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Defaulting on [student loans]
Slider
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I recently received a letter from Sallie Mae informing me to "Make us an offer!" Has anyone received one of these letters?
Apparently, I will be in default soon and...I'm not sure what will happen after that, but it can't be good.
Any advice?
Apparently, I will be in default soon and...I'm not sure what will happen after that, but it can't be good.
Any advice?
Slider on
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http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-2028
I don't think it's possible to consolidate a private loan into a government/federal loan. Is it?
http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogposts/2011/sallie_mae_faces_another_class_action_lawsuit_over_its_private_loan_practices-45754
Don't bank your future on a bill that may never make it out of committee. Especially since it's currently 6 months old and has gone nowhere. You will have been bent over a table by them long before this bill sees the light of day.
That is definitely interesting. I'd be interested to see if anyone has done any studies looking into how that will impact quantity of loans given out in future. Because as of right now, no matter your credit, you can get a student loan - mostly because of this reason. . .you can't ever get rid of it.
As for lacking income and being unemployed if they know about that, dollars to dimes they will try to work with you in resolving it. I mean you can't squeeze money from a lemon. I would just call them and tell them exactly that - I am more than likely going to default on my loan, am currently not working, what can we do to address this that isn't drastic?
I don't know. You should research it. Actually you should have researched it quite a while ago. It may be too late now.
It helps to read these things.
Banking on a future bill with almost no chance of passing is foolish. Call them, see if there is ANYTHING you can work out. Give plasma if you have to.
It's not. I tried it.
I mean, maybe call them and talk to someone to be absolutely sure, but I've got private loans from Sallie Mae and they're pretty much the worst, most inflexible things in the world. They offer pretty much nothing in terms of deferments or forbearance, and their repayment options are awful.
I mean I pay 245 dollars a month on interest alone right now. I plan to call them soon myself as I simply can't afford to pay more than that but paying 250 dollars on interest alone is bullshit.
Are you collecting unemployment?
Where are you living? (with parents/rooming with people etc)
What are your prospects on getting a job anytime soon?
Are you unable to get a job? (disability/medical condition?)
Is there anything of value you can offer society? (Can you give guitar lessons/fix computers/tutor etc)
I can work and am actively looking for work. I have no disabilities. However, the fucking military won't let me in, because I had surgery on my kidney.
Then don't quit.
Very helpful.
You are 35, have you worked a job that you would be qualified for unemployment? If you are, get that assistance now and use it to pay down your debt while you look for a job.
If you haven't worked a job in the last 3 years, what have you been doing?
It might sound harsh or unhelpful for people to be saying the obvious, but really income is the only current way out of this mess.
No degree is really useless. Even if it's useless as far as a "field" is concerned, having the stupid piece of paper will be enough to get you in the door somewhere.
You've seriously gotta stop viewing jobs as beneath you, though, and cut out the entitlement. If you don't let go of it this debt will follow you around the rest of your life. Stop trying to dodge good advice with links; get a job, make them an offer, and follow through. Don't wait for class actions, or for things to maybe get out of committee someday. If they work out, great, but don't count on it. Put away your pride and take care of this. That is the best advice anyone here can give you right now.
They won't. They will call every day. Nine am to nine pm, every day, every hour on the hour, sometimes more. If you are not paying the maximum on your loan they will annoy the piss out of you.
Unemployment benefits are protected from garnishment, which is good. However they can garnish your wages and as soon as you do become employed, enjoy 25% less on your paycheck.
As per ceres, get any fucking job, fucking Mcdonalds, get it, work it, get two. I don't fucking care if you're Stephen Fucking Hawking, you're not special enough to not flip burgers, sorry. You'll likely get told that by a judge if you decide to show up to this hearing should they default and head to garnishment (which you should, because if not you lose by default anyways). Protip: Fedex is hiring for the winter season right now.
Oh and if you have family -- get them involved. Borrow from them. If your loan is $28,000, Borrow $15,000 from your mother, father, whoever, and pay it off. $125 a month for 10 years, that's doable even on minimum wage. Drop it to 5 and that's $250, still reasonable. Make them that reasonable offer of 50%. Ask for a discharge in writing and then once you get it, send the 50%, tell them that that includes any fees or anything into it, so you don't get any surprises. Take the massive hit from your credit, and walk away knowing you owe your family $15,000 instead of some faceless entity that will absolutely fuck you in the ass with a steel pipe wants double that, plus interest.
Don't do this alone @slider, it is not worth it. Not in the slightest. Get over your motherfucking pride, or you might as well be flipping burgers for the rest of your life because that's what Sallie-Mae will do to your income. I've been down this road, it's not one you want to walk barefoot, you should get some sneakers.
Edit: Additionally, in order to take part in that "offer" it has to be paid in full. No more payments allowed.
Look, Slider, people are throwing knowledge at you like crazy in here, just like we did in the job thread. In order for ANY of this to make the bit of difference you need to listen, sack up and get it done. If you're that hard pressed then it's time to alter your situation in a positive manner.
As for your english degree being "pretty much useless" that's one of the biggest loads of shit I've ever heard. I know it's not the greatest economy out there, but companies will often go nuts over someone who can string two coherent thoughts together. That's you.
Work customer service, find a call center, begin with retail, apply for admin positions, apply for jobs with you local government, learn to love manual labor...whatever.
The fucking point is that if you don't actually start somewhere you'll get exactly nowhere. Don't want to be treated like a retail monkey or register jockey? Don't suck at the job and work your way out.
because guess what Patricia? You can't pay your bills.
Wrong, but having a defeated personality about it is useless. English degrees are in large demand in specific nitches of business. Technical Writers are one of the largest in-demand fields among fortune 500 companies, and they specifically look for those with English degrees. You may have to polish up your resume and buy a few textbooks on the subject, but if you can learn enough on your own to fake it and get an entry level Tech Writing position you will be well on your way to workplace security.
Outside of that, English Majors are the overwhelming majority of Educational and Municipal support staff and management at institutions around the country and are actively sought after for their communication skills. Playing up your resume as being familiar with interoffice communication and other forms of professional writing will go very far into getting you a job.
You were trained to analyze and break apart complex texts, look for patters, and prove through argumentative writing what you know. These skills are incredible valuable in business as most people simply cannot do this, or if they can do the former cannot communicate their ideas to a customer or coworkers. An English degree can be a huge asset if you play it right, but you have to be able to demonstrate your skills.
Most times people say "English degrees are pretty much useless" what they really mean are "English degrees require a lot of work an expertise to use properly outside of academia, and I'm too lazy to look it up." Don't be that guy. Do the research, polish up your skills, and get a job.
This isn't true at all. I just hired someone with an English degree. However, there are people who aren't useful who have English degrees.
What you do with your degree and how useful it is (and you are) is up to you.
I have defaulted on my student loans in the past. I'm good now. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea. My credit score still hasn't recovered completely, and this was seven years ago.
Keep in mind the loans you took out are federally insured. That means if you default, Sallie Mae still gets paid by Uncle Sam. The loan is sent to a collection agency, which incidentally, is also owned by Sallie Mae. They'll attempt to collect on that loan - however, they can grab you by the balls when they do it. They take any tax refunds, garnish wages, and otherwise shuttle fuck you until the debt is satisfied. You also cannot apply for any additional federal assistance - say an FHA loan, until you're debt is in good standing. I know right now an FHA loan or any of that stuff seems like horse shit - and it probably is. But who is to say what life will be like in three years? Five?
Ceres has the right of it. Get a job, any job, and contact them. Tell'em you'll send you what you can wrangle. It's the holiday season, so retail stores are plussing up for the holidays. Some money is better than no money, and it could keep you out of trouble until you get something better.
Learn from my mistakes. Don't ignore Sallie Mae. Call them. Talk with them. Ignoring this makes things worse.
To be honest, it sounds like you're looking for a card that says "I haz no monies- go way plzkthx" that you can give to Fannie Mae so that they magically vanish and never bother you again. Hint: There isn't one. Fannie's just going to tear up the card and rear-end you with penalties and court stuff until they get thier money. It also means your credit score's going to get cornholed, as well- so no loans for cars, homes, anything.
To echo a few other posters: Get the following things:
- A job. Any job. The most important thing is to get income so you ca get the next thing:
- In touch with Fannie Mae. Tell them "This is my situation right now. You can get this much, or nothing at all." They'll take the 'this much' over nothing.
- Rid of that attitude. Yes, you have a degree. Yes, you're thirty-five and have that much in debt. I'm 29 and have MORE than that in thousands of dollars in loan debts- so does anyone who ever went to college on a loan. And yes- everyone starts somewhere. If you have to be a fry cook, be a fry cook. It's a paycheck.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
In an economy this bad, an attitude like that is a recipe for failure and poverty.
Rigorous Scholarship
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/150714/name-health-job-thread/p13
I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
Furreal.
To get a job, you need to work at it. Positive attitude even while you're getting reamed.
Sally will kill you. Don't get suckered in by the "government" part. They'll kill you.
When a loan gets to collections it'll be sold to a collection agency. Most agencies will settle for 10% of what's owed. Take this route and get some damn income.
I don't want to be a dick to the OP, because his life seems like it's in a really bad place. But he seems determined to make his situation worse.
Rigorous Scholarship
That's not very helpful.
Maybe a job would be helpful. You should look into getting set up in one of those.
Thanks.