Should I Just Let My Loan Default and Deal with the Aftermath When it Gets Here?

[avacado]

I received a letter in the mail yesterday from Sallie Mae that they are going to declare my student loan defaulted on 6/1/10. I owe them $93,000 (including initial loan, interest, and late fees.)

 

I graduated in 2007 and I made on payment in the amount of $50 dollars two years ago. I've been on the phone with them since 2007 trying to get them to work with me. For the first year and a half I had no job. And I looked I kept a list of the places I applied to and it well over 200 and I never got hired because I was overqualified because of my degree.

 

I finally got a job at Countrywide, but we all know what happened with them. And they fired everyone; I only had that job for a week. I called Sallie Mae and told them about this and had to pay to have my loan put into forbearance. Six months later I got another job, but it was part time and I was only making $300 dollars a month. I called Sallie Mae and told them that I couldn't afford a $1,200 dollar a month payment; they lowered it to $950. I eventually got another job and started making $500 a month. Again I called Sallie Mae and told them that the payment was more that what I made, they lowered it to $900 dollars.

 

And after two years of looking I finally found a full-time job and make $1400. Though the payments would eat up over half of my check, I'd still have money left over for food, and luckily my parents let me move back in with them. Then my mom lost her job, and then my dad lost his job. And for a while I was paying all the bills; rent, water, electricity. My bank account was overdrawn for several months. I called Sallie Mae again and told them I have no money to pay them, they basically told me that it wasn’t their problem. My dad found another job, but his check varies. And mom hasn’t been able to find a job in the past three years. So my dad's entire check goes to rent and my entire check goes to bills and food. And were not living the high life either, we regularly overdraw on our bank accounts to keep the lights and water on. And there are times that a fridge is empty for days.

 

And I've called Sallie Mae I've given them a run down of all the bills we have and what we buy. And the lowered my loan payments to $695. I told them that, that amount doesn't help me any because it way to much. The only nice thing we have is cable. I told them if I cancel that I could give them $50 dollars a month. They told me that they want the whole amount or nothing at all. They told me that I should sell my car and house. I told them that I don't own a car or house, I have no property. And there response was 'Oh'.

 

I feel like I'm being forced into default because I no other option. I thought well, if my loan defaults I can file chapter 13 and force them to give me a payment plan that I can work with. But I found that bankruptcy attorneys with all the paper work can cost $1,000, which is something that I don't have. So my only hope is that the collections agency with work with me. That is if I don't get sued my Sallie Mae.

 

My student loan is the only debt that I have. They pulled my credit report several times, so many times that it’s now at 524. And I know that if my loan defaults my rating will drop into the 300s or default about to 0.

 

I don’t know what to do or were to get help. I even checked with the Federal Consolidation and my payment would end up being higher then they are now.

[Saria]

Are these loans federal or private? Or some combination?

 

I hope you realize that SLs are almost never discharged in BK.

[avacado]

They're private loans, Stafford and subsidized.

[LynnInMN]

You must be misunderstanding federal consolidation. Income contingent repayment would most definately lower your payment to an affordable amount.

[betterfuture]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I can tell you that things will not get better if you default and many of the options for repayment will not be available once you do. If you become unemployed or are working less than 30 hours a week, have Sallie Mae send you paperwork for an unemployment deferment. If you are working more than 40 hours and you are making more than minimum wage have them send you paperwork for an economic hardship deferment, since your parents are unemployed and you are taking care of them. You should qualify if your loan payment is more than 20% of your gross monthly income.

 

You can also try forbearance to postpone or reduce your payment for, i believe up to 12 months, this may end up costing you in the long run but will give you time. You can also request an income based repayment plan, which is a federal program, i believe you can use your parents when determining family size. You pay for 25 years then balance is forgiven but taxed.

 

hope this help.

[LynnInMN]

Is this a federal or private sallie mae loan? Is it a stafford?

[alexplantman]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I can tell you that things will not get better if you default and many of the options for repayment will not be available once you do. If you become unemployed or are working less than 30 hours a week, have Sallie Mae send you paperwork for an unemployment deferment. If you are working more than 40 hours and you are making more than minimum wage have them send you paperwork for an economic hardship deferment, since your parents are unemployed and you are taking care of them. You should qualify if your loan payment is more than 20% of your gross monthly income.

 

You can also try forbearance to postpone or reduce your payment for, i believe up to 12 months, this may end up costing you in the long run but will give you time. You can also request an income based repayment plan, which is a federal program, i believe you can use your parents when determining family size. You pay for 25 years then balance is forgiven but taxed.

hope this help.

How does that work?

[pepperoncini]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I can tell you that things will not get better if you default and many of the options for repayment will not be available once you do. If you become unemployed or are working less than 30 hours a week, have Sallie Mae send you paperwork for an unemployment deferment. If you are working more than 40 hours and you are making more than minimum wage have them send you paperwork for an economic hardship deferment, since your parents are unemployed and you are taking care of them. You should qualify if your loan payment is more than 20% of your gross monthly income.

 

You can also try forbearance to postpone or reduce your payment for, i believe up to 12 months, this may end up costing you in the long run but will give you time. You can also request an income based repayment plan, which is a federal program, i believe you can use your parents when determining family size. You pay for 25 years then balance is forgiven but taxed.

hope this help.

How does that work?

 

http://www.finaid.org/loans/ibr.phtml

[Jeremy09]

Income contingent repayment plan is your best bet.