iggster

My friend is applying for loan with the bank. They ran his credit report and it said he's dead. Well, his ex wife died in Sept 2011 and for some reason, Transunion is saying that HE is dead. The bank gave him a number to call at Transunion but it was an automated system and disconnected him after saying, "Thanks! You're free credit report is in the mail." Where does he need to start to get this fixed? Where else should he investigate to see if he's listed as dead?

I'm trying to find an online calculator that will tell me what my monthly repayment amounts would be based on the amount of money I borrow. studentloans.gov only tells you based on how much you've already borrowed. Basically, I want to know if I were to borrow $45k, what would my monthly payment be for 10 years? Is there such a tool available? Or are there too many variables to make a calculator like that possible?

My husband has his student loans through Direct Loans. Two semesters were subsidized STFFRD and the rest were unsubsidized. We moved and didn't get the forwarded payment notice until today. We are "in grace" until 11/1. First payment is due 11/28. The payments are way more than we can afford. Heck, we can't even afford to pay our electric bill! My parents are paying it for us. My husband has been looking for a job in his degree field since January with no luck. Right now, he's waiting tables to support us but even that has been really crappy pay. I've been surfing the Direct Loan site. I have two deferment options: General Forbearance (This forbearance allows you to postpone or reduce the amount of your monthly payment for a limited and specific period of time.) and Loan Debt Burden Forbearance (This forbearance allows you to postpone or reduce the amount of your monthly payment for a limited and specific period of time if you provide acceptable documentation showing that your monthly payments for eligible education loan(s) exceed 20% of your total monthly gross income.) Is one better than the other? Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs? I plan on calling first thing Monday morning to discuss all of this, but I want to have some options and knowledge before digging in.

My husband graduated on May 15. He has been sending out 50+ resume's/apps per week and hasn't even had a phone call. We had assumed that he'd be able to find a job within three months of graduating but since he's not had a single interview we're starting to get nervous. It's entirely possible that he will find a job before is loan payments start but, given the economy, I'm not willing to bet on it. Is it possible to request deferment before repayment begins? I don't want us to miss payments and have the negative credit hit us. But there's no way we can pay on it. What if he gets a job waiting tables? We'd barely be able to survive but it would be some income. Would we no longer qualify for deferment? I want to make sure that remain in good standing with his student loans and are proactive with the situation. Any insights, advice or links for research would be greatly appreciated.