The short details: i was married before the first of the year. I knew my spouse had a student loan however I was not aware it was in default. It is a Perkins loan; $13K principal, $4K interest. The loan has been handed overr to CA (Van Ru - being handled by RGS Financial). I discovered this when they seized taxes that were filed jointly. Spouse is not employed.

I had no idea what a mess this could be. My student loan was taken out and paid back over a decade ago. My spouse's account is in serious default (2002) - I know the life story and won't blame her, however it is not a good place to start negotiation.

I have since filed my injured spouse statement and expect the return of my portion of tax overpayment. Everything else is safe (no joint accounts, no joint properties, all vehicles in my name, etc.). Appears I will have to keep it this way for awhile. Next year tax time it will be filing separately or with the injured spouse form attached jointly.

I have a good income, but the both of us have major medical expenses that must be funded, as well as my car payment, mortgage, and credit line. Both of us have some amount of medical disability. Medical issues limit my spouse to the work she can seek. And I must keep available credit due to the nature of my employment and the nature of our medical conditions. It is a struggle, but right now I keep all my bills current and all my medical expense paid.

I have contacted Van Ru / RGS Financial several times on behalf of my spouse (since I will be paying this in the short term). The agent assigned to this collection from RGS is not very friendly or very informative. He keeps trying to push me to handing over a large lump sum. The moment I try to discuss payment options, the amount of 'lump sum' and payment goes up. I can tell him one minute I cannot afford one option, then he proposes a more expensive option.
It took some digging to find out where he was getting his numbers. It appears that in my first call he was basing numbers on the interest+principal; the next call he was basing it with the 25% collection costs; the next he wanted a full lump sum and hung up on me when I started insisting on some written documentation.
After the RGS agent hung up on me, I talked with another rep at the Van Ru office, and this person also insisted there was no paperwork they could send me and no way they would accept any non-electronic payment. Van Ru appears to be making it very difficult to set up a rehab program. And this is frustrating me to no end as I have not dealt with any collections in over 20 years and have a good credit standing.

I want FULL control over the timing of the payment. I have seen, on this board and others, some complaints about the CA failing to continue ACH after rehab, causing the clock to start over. Also noted at least one comment where the CA seized all of the money in the account. If I have to do ACH, then it will be an account separated from my personal accounts. Even then I want an option that allows me to time the submission of payment so I can INSURE and PROVE they are submitted timely.

The two things that are aggravating me are:
1) Van Ru has repeatedly claimed that they cannot send me or my spouse any paperwork with our options explained. They likewise refuse to take a financial statement of any form except thru telephone.
2) Van Ru declares that ALL payment must be made in electronic form; they say they do not accept any payments by mail. I do NOT want to give these snakes-in-the-grass ANY of my account identifying information.

The questions that I have are:
1) What is the expected monthly rehab payment amount for the figures given ($13K p, $4K i)?
2) Will they base the rehab payment on the P+I+25% collection fee? Is this negotiable?
3) Does Van Ru have the right to prohibit payment by mail?
4) Does Van Ru require a 'lump sum' payment and rehab payments?
5) If there are serious medical issues with expenses, can they adjust this rehab payment based on hardship?
6) Can I deal with anyone else besides Van Ru?

One more question - I have talked with a 'student loan adjuster'. This is a private service that (for a fee) intervenes to negotiate the rehab and to get better financing after the rehab is complete. This service is tempting only because I an a bit afraid of the unknown. Can anyone tell me if this is a reasonable service? Can they accomplish anything I cannot? (I can hold my own in negotiation if I know what I am able to ask for...)

Thanks. Please help me understand this mess so I can get my spouse out of the weeds and back on track.

thanks for the rapid response. That was useful information.

And..my deepest and sincere sympathies to any of you out there that for some untold reason allow their student loan to go this far and get in the clutches of Van Ru. I guess that most of the agents there (well at least two out of three so far with my experience) are absolutely ruthless and will badger you and harass you and degrade you unless you are saying "my debit card # is xxxx...".

I don't say that lightly. I had read a few things but still didn't expect the kind of conversation I had this afternoon, as soon as I asked him to note a later date to start the rehab he went off about me being a typical deadbeat with an account years old and obviously was never gonna handle it voluntarily. Then he asked for my debit card to post-date the payment....I said oh, nooo....he got real snotty and hung up.

I'm sure there are some deadbeats in the people he deals with. And just as many who got slapped by real life and just need help. But my God, all I'm trying to do is get payments started without opening the bank door to them. After all it is not my loan! (i.e. I married the loanee...) I've only known about it for a couple of weeks and am not wasting any time addressing it.

On my second call today, for the first time in almost a dozen calls, got an agent that was reasonable and informative. Must add that. But even then I was not offered a written plan or an alternative to electronic payments. I still have this feelin of being roughed up by the bad cops and pacified by the good cop. I got a reasonable pay arrangement and a date for first payment.

That one experience gets my dander up. I'm still fuming if its worth it to complain (probably not). When I get these snakes outta my life I'll be plenty happy.