Hi all,
I have had many student loans in default for many years. Got my act together and went with Student Loans Solutions and they had someone (?) buy out my loans and I now pay the US Dept. of Ed. a low, income contingent monthly payment. The loans are not out of default yet as I have only made three payments and recently (Oct. '05) filed bk7.
Does anyone have any info about this process? How it helped them, hurt them, or anything at all. Any info on Student Loans Solutions? They SEEM to have really helped me, so far. They stopped my income tax refunds from being siezed again.
Thanks,
Casey

Student Loan Solutions simply had you do a consolidation loan with the US Department of Ed. They really didnt do anything that you couldnt have done yourself. They didnt stop your taxes from being taken. By consolidation your loan, your default was resolved and and now you have a new loan. Student Loan Solutions is now completely out of the picture....I hope you didnt pay them anything!

No, I didn't give them any money. They did do alot for me. They gave me useful information preventing me from signing a deal with a CA that would have made my monthly payment $100 higher and did not take my loans out of default for over a year and not allowing me to get any financial aid or government assistance like FHA, etc.
Yes, I could have done all that myself, but not if I didn' know I could. The did it all for me and made it very easy... FOR FREE! They may get a tiny bit of my monthly payment, but I don't know about it if they do. Who cares anyway, they got me athe lowest payment of the three companies I looked into.
Thanks,
Casey

No, I didn't give them any money. They did do alot for me. They gave me useful information preventing me from signing a deal with a CA that would have made my monthly payment $100 higher and did not take my loans out of default for over a year and not allowing me to get any financial aid or government assistance like FHA, etc.
All this information is right on the DOE site and all over the web. You cannot "sign" a deal with a CA for payments. What the CA was trying to do was to rehab your account which actually would have benefitted your credit much much more! They actually did you no favor. They obviously didnt tell you that you were entitled to "reasonable and affordable" payments when doing these rehabs. They took the shortcut and consolidated you quickly. Yes you get your financial aid back quicker, but the defaults still scar your credit report.

Yes, I could have done all that myself, but not if I didn' know I could. The did it all for me and made it very easy... FOR FREE! They may get a tiny bit of my monthly payment, but I don't know about it if they do. Who cares anyway, they got me athe lowest payment of the three companies I looked into.

They didnt get you the payment, your income did. It sounds like they simply had you sign for the income contingent repayment plan at the DOE. They basically did nothing, except paperwork.
Thanks,
Casey

You are right, kind of, but what you are assuming is that my credit was my most important issue at the time. It was not. It is now, but not then. My goal, which they helped me accomplish, was to enable me to get my loans out of defaul the fastest to allow me to finish my degree. That and the lowest monthly payment I could possibly get. They helped me do both. The CA was not interested in helping me at all. Just in getting paid. PERIOD.
Maybe from a credit score point of view, you may be right, but for me personally, they helped alot.
I could wait a little longer for my credit score to jump up, I could not wait to get back in school and get my loans out of default. A new baby was on the way and so was my tax refund. Needed lowest payment possible, a full tax refund and ability to get in school ASAP. Got all three.
Maybe the didn't do much, just exactly what I asked them to.
They did me a huge favor.
Thanks,
Casey

Lynn - in an attempt to understand the process more fully, i have a question about this situation...why did you say " i hope you didn't pay them" this is confusing me....
Any clarification would help.
thanks!
t

What I was saying was I hope she didnt pay Student Loan Solutions. They are basically a marketing company. They must make some sort of commission from the DOE for consolidating as the are not giving the borrowers, especially the defaulted ones the whole picture or all of their options.

thank you Lynn, for clearing that up...
I'm earnestly trying...reading...waiting for all of these pieces of valuable information to fall into place and start making sense.
t