I made all my payments on the first month of rehab on my federal loans this week. It's interesting to go from the begining of the month as someone who was feeling like I was drowning to now feeling like I am starting to get a handle on my debt. I still owe a lot of money (as in above 150 k) but I am dealing with it.

I saw a debt counselor She gave me some great advice. As for the private debt, I decided to stop letting them intimidate me. I sent a letter, and they sent me a letter changing their tune as well. Whether they are giving me a head trip, I don't know, but like I suggested in my letter- you can't get blood from a dry stone, and I am willing to make their monthly payment, but can't do a montly payment. One thing I am figuring out if that they want to avoid the cost of litigation as much as I do because it will cost them money to go to court, and they are only allowed to collect 15 percent under the law of the amount of private debt that I owe. The more time they spend on this, the more time they are losing money. I was going to let them bully me into a payment that I absolutely could not pay a down payment without losing the ability to pay my federal loans. I agreed with the monthly amount. I made that clear in the letter too. This all seems to have changed their tune by 180 degrees. I am still seeking validation of the debt because I don't remember taking out this loan, but this is to let those of you who are dealing these issues to not let them pressure you into something that will put you in a worse position than you arelady are.

This is to encourage others. I hope it helps.

Were you not already served on this account??

Even with a payment plan, they more than like will push thru for a judgement just to protect their interests.

I definitely agree on not agreeing to a payment plan you cannot afford- all that will do is make it worse when you don't pay what you agreed.

Grats on starting rehab on the federal loans.

I am glad to hear they do not have as many rights in collecting private loans- IMO they shouldn't.

It's unlikely they will push through for a judgment. Any payment arrangement that I do would be based on a settlement agreement. That settlement agreement would protect their interest, and going to court would waste litigation money for them (their fee is a fixed amount). If you mean they may try to slip in a default judgment despite coming to settlement with me by not filing the settlement with the courts, I am prepared for that contigency because I will go to court regardless on the date of trial. If you don't mean this, then I am not sure what would be in it for them because the judge would be bound to respect the settlement arrangement, and in my state, judges tend to want the parties to come to settlement rather than litigate further. Also, the remedies available to them are severly limited by the realities of my case: a) the federal student loans can not go into AWG or they lose out (state garnishment would prevent my paying federal loans and downpayment would have eqiuvalent effect); I am a temp so garnishment would be hard since I move from job to job and the would waste money on continuous changes of administrative orders necessary to enforce garnishment; c) they can only collect a set fee of 15 percent (the more time they spend on this, the more money they lose); d) I have agreed to the monthly amount of their settlement with me so a judge would be hard pressed once I show him or her my financial circumstances to come to a better outcome in terms of what I am willing to pay. If you mean that they will still want a settlement that is unrealistic given my financial circumstance- again, I don't see how that benefits them. They certainly can waste money on firs t obtaining a judgment, and then doing the second process of enforcing the judgement, but what would be the point if I am paying them anyway? Maybe you can explain to me better what you mean.

These are for private student loans.

My federal student loans are in rehab.
Thx

Your private loans are not offering you a settlement...a settlement by definition is a one time payment for less than the total balance. They might be offering you a tempory payment plan, but that still doesnt mean they won't take out their judgemnt to protect their interest. This is common for private loans. They are not just looking at the now...they are looking to the future and your future income.

The letter that I got from them is not saying what you ae saying. I am not saying you are wrong.

It's kind irrelevant to me if they are holding out for future income, since if I owe this debt, I would use that to pay the debt anyhow. Your attitude seems to be that I am thinking I am 'tricking" someone when my goal is now to pay off all my debt over the next few years to zero, but to do it in a way that gets me out of this mess.

They could be just bullshitting me in the letter. I am just saying the letter is not saying what you are saying.

Also, settlement only means an out of court agreement between parties regarding the subject matter of litigation. It has nothing to do with how the parties settle or for what.

I am thinking you mean as I read your post that they can obtain a consent judgement based on a stipulation. Is that what you mean?

Yes, they can ask for the, but it's not the same as asking for a court judgment based on trial where they would have the right to garnishment which is my real concern. Indeed, even before I answered they were seeking a stipulation so they have been trying to avoid as the letter says "the further cost of litigation" from the start. The impact of the stipulation would have prevent them from garnishment as a remedy.

At any rate, I think you assume incorrectly that I am going to not pay this debt up, assuming its mine, or that I am going to let them hang over my head for a long time. This post was for those who think that they have no hope. There are not many options if you are not willing to pay, but there are some options if you are, and the real issue is inability to make down payments.

I have noticed that you make the assumptions probably becaue of your background (given what I read from one diary where you made such comments) and your view of default debtors. I am not trying to trick these people, or not pay up the debt. You are right they could be meaning something different.

I am trying to make sure that the reason I got into this mess- which was in part based on family problems (my mother had cancer and I had to take care of her, the emotional impact of that meant I just totally dropped the ball on the rest of my life for a while- not that this is any of your business but I feel there is some jugement on your part and I want to make it clear that its not justified.), and in part allowing people to push me around without making the best arrangement possilbe. My central goal is to pay off this debt as quickly as possible so whatever you think they have over me isn't going to be over me for long since I am going to find a way to pay this debt, again if I owed it, in full rather than have it linger for anytme longer than it has to linger.

The letter that I got from them is not saying what you ae saying. I am not saying you are wrong.

It's kind irrelevant to me if they are holding out for future income, since if I owe this debt, I would use that to pay the debt anyhow. Your attitude seems to be that I am thinking I am 'tricking" someone when my goal is now to pay off all my debt over the next few years to zero, but to do it in a way that gets me out of this mess.

They could be just bullshitting me in the letter. I am just saying the letter is not saying what you are saying.

Also, settlement only means an out of court agreement between parties regarding the subject matter of litigation. It has nothing to do with how the parties settle or for what.

I am thinking you mean as I read your post that they can obtain a consent judgement based on a stipulation. Is that what you mean?

Yes, they can ask for the, but it's not the same as asking for a court judgment based on trial where they would have the right to garnishment which is my real concern. Indeed, even before I answered they were seeking a stipulation so they have been trying to avoid as the letter says "the further cost of litigation" from the start. The impact of the stipulation would have prevent them from garnishment as a remedy.

At any rate, I think you assume incorrectly that I am going to not pay this debt up, assuming its mine, or that I am going to let them hang over my head for a long time. This post was for those who think that they have no hope. There are not many options if you are not willing to pay, but there are some options if you are, and the real issue is inability to make down payments.

I have noticed that you make the assumptions probably becaue of your background (given what I read from one diary where you made such comments) and your view of default debtors. I am not trying to trick these people, or not pay up the debt. You are right they could be meaning something different.

I am trying to make sure that the reason I got into this mess- which was in part based on family problems (my mother had cancer and I had to take care of her, the emotional impact of that meant I just totally dropped the ball on the rest of my life for a while- not that this is any of your business but I feel there is some jugement on your part and I want to make it clear that its not justified.), and in part allowing people to push me around without making the best arrangement possilbe. My central goal is to pay off this debt as quickly as possible so whatever you think they have over me isn't going to be over me for long since I am going to find a way to pay this debt, again if I owed it, in full rather than have it linger for anytme longer than it has to linger.