Perkins Loan Rehab question!

[asyouare]

First time posting here so please excuse me if this has been posted in the past. I took out a $1200.00 Perkins Loan and after graduation started making low payments of $42.22 a month, I ended up not paying the loan and it was sent to collection 3 times according to my school. The amount originally borrowed was $1200.00 @ 5%, I've made a few payments and for the past two years my CA tax refund has been directed to the collection agency.

 

At this time after talking to the Collection agency (EOS Solutions) they told me my balance is now $1081.24 which includes collection costs etc. and they did not account for my CA tax refund was redirected there. The balance should now be around $750.00. My questions are:

 

#1 can I rehab this small Perkins Loan? I was reading elsewhere that if the Perkins loan is under $1,000 you are not eligible for rehabbing, not sure if that is true.

 

#2 If I can rehab, do I make the deal with the collection agency? When I spoke to my school they told me to make a deal with the Collection agency. When I spoke to the collection agency they said the total amount was due immediately however they said they would take $200.00 payments until it's paid off. From my understanding, if I go this route it will still show on my credit report and not removed. My school seems reluctant to take the loan back, I'm not sure if they will.

 

Any help would be appreciated! I really would like to rehab this small loan because I am planning to go back to school.

 

Thanks all