aboveliquidice

To add to what I have previously submitted... Federal Direct Loans, Great Lakes, and Nelnet accepted and reduced my student loans to 6% immediately. Citibank denied receiving any request; Xpress loan services didn't budge either. Both are now processing the request again. ***** ANOTHER IMPORTANT LAW CHANGE ***** The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007: - This law removes the 3 yr limit on military deferment AND the applicability only to loans after 7/1/2001. Your military deferment should last as long as your service does. This allows you more flexibility in terms of repayment. Going through this process has shown how seldom these requests are made. Furthermore, the student loan companies are likely to draw out any process that would require them to decrease student loan interest. Remind the SL companies that these are LAWS. They have no choice.

To add to what I have previously submitted... Federal Direct Loans, Great Lakes, and Nelnet accepted and reduced my student loans to 6% immediately. Citibank denied receiving any request; Xpress loan services didn't budge either. Both are now processing the request again. ***** ANOTHER IMPORTANT LAW CHANGE ***** The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007: - This law removes the 3 yr limit on military deferment AND the applicability only to loans after 7/1/2001. Your military deferment should last as long as your service does. This allows you more flexibility in terms of repayment. Going through this process has shown how seldom these requests are made. Furthermore, the student loan companies are likely to draw out any process that would require them to decrease student loan interest. Remind the SL companies that these are LAWS. They have no choice.

Perhaps... I haven't used any of their cards in three years.

True... but above 765 on all 3 CRAs and only a car loan needed in the next 5 years, it matters little.

We don't need CC companies. We CHOOSE who we do business with. If that business partnership goes south, feel free to renegotiate your terms. Case in point; I have 13 credit cards, none of which have balances. I use one or two per month for all of my bills. I decided to seek out who wanted my business. I called each one, asking for a CL increase in return for increased use. Charles Schwab (FIA now) said yes. USAA said yes. Discover card said yes too. Chase and AmEx however, refused to budge. Chase, AmEx - You're fired. You will be placed in the safe with the others never to be used again. Schwab, USAA, and Discover all received promotions. Don't toy with these companies... they wouldn't hesitate to ruin you at a seconds notice (in fact AmEx tried to last year). /rant

Thank you for the reply - we did just that and got her student loans up to date. Do you have any tactic to recommend for use in approaching the CRAs later on?

The SCRA interest rate reduction to 6% was extended to Title IV loans via the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. This is an explanation of the changes written by Great Lakes / Department of education concerning the change: The statutory provision that states no other U.S. or State law can limit the rate or amount of interest payable on Stafford loans is revised to allow section 207 of the SCRA to apply to FFELP and Direct Loans, including subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation loans. Section 207 allows service members who are on full-time, active duty* to request the interest rate on their Stafford loans be reduced to 6%. The 6% limit applies to fees and other charges as the SCRA states the term “interest” includes service charges, renewal charges, and any other charges (except bona fide insurance) with respect to an obligation or liability. The loan on which a rate reduction is requested must be disbursed prior to the date the borrower was called to active duty. The borrower must provide a written request and copy of his/her orders and such request must be made no later than 180 days after the end of applicable military service. *Full-time, active duty includes the Armed Forces, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corp (NOAA), public health services, or National Guard (called to duty for more than 30 days for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by federal funds). [HEA §428(d)(1); HEOA §422(g)(1)] I just got off the phone with direct loans - they had no idea and refuse to even entertain my question. I have found the exact phrasing in the Higher education opportunity act, however it is confusing the way it is written. Has anyone else even attempted to get this put through? Great Lakes appears to recognize this, and allows you to simply submit a form. Why don't the others? Does anyone else have an interpretation?

The SCRA interest rate reduction to 6% was extended to Title IV loans via the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. This is an explanation of the changes written by Great Lakes / Department of education concerning the change: The statutory provision that states no other U.S. or State law can limit the rate or amount of interest payable on Stafford loans is revised to allow section 207 of the SCRA to apply to FFELP and Direct Loans, including subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation loans. Section 207 allows service members who are on full-time, active duty* to request the interest rate on their Stafford loans be reduced to 6%. The 6% limit applies to fees and other charges as the SCRA states the term “interest” includes service charges, renewal charges, and any other charges (except bona fide insurance) with respect to an obligation or liability. The loan on which a rate reduction is requested must be disbursed prior to the date the borrower was called to active duty. The borrower must provide a written request and copy of his/her orders and such request must be made no later than 180 days after the end of applicable military service. *Full-time, active duty includes the Armed Forces, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corp (NOAA), public health services, or National Guard (called to duty for more than 30 days for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by federal funds). [HEA §428(d)(1); HEOA §422(g)(1)] I just got off the phone with direct loans - they had no idea and refuse to even entertain my question. I have found the exact phrasing in the Higher education opportunity act, however it is confusing the way it is written. Has anyone else even attempted to get this put through? Great Lakes appears to recognize this, and allows you to simply submit a form. Why don't the others?

Bottom line up front: My wife's student loans are behind 120+ days. They are not defaulted. $550.00 would bring her up to date, but she has 3 months of really bad reporting. Can anything be done about the reporting of these loans??? We are able to pay them current today. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

1) Do I keep the truck and bear with it as depreciation is a factor as well as my negative equity? 2) Buy a cheap car for appx $3000 but run the risk of repair and have little to no wiggle room? 3) Get a bike and keep the truck. Just don't drive the truck and with 20yrs riding motorcycles, know how to fix and operate a bike efficiently. 4) Buy the bike, take the loss in equity on truck and sell it. Have the bike alone for 6mo regardless of weather. This will achieve maximum gas economy, low payments, etc. 5) Anything else I left out? Thanks in advance. You have too much vehicle for the amount of money you make... You speak about getting a raise, and in the same post state you are going to leave your job soon. Consider your next steps more carefully - I do think getting rid of the truck and getting a cheaper and more efficient car is your best bet. Buying the bike is not a viable choice. Sometimes, we want change so much that we make poor decisions (I've done that). Good luck, downsizing a vehicle is never a fun choice.

Im not sure what service your husband is in - but you need to seek out your emergency relief office on base. For the Army - this is AER (Army Emergency Relief). They can help you with short term money, renegotiate your settlements, deferments of certain bills. You need to go there NOW. Do not wait until the command finds out. It will be much worse then. They can give you recommendations on what to do next. The military family will not judge you - they need your husband well physically AND mentally. That means we take care of his family. If he was one of my soldiers, I would take him there myself.

Because they lied to you... Refer to the above... there are many data points suggesting 0% was possible. The salesmen correctly identified his ability to get you to sign with a higher interest rate. Most salesmen are just that... buyer beware.

I recently contracted with the Army to be a pharmacist on active duty (as a captain). They will do a hard inquiry, checking your credit like any other organization. They pulled transunion for me... twice actually.

Change your username tony...

The absolute lack of fiscal responsibility in this thread is sickening... To the OP - I've got a feeling this won't play out the way you think or want it to. To the above poster - Who on earth files for bankruptcy, and in the same thought, states you will not be able to file for another 8 years??? Another poster stated that this is why it is hard to finance youth - You are so right. I wouldn't want to do business with the OP or anyone else expecting to need several bankruptcies...