment on my student loans this summer. I'm not having trouble making my payments, but the amount of interest I'll have paid after everything is paid off is...exorbitant. I've spoken to my dad about this, and he told me that he was friends with a lawyer who also owed a lot of money in student loans. The guy supposedly made an offer of a (much) higher monthly payment to his loan provider, under the condition they would cease adding any interest to his loan. It sounded too good to be true, but is there any possibility of finagling this with my loan processor (Direct Loans)? If no interest were added to my loan, I could afford a monthly payment that would enable me to pay off my loans in five years.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2012 21:32
|
|
|
JulianD posted:I entered repayment on my student loans this summer. I'm not having trouble making my payments, but the amount of interest I'll have paid after everything is paid off is...exorbitant. I've spoken to my dad about this, and he told me that he was friends with a lawyer who also owed a lot of money in student loans. The guy supposedly made an offer of a (much) higher monthly payment to his loan provider, under the condition they would cease adding any interest to his loan. It sounded too good to be true, but is there any possibility of finagling this with my loan processor (Direct Loans)? If no interest were added to my loan, I could afford a monthly payment that would enable me to pay off my loans in five years. Direct Loans? Meh, they're federal, you have zero leverage. If you don't like the high amount of total interest, pay them off asap. Unless you have investments out there that are beating the interest rates on the loan, there's no better investment than throwing cash at them at every opportunity.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2012 23:26
|
|
|
JulianD posted:I entered repayment on my student loans this summer. I'm not having trouble making my payments, but the amount of interest I'll have paid after everything is paid off is...exorbitant. I've spoken to my dad about this, and he told me that he was friends with a lawyer who also owed a lot of money in student loans. The guy supposedly made an offer of a (much) higher monthly payment to his loan provider, under the condition they would cease adding any interest to his loan. It sounded too good to be true, but is there any possibility of finagling this with my loan processor (Direct Loans)? If no interest were added to my loan, I could afford a monthly payment that would enable me to pay off my loans in five years. This is absolutely possible! After you've defaulted. Often more than once. I would suggest paying as much as you can and hammering away at the debt.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 01:16
|
|
|
Yeah, I expected as much. I am paying as much as I can right now, so hopefully I won't get raped too hard by the interest.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 06:56
|
|
|
Since getting a full time job after graduating I've been putting money into my savings to pay off loans in full. Am I right to be paying off the largest sum/highest interest rate loans first? I also make the minimum payment for my federal loans, while ever 3-4 months I pay off one loan in full.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2012 22:04
|
|
|
Harry Privates posted:Since getting a full time job after graduating I've been putting money into my savings to pay off loans in full. Am I right to be paying off the largest sum/highest interest rate loans first? I also make the minimum payment for my federal loans, while ever 3-4 months I pay off one loan in full. If you have money saved up in case of an emergency, I wouldn't bother saving money to pay them in full at all - otherwise, the part of the principal you could've paid off in month one with money you instead put into your savings will continue to accrue interest, ultimately costing you more in the long run.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2012 22:59
|
|
|
What I've been doing is keeping a solid base in my savings which is my emergency money, then paying the minimum on all my loans and then each month putting my leftover money into savings with the purpose of paying off a loan or two while I still live at home.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2012 00:37
|
|
|
If you already have a decent emergency fund, just use that money to make extra payments on your loan. Direct the extra payments to the loan with the highest interest rate. The interest rate on your loan is higher than the rate on your savings account. Paying down the loan means less interest will accrue on the loan, saving you money in the long term.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2012 00:41
|
|
|
So my girlfriend (freshman in college) is now unable to receive loans as her parents have stopped cosigning, and as such is not able to pay tuition for art school at Parsons New School in New York. Her parents have been unhelpful and unsupportive every step of the way in her pursuits and she is now forced to rely on a $10/hr job to pay for tuition, which, for four years, is approx. $40k. Is there anything she can do without a cosigner and without financial assistance from her parents? Is she doomed to transfer to a less expensive school or possibly drop out?
net cafe scandal fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Dec 24, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2012 05:56
|
|
|
Hanks Lust Cafe posted:Is there anything she can do without a cosigner and without financial assistance from her parents? Is she doomed to transfer to a less expensive school or possibly drop out? Since she needs private loans and is already maxing on federal (assumption based on the actual posted tuition at http://www.newschool.edu/student-services/registrar/tuition/2012-2013/parsons/ ), she has no recourse.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2012 18:53
|
|
|
Other options if her heart is set on Parsons: -Bargain with the school for financial aid; be persistent, make a sincere case(good grades, legitimate need), and they might be able to come through. Dropouts look bad for a school. HOWEVER, since her parents actually have the money, the school might be less likely to bail her out, knowing that if they play hardball, the parents are very likely to pony up the extra fees eventually. Another, admittedly less desirable option, would be to drop to half time (also reduces your eligibility for Federal aid though) and then work at a more lucrative job. If she's in New York, she can probably find something waiting tables that works out to $20/hr after tips. I knew a student who put himself through private university on bar tending tips, but it took him much longer than it should have (as in, twice as long). New York does have some great public colleges too though, so don't think of her as "doomed" if that's where she ends up.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2012 19:44
|
|
|
Hanks Lust Cafe posted:Is there anything she can do without a cosigner and without financial assistance from her parents? Is she doomed to transfer to a less expensive school or possibly drop out?
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2012 21:55
|
|
|
I've looked through the thread and didn't see anything specifically applicable to my situation so I thought I'd ask. I'm getting married soon and my fiancee has about $80,000 in student loan debt spread across Federal and private loans. I have no debt. We're trying to figure out what the tax implications will be once we get married and most of the resources we've found don't have a lot of information and instead say that we should ask an accountant. My understanding is that from a liability perspective we'll need to file separately so that I can't be legally held responsible for her loans if something happens, but if we do she loses the student loan interest deduction and we lose any benefits we might gain filing jointly. Are there other things I should be considering? Does anyone have experience with this scenario and have any advice?
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2012 15:30
|
|
|
You really do need to talk to an accountant about that one. What I can tell you is that you cannot be held accountable for her federal loans, but I can't speak for private loans. They are unregulated and have unpredictable guidelines. From a pure servicer perspective, the benefit to filing separately is that if she tries to use one of the federal payment plans, they won't look at your income. Otherwise, we're not trained on IRS territory, and are actually told that we should never ever talk about tax guidelines. Schools are told the same, so they can't advise her on options.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2013 07:31
|
|
|
I'm pretty sure this is bogus and am asking here since I don't want to do any research on it, but in the student loan thread in D&D, one poster was going on and on about starting one's own 501(c)(3) to work for in addition to regular work, and use that as a way to qualify for PSLF. Is this something anyone's seen? It won't affect me since I'm close enough to finishing loans off, but it could help some friends for sure.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 17:43
|
|
|
mastershakeman posted:I'm pretty sure this is bogus and am asking here since I don't want to do any research on it, but in the student loan thread in D&D, one poster was going on and on about starting one's own 501(c)(3) to work for in addition to regular work, and use that as a way to qualify for PSLF. Is this something anyone's seen? It won't affect me since I'm close enough to finishing loans off, but it could help some friends for sure. Theoretically it is possible but the strategy seems more like a hail-mary than a sound financial decision. Take a look at the PSLF form and go to the definitions section. An employee of a 501(c)(3) is defined as someone hired and PAID by the 501(c)(3). Are you an employee if you are the creator of a non-funded 501(c)(3) with no money to pay yourself? Very important question. It also mentions that your eligibility will not actually be determined until after 10 years of repayments have been made and you file for forgiveness. Are you prepared to fight an administrative board for years if they deny you? This would not be a simple scam to pull off if you are creating a do-nothing 501(c)(3) especially when government investigators ask for your employment records and hourly log reports.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 18:54
|
|
|
Yep, that's what I was figuring. I could conceive of a way to do the hourly tracking by creating the 501c3 to be something I'm already super interested in, but the requirement to be paid throws it right out the window. Good to know!
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 18:58
|
|
|
mastershakeman posted:Yep, that's what I was figuring. I could conceive of a way to do the hourly tracking by creating the 501c3 to be something I'm already super interested in, but the requirement to be paid throws it right out the window. Good to know! Better off to find an existing 501c3 out there and to basically pay them via indirect donations to hire you for a token sum. As far as I can tell, the only reason they require you to actually be paid, is so there is documented evidence that you are working/associated with them for a given time-frame and there's nothing that says you can't be work-at-home salaried for $1 a year. edit: I'm actually really curious about this just from a theoretical stance. Assume you earn a good chunk of money a year, but you are overseas, and due to this you have the foreign earned income exclusion and your AGI is $0. IBR is based on AGI, so your payment is $0. For the hell of it, let's say you have an extra $12k laying around. Just enough for a 30-hour a week "full time", minimum wage job with a 501c3. Now you take your cash and in turn donate it on behalf of someone in the US, who then, in turn kicks the tax savings they receive right back at you. The 501c3 employs you full-time remotely with your own money and the only loss is their admin and tax plus some skim. You are still domiciled overseas, so it still counts as foreign earned income so there's no fed/state tax on it. Assuming your collaborator is solidly in the 28%+ tax bracket with regular deductions that exceed the standard the "donation" saves them $3360. And tossed back 25% at you ($3000). Minus, say 20% for the 501c's cut and unavoidable FICA taxes ($2400). You come out ahead by $600 every year, will be forgiven in 10 years and never make a single payment. According to the paper trail, you are never listed as a donor, and the $12k is below the reporting limit for gifts, so it's pretty much untraceable. Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jan 5, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 19:32
|
|
|
Yes, let's scam the government by pretending to do charity. Can't you just, y'know, work for an actual non-profit? Tons of places count: schools, libraries, hospitals, etc. It only deletes federal loan debt, which caps out at ~$30,000 anyway, if you pay 10% of your income a year, you basically have to be making less than $30k/year for it to not be more economically efficient to do loan forgiveness, so just pay the loans off normally. Or if you really can't get a job better than janitor just work as a janitor at a hospital or something. e- I think I'm forgetting about those GradPLUS loans... Seriously, public service forgiveness is for teachers and public defenders and people like that, who tend to need post-bachelor level degrees but do not get paid accordingly.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
I'm a lawyer, so no, nonprofit jobs are in incredibly high demand post 2008 (unless the person doesn't want to practice law anymore). Again, I don't need the help, but I can think of a fair amount of people who do, and I think it's specifically because of the gradplus loans that most lawyers take out that still qualify for IBR.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 20:27
|
|
|
hitension posted:Yes, let's scam the government by pretending to do charity. If you have Perkins Loans public service forgiveness is a lot more attractive, considering that if you're eligible your loans are deferred for the 5 years it takes to get complete loan cancellation.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2013 21:31
|
|
|
Quick question: if I request the maximum amount, can I reject a portion of it when it's awarded? I want to say yes but I'm not entirely sure (in the process of requesting now)
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2013 19:22
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:Quick question: if I request the maximum amount, can I reject a portion of it when it's awarded? I want to say yes but I'm not entirely sure (in the process of requesting now) You can return any portion within 30 days or something like that and it will be like you never received it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2013 19:43
|
|
|
baquerd posted:You can return any portion within 30 days or something like that and it will be like you never received it. Thanks for the help I think I'll just request maximum and send back what I don't need.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2013 20:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 03:50 |
|
|
Knyteguy posted:Thanks for the help I think I'll just request maximum and send back what I don't need. No problem. Interesting thing that happened to me was that I was trying to pay off a prior unsubsidized loan right after I had just received a subsidized distribution (I stopped getting the unsubsidized because I got a job) and they treated it as a return so I had to call them up and get the payment set to the right loan.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2013 21:12
|
|