DOE doesn't know me

[debt_ridden]

OK, Pioneer is on my case. They want rehab plan of $700 per month on a $40k salary with 3 kids to support and other student loan debt. I have $100k with USA Funds, $22k with Citibank, and another $10k in judgement from private school loan. Pioneer could care less and rejected my proposal to determine an amount that is reasonable and affordable. I attempted to contact the DOE and the rep there can't find me by my social or name. She sent me back to USA Funds which routed me back to Pioneer.

 

Of course Pioneer has threatened to garnish (this loan is way into default) which I don't want.

 

My question - who can help? I can't get a live person at USA Funds, DOE sent me to them, Pioneer says they will garnish.

 

Any ideas?

 

tia

[debt_ridden]

Follow-up

 

I'm still looking for ideas if anyone has any?

 

So, after today's call with Pioneer, I'm even more confused....

 

They proposed pay $700 for 4 months, then I can consolidate.

 

I think this is still not good enough since I can't afford payments of $700 for any month...but further, no collection costs being removed (I have over 29k in costs and fees, and another 16k in interest). Plus was interest rate lowered from 9 to 5%.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on this situation?

 

Four payments doesn't meet the rehab standard right? So their claim that USAF approved this plan is bogus, right?

 

What's normal for collection costs after rehab? How much will be reduced?

[LynnInMN]

Follow-up

 

I'm still looking for ideas if anyone has any?

 

So, after today's call with Pioneer, I'm even more confused....

 

They proposed pay $700 for 4 months, then I can consolidate.

There is no set payment required to consolidate.  Technically you can start paying $50/month and still be consolidated easily.

 

I think this is still not good enough since I can't afford payments of $700 for any month...but further, no collection costs being removed (I have over 29k in costs and fees, and another 16k in interest).  Plus was interest rate lowered from 9 to 5%.

Collection costs are never removed with consolidation.  They are simply capitalized into your loan.  How did you get interest rate lowered??  Did you have a fixed or variable rate loan??  If it was a fixed which a 9% sounds like, there is no provision for lowering the rate.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on this situation?

 

Four payments doesn't meet the rehab standard right? So their claim that USAF approved this plan is bogus, right?

 

12 payments have to be made to rehab.  Generally to qualify for rehab you need to be making a 1% payment...payments any lower require a financial statement. It is possible but not likely that USAF is involved. 

 

What's normal for collection costs after rehab?  How much will be reduced?

I believe with FFELP loans, the collection costs are waived when you complete the rehab program.  Your past due interest is capitalized into your loan and you start anew!

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[debt_ridden]

Thanks Lynn,

 

You asked about the lowering of my interest rate. I meant to say that PRC said my rate would be reduced by consolidating.

 

I'm focused on rehab but if I'm unable to resolve this with Pioneer is there anyone I can contact? I tried contacting the DOE Ombudsman but they can't find my loans under my social?

[LynnInMN]

Is there an error with your SSI number with USAF?? If is not uncommon to find keying errors of the SSI number since most were manually keyed. Human error.

Try calling USAF. Student- and parent-borrower contacts For information about your education-loan account(s), call toll-free (888) 272-5543, or call (317) 849-6510. Do not punch in your SSI number...keep ## and zeroing on the phone until you get live help. They should be able to help you figure out why your SSI is not appearing.

 

With consolidation, interest rate will go down but not to 5%. Since you state your current rate is 9%, you will go down to 8.25%, the max that they can charge. Interest rates are determined by a weighted average of your current loans with a max of 8.25%.

[Veritas]

Debt Ridden

 

First of all you need to determine how old your loans are.

 

The Supreme court will hear the issue of Statute of Limitations on

student loans this session.

 

2) consolidation will reset the SOL timeclock so be aware.

 

3) if the DOE has no record of you then go back to the original

approved guarantor of your loan. YOU can find a list of these

on the DOE website of approved guarantors.

 

If you do not find the name of whomever is calling you then you need to do more research on your loans because none may be federally backed loans and therefore you remedies may be different depending upon the age of loan.

 

4) The federal interest cap rate is about 6.25% so I don't know where 8.5% interest rate comes from except from private loans.

 

5) don't settle for the mumbo jumbo talk you get from this gang. Get the skinny on your loan and do research to find our what you can do.

 

If you have 3 kids and a 40,000 income then I think hardship defense might be worth a try.

[LynnInMN]

Debt Ridden

 

First of all you need to determine how old your loans are.

 

The Supreme court will hear the issue of Statute of Limitations on

student loans this session.

 

2) consolidation will reset the SOL  timeclock so be aware.

There is no SOL on student loans so this point is totally moot.

 

3) if the DOE has no record of you then go back to the original

approved guarantor of your loan.  YOU can find a list of these

on the DOE website of approved guarantor.

I OC already found their guarantor.

 

If you do not find the name of whomever is calling you then you need to do more research on your loans because none may be federally backed loans and therefore you remedies may be different depending upon the age of loan.

 

4) The federal interest cap rate is about 6.25% so I don't know where 8.5% interest rate comes from except from private loans.

Obviously you know very little about student loans.  The federal interest cap on consolidated loans is 8.25%.  Many people have older student loans that can have fixed interest rates as high as 12%.

 

5) don't settle for the mumbo jumbo talk you get from this gang.  Get the skinny on your loan and do research to find our what you can do.

 

If you have 3 kids and a 40,000 income then I think hardship defense might be worth a try.

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[TxQuiltGirl]

5) don't settle for the mumbo jumbo talk you get from this gang.  Get the skinny on your loan and do research to find our what you can do.

 

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Veritas, I will leave the rest of your post alone, as Lynn has responded to it well. However, I will address the above point.

 

If you don't like the advice and information given here, I can't understand why you are here. Because first of all, most of what I've seen you say in your 7 posts indicate that you know less about Student Loans than the average person. And secondly, we are here to help people get back on the right track; your suggestions don't help. In fact, they will eventually hurt a person who has the misfortune to attempt to follow some of the tactics you suggest.

 

To the OP, follow Lynn's suggestions. She has pointed you down the right path.