Student Loan Default Question

[Ecstatic]

Ok, I've searched these boards everywhere for an answer to my dilemma. But, I couldn't find a situation that fit mine.

 

Here is my question: I graduated in May 2005. My loans were for a few months until I could find a job. During that time, my grandmother who lived in Europe had a stroke. I went to live with her, and take care of her. She died a few months ago. I'm back in the states now.

 

During that time I had no "real" job (grandmother required 24/7 care) and my loans went into default. I know this is bad. I know it was irressponsble of me and all that stuff. These loans are backed by the government, so what's worse is that the government collection agency now has them. Recently, I got a call from my county court's office about some paperwork they needed to discuss with me. I wasn't home then, so they left a message. And I plan to call back during their office hours tomorrow. Chances are, I'm about to be served with something or other.

 

My point is this: I don't have a job currently. I won't have one until February 2008. Obviously, they can't garnish wages if I don't have a job. My credit report is shot, anyway. It can't possibly look worse than it does already. So, I'm not worried about them taking it off my credit report. I don't plan on buying a house or car in the near future. So, it's not an issue for me right now.

 

What can they do to me? Am I going to go to prison because I can't begin payments until February? Can I work out some sort of deal that I start paying in February? I can even do a downpayment by then as I'll have some money coming in from a bit of freelance work I did a while back.

 

The obvious answer is to get a job right now. In my area, the only job I will personally be able to get is fast food server. Seriously. Small town, no job opportunities. I will be moving to CA in February to take a great job - 45K a year - that I've been offered. I'm more than willing to take the fast food position in the mean time. It's just, I can't imagine a fast food joint will give me enough money to pay them. But, again, I'm not sure how this works.

 

My main worry is - if they can't garnish wages due to unemployment, can they stick me in prison? I'm so clueless, I searched everywhere for this answer. And haven't gotten one that would ease my worry.

 

I'd appreciate any help. Thank you in advance.

[dawniedawn67]

Hi Ecstatic

 

First of all, I think (and I am not an authority here) that you can rest assured that you are NOT about to be served with a warrant and hauled off to prison - at least, not over your student loan!

 

It is very easy to put your head in the sand regarding these things - believe me, I left college in 1985, and am just now starting to pay earnestly on what I owe. The BEST thing you can do is to be proactive in dealing with your account. Find out who has your account, call them, and get things set up. Approximately how much do you owe? Is it a private loan or a Federal loan?

 

May I ask, if you have no job, how are you living? Who pays your expenses? It is none of my business, but you can be sure that your CA is going to ask you these questions.

 

You may not be able to pay down your balance with a fast-food job, but you will at least pay off some of the interest. I'd go for it.

 

Good luck to you, and I'm sure some of the pros here will be by to give you better advice than I did.

[Ecstatic]

First of all, I think (and I am not an authority here) that you can rest assured that you are NOT about to be served with a warrant and hauled off to prison - at least, not over your student loan!

 

Thank you! It is such a relief to hear. I've been so anxious over this. Every time a car drives by, I think it's the cops coming to get me. I'm a bit paranoid over that scenario!

 

Approximately how much do you owe? Is it a private loan or a Federal loan?

 

$30,000. Well, I rounded up. It's $29,000 plus some, but I don't know the exact numbers off hand. It's the Stafford and Perkins loans.

 

May I ask, if you have no job, how are you living? Who pays your expenses? It is none of my business, but you can be sure that your CA is going to ask you these questions.

 

I'm taking care of the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, driving, etc., for an elderly woman in exchange for a room and food. It's the best I could do since I recently came back from Europe, and needed to find a place to live. Having very little in the way of cash, I couldn't afford a deposit on anything. So, this situation came up and I took it.

 

I'll be getting that fast food job, then. Since I don't need to pay rent or food or gas, I could use most if not all of the paycheck to pay the loan people. It would have to be part time, though, since technically my first "job" is with this elderly woman.

 

I called back the number left on my machine by the county people, but apparently they couldn't find any record of anyone having called me for anything. Not that I'm too surprised. People in Louisiana do things at their own pace. And then, of course, the government is notoriously disorganized. At least, in my experience.

 

The problem is - beyond that number left on my machine, I have nothing. No letters, no mail, nothing. I've been out of the country, so I have zero information in the way of who has my student loans and who I call. I looked at my credit report online, but I couldn't find the name of a CA on there. On one of them - equifax - all it said was "paid collection." On the other - experian - all it said was "claim filed with the government." No numbers anywhere.

 

How do I find the people who have my loan now? I'm going to try calling the bank through which the money was loaned and see if they know who has it. Hopefully, that will yield results. As the agreement I signed with them is all I have right now in the way of paperwork.

 

I've been reading over all these threads, and it's a bit ironic how usually the CA agencies find the debtors. Whereas I'm trying to search for the CA!

[dawniedawn67]

The problem is - beyond that number left on my machine, I have nothing. No letters, no mail, nothing. I've been out of the country, so I have zero information in the way of who has my student loans and who I call. I looked at my credit report online, but I couldn't find the name of a CA on there. On one of them - equifax - all it said was "paid collection." On the other - experian - all it said was "claim filed with the government." No numbers anywhere.

 

How do I find the people who have my loan now? I'm going to try calling the bank through which the money was loaned and see if they know who has it. Hopefully, that will yield results. As the agreement I signed with them is all I have right now in the way of paperwork.

 

I've been reading over all these threads, and it's a bit ironic how usually the CA agencies find the debtors. Whereas I'm trying to search for the CA!

 

 

I found this number under "Important Links" on the main page of the Student Loan forum. Good Luck!

 

Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center toll free at 1-800-4-FED-AID

[goal07]

You can also go to www dot nslds dot com (hope it's ok to post that) and request a pin number after you get your pin number go under the fin aid section and review all of your loans. This will tell you who has your loans, like if they are in collections, etc. it will tell you who to call and even give you the number. I hope this helps!

[Ecstatic]

Thank you SO much. Both of those posts - number and website are very helpful. I really appreciate it!