You think the law's unjust? Get involved then!

FindLaw's student loan forum

http://boards.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/WebX....y^4@.ef05ad7/34
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Student Loan Activists and Volunteers Exchange (S.L.A.V.E.)

http://studentloanslave.org/
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Student Loan Hell

http://studentloanhell.blogspot.com/
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Student Loan Justice

http://www.studentloanjustice.org/
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Article in CNN/Fortune Magazine on student loan lender industry scam from Dec 2005

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...64649/index.htm
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Article in Wake Forest law Review-January 2005

http://www.law.wfu.edu/prebuilt/w09-miller.pdf

I had blocked the links posted by a new member, since her motives seemed questionable at the time. After some behind-the-scenes discussion, I decided to unblock these links. You may find some of them helpful.

The messageboards included in the links are not necessarily recommended sites - what I've seen, after registering at both of them, is that maybe 1 question in 10 is getting a logical answer. The slave site and discussion board is dedicated to people who feel they have been treated unfairly by the system, in an effort to start a class action or to change the existing laws regarding student loans. I don't see that their goals are in any way competing with ours, or in opposition to ours. Their objective is totally different.

We have had what appears to be a number of people from that site who have visited here, and their perception is that we work for the creditors and collection agencies. We do not. Their anger is palpable, and they attack us because we are advising people to set up payment plans, contact collection agencies, etc etc.

We give practical advice, based on the existing laws regarding student loans. The existing laws are tough. Therefore, at a times the advice is tough. Mainly, if you aren't going to qualify to get your loans dismissed or bk'd due to hardship, we're going to tell you ways to work out payment - it's like the IRS. You have no other options. Your best defense is to understand what you're dealing with, and get down to the business of dealing with it.

As far as statistics go, someone might want to get the actual statistics so we can post them in a sticky, and refer to them when necessary.

I have read thru several of those sites, and for the most part I have never seen so much displaced anger. People who are angry at the system because they screwed up or their attorney screwed up. For the most part, and yes there are true hardship cases, the only person they can blame is themselves. Do you know how many times I heard "I just had a baby and can't pay??" I remember someone trying that line on me the day I returned from work from my maternity leave. Didnt work. People have to realize that if they are going to borrow money to go to school, that contract is just as important as the lease you sign for your housing or the note you sign for your car. There is a mindset that just because there is nothing tangable or that can be "repo'ed", you can get away without paying. Yes, I do have a lot of sympathy for the individuals that are stuck with the 8-12% loans from the 80's and 90's. The government should do some sort of interest relief for these people.

I just did some research and the Department of Education announced the Federal cohort default average for 2003 was 4.5%. This is way down from the 21% in the early 1990. The system works for over 95% of the population. Interesting.......

I signed the dotted line to my student loan in the early 80s with a high interest rate. Not even
knowing I was signing a legal government document. I signed the contract in a college office. I
wonder why these contracts are not notorized? Yes, I am bitter and hated myself for years and most
of my anger has been at myself. Don't most people really want to pay off their student loans?

I think it's like a lot of other debts. Most people intend to pay them off when they take them out. I doubt many people sign any kind of loan app or credit app, with the thought in their mind "I have no intention of paying this."

The thing about student loans is, younger people may not realize all the ramifications - since they already know everyting (I'm old), they don't read the fine print, or if they read it they don't know what it means. Plus, we are all brought up to believe that a college education is the key to success. Add to that, most younger people think it will automatically get them a high paying job, and repayment will be easy.

Of course there are all kinds of other situations that come up and take priority in someone's life, many times making the much-sought-after degree much less important than it was when the individual was first starting out.

But we can talk til we're blue in the face - tell people not to use a SL to buy a car, or pay the rent - they'll do it anyway. It's just too easy. But payback time arrives and it becomes a bigger burden than they realized.

Thanks breeze, for your comment. Now days I think there is at least some counseling and a wealth of
education to learn about student loans before signing for one. My son just got a small perkins student
loan for college and he was better prepared and had counseling before he signed for the loan. He just
earned extra money this year and will pay all of the loan off in the summer. The internet(which I didn't
have in the 80s) and student loan forums like this one are a Godsend to get people on track with their
student loans. This site is a wonderful service and am glad to see an open mind here too!


Sincerely,

Slave

You must be in my age group, lol. My student loans were '80-84. Lovely interest rates.
I don't recall ever signing for them, probably did though. At the time, you went into the financial aid office and either accepted the aid package that you were offered, or rejected parts or all of it. No pre-loan counseling, no explaination that student loans will follow you to the grave, lol- nothing. Just "sign here" and you're all set!
At 18, you are invincible, not really worrying about repayment. After all, when the time comes, you'll be working in that dream job and making money hand over fist!
Then Real Life sneaks up on you....

There needs to be some real, substantial counseling done, both in terms of the loans, and financial management in general at that age. Huge amounts of money are being loaned to young kids, who have no clue that repayment may be a decades-long thing.
Sadly, too many of them still see it as "free" government money and borrow far more than they really need.