So needless to say, this has been a total nightmare for us. Attacking private student loans is attacking their golden goose, and as a result, it’s unlikely that we’ll see any major changes to the industry at any point in the near future, unless more lawsuits like the CFPB’s attack on Navient emerge, and more holes are poked in the dam. I can’t do that. So naive. I don’t want to steer you the wrong direction and I am in no way qualified to offer legal advice. As I’ve already shown above, there are excellent private student loan forgiveness programs available to students who attended specific schools; typically, large, for-profit schools who have been proven to have done some sort of false advertising, making misleading claims about the value of their educational programs, promising students that they’d earn some certain amount of money after graduating, or doing some other thing that violated Federal or State laws. Do NOT combine Federal with Private! I did not graduate due to illness the last semester and did not return the next semester due to cost. I’m been current over the last 3 years. I am desperate for some relief from this debt, I feel as though I ruined my life at a young age and there is no solution. I did and the representative said I definitely did not have the disposable income to make the payment, but they also needed my cosigners info. I am in a similar situation. If I were you, I would start considering options for filing for bankruptcy and attempting to get the loans discharged. If you’re already 2 years into the 4 year waiting period, why be in such a rush? Even if a borrower is lucky enough to get a good settlement on their own, executing a settlement properly – making sure that it is notated correctly in the lender’s systems, reported correctly to the credit bureaus, and ensuring that the lender does not try to collect on the forgiven balance – is just as important as negotiating the dollar amount. I’m sorry to hear about your situation, and sorry for your loss. You need to speak to a lawyer PRONTO to make sure that giving her a salary isn’t going to prevent her from being able to qualify for TPD, and you need to be VERY careful about how you proceed here. I barely make $41k a year. Introduced as an amendment to the latest reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act, Dean’s proposal would provide for $10,000 in … I can’t offer legal advice. In total if I could pay them all after my car payment I would have about $400 a month to live off of and this is only if my husband paid for every other bill in our household. Fortunately, 12 State Attorneys General and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched lawsuits against the now bankrupt Hedge Fund, and are in the process of reaching a settlement agreement that will see that $200 million returned to the borrowers who were scammed by Aequitas. I haven’t talked to keybank or a CA in a year, stopped getting letters from them in probably the same time. Making regular monthly payments on your defaulted loan will NOT help your credit score. Unless you’ve got multiple private loans, I would avoid looking at consolidation as an option, and consider going through other means to deal with your outstanding debt. I’ve not heard of Go 2 Finance, but I’d check out online reviews for any company you’re considering working with. In fact, Congress actually passed a law requiring the CFPB to look into the student loans industry and start making regulatory recommendations for resolving problems that existing law is creating for borrowers. I have a wife and a newborn daughter and am afraid we will be unable to afford a house for my family. I tried to refinance with SoFi and others but was denied. $150K with private loans, caring for 85 year old mother with husband. My question is whether or not I can discharge my private loans during the time I was with the school. Have been paying off and on since then, but double payments for 5 years, still owe $98,239. This can take between 6-8 months of nonpayment depending on the lender. I am 33 yrs old, make $38,000 a year and am married. I have no credit thanks to this situation. But most for-profit student loan lenders have the incentive to agree to cancelling a portion of the student loan in return for a reduced payoff. Canada Student Loan forgiveness applies only to the federal portion of a student loan. I have about 67k in private loans with Navient and they won’t let me lower my payment. Many loans can be settled for far less than the full balance, if they are from a for-profit lender, and if the loan is in default. I have read your webpage, but I don’t think there is any loan forgiveness that applies to me. It’s possible that you may be able to qualify for the Bankruptcy Discharge, but relatively unlikely if your Father cosigned on the loans for you. Get her out of this agreement with the attorney. I have tried contacting Navient but their office is closed. Tim. There is also the possibility that forgiveness of federal student loans could pave the way for similar treatment of privately backed education debt. I would push for the school misrepresenting employment rates, salaries, etc. They have offered a settlement for 70%.. You might want to speak to a financial advisor first, and get their idea on how best to proceed here. Also, just like there are tons of loan forgiveness scams, loan consolidation is another target of con men, so you will run into all sorts of offers that are far too good to be true, and you need to be extremely careful about picking a partner to consolidate your loans. However, by waiting for default to occur, much better settlements can be achieved through expert negotiation. However, I am in need of a vehicle, and I cannot get a loan. I currently live in Louisiana. No, Private Loans aren’t eligible for BDAR. The recent spate of Closed School Discharges and Department of Education-lead forced refunds (think DeVry, ITT Tech, Corinthian Colleges, etc. To get your student loans discharged in bankruptcy, you will have to prove paying your student loans would subject you to “ undue hardship.” You must file an action against your student loan lender in an adversary proceeding as part of the bankruptcy process. I’ve been working in Healthcare close to 8 years and now of course I don’t qualify for the loan forgiveness because they’re private regardless of my work setting. If you’re a borrower who’s taken out a private loan and you’re looking to pursue the forgiveness route, it’s really only accessible through the negotiation of a lump sum or structured settlement, where the creditor agrees to cancel, or forgive, the remaining balance without attempting to collect on it in the future. The three biggest school-specific private student loan forgiveness programs on offer were created for students who attended a Corinthian Colleges School (Heald, Everest and Wyotech), ITT Tech, and DeVry, but every couple months, another big school goes bust and everyone gets access to additional refunds and forgiveness benefits. Originally, it called for $10,000 of forgiveness for struggling borrowers with both federal and private loans. Settlement happens every day, however. She has a learning, memory, cognitive, and autism spectrum, per her Doctor of Psychiatry. Thanks! I can’t see how this will just go away? If you’re truly a private student loan expert, you’d be proud to put your name on your work. His father will not take over the part I can not repay. However, Navient is pressing our daughter for money for her Private loans. $381 is definitely too much money for someone receiving just $1,181 per month. Start looking at debt consolidation options, get quotes, and let your current lender know that you’re going to consolidate elsewhere if they won’t work with you to reduce the monthly payments. To find out what the program may look like (it hasn’t been fully unveiled yet), please visit my page about the Navient Student Loan Forgiveness Program. That means I had to go back home with no degree and a lot of debt. This is an area that the vast majority of people don’t have experience in, and the internet is filled with horror stories of student settlements gone wrong. Do you live in a nice place, and do you go out to eat regularly? I am terrified of these student loans. He graduated in 2008 from McIntosh College in NH. I don’t want to point you in any specific direction because I’ve heard great things (and horror stories) about every single private student loan servicer, but talk to a few of them and see who can get you the best deal, then get on it! I was wondering if I could go bankrupt I really can’t pay off my private loan specially right now that I’m about to be a single mother .I can bearly afford to support myself and my bills with the income I make monthly and now with a baby on the way I’m stressing so bad.I need help ASAP I’m already behind on my school payments. Refinancing has many benefits and is a great option for borrowers with solid income, a steady job, low debt to income ratio, who are looking to pay their loan off in full over time at a lower interest rate (including  federal government student loan borrowers). Programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Student Loan Forgiveness for Nurses and another one for teachers help students manage and offset their debt burden much faster. Her loans were approx $29,000 upon graduation, but with all the deferrments, etc., her loans are close to $40,000, or even higher. If you’re trying to settle your debt for less than the full balance, you will usually get a better deal (once defaulted) from the original lender rather than a refinance lender, who can be much more aggressive and difficult to deal with (once in default). I am so glad you posted this article. Wish me luck! I also found out I have two private loans with Key Bank that have been issued to their collection recovery dept and showing as charged off on my credit. I pay almost $1,000 per month in rent, I have a $317 car note and other bills I have to pay. I think it’s a good idea to negotiate for a smaller total loan balance, but I would advise you to be extremely cautious about what you agree to. Defaulting on your loan is not a realistic way to get private student loan help. The most difficult thing is coming up with funding, but with the options of structured settlement and/or holding strategies to buy time, this is something that your negotiator can plan with you. I don’t know what to do, or if these loans can be consolidated. To apply for forgiveness for private student loans, you will need to apply online. In fact, in all but the absolute worst situations, defaulting on your loans simply makes your financial problems worse. I wish I had some better advice for you, but when it comes to these things there really aren’t any magic budgets. I have a ton of student loan debt both private and federal. I’ve don’t the borrowers defense claim but I thought that was only for federal loans. Great info! The single best way to get rid of your private student loan debt is to challenge the nature of it’s existence by proving that you never would have taken the loans out in the first place had you not been lied to, scammed, or promised something you never received by the school, lender, or student loan servicing company. Sometimes it takes the threat of leaving to get them to give up some wiggle room. Be wary of false student loan prophets! However, my private loans were taken through Sallie Mae now Navient and they aren’t working with me. It has gotten to 31,369 with all the interest. So, it is affecting both our finances. Getting in touch with them might have been a huge mistake – they could have forgotten about you guys entirely and been prepared to wipe out the debt, but opening up discussions with them again may force the person you spoke with to start proceedings for transferring the debt to a collection agency. As a result, protests erupted across the country, with thousands of former students publicly demonstrating that they would refuse to pay back their loans, and this sparked a bit of a panic across the student loan industry, and Congress. Should I not have called them? Do you have any advice on what to do before they take it to court? My question….I can’t afford to pay what is past due but should I make an effort to pay something minimal to show that I am not disregarding the debt? I have been searching despitely for private student loan forgiveness. Sorry to hear about your situation, but yes, if you’re still married, then the collectors can definitely come after your assets. I would recommend speaking to a Bankruptcy attorney in your area as soon as possible. You’ve already defaulted on the loan, so things can’t really get worse, but it may be possible to work out an arrangement where you pay pennies on the dollar and avoid having any sort of wage garnishment put on your disability income. Did you finish the program? Navient is in all sorts of legal trouble right now, so it’s a good time to pile on and pursue a discharge. This whole situation is heartbreaking. For profit lenders have no reasonable incentive to settle for a major reduction unless the loan has become a non-performing asset – which takes place once the account defaults. Most lenders don’t want to lose loans (that means they stop making money on interest payments), so making a threat like this may be just what you need to get the negotiations flowing. Are you on a variable interest rate plan, or a fixed rate plan? 13. Cancelling Up to $10,000 for Some Private Borrowers. I co-signed a private student loan with my daughter who is now deceased. Some corporations, usually nonprofit or “institutional” loan lenders, may not settle at all. Keeping Private Debt Manageable While Maximizing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Private student loans may charge outrageous interest rates. They get huge cash infusions from the feds constantly. Sorry I can’t give you a better answer, but I like them because it’s a more custom solution than what most other companies offer. You’ll have to review them all and see if you qualify. We have no assets at this time but i have considered buying a home instead of the high rate of renting. The automatic stay is up in Feb of 2019. A private loan can be discharged in a bankruptcy through an adversary proceeding, although meeting the difficult standards for discharge under the 2005 BAPCPA is very difficult. It’s become pretty much impossible to deal with Private debt other than settling on a smaller amount than owed and issuing a lump sum payment. Tell them you are considering defaulting, filing for bankruptcy and attempting to get the loan discharged (this is a bluff obviously, but it might work), but that you’d rather work with them to make arrangement for an affordable monthly payment. But that’s not up to me to decide, that’ll be up to the judge hearing this case. She has hired an attorney and is NOT paying her loans, including the ones I cosigned, Navient has now come after me for the $52,000. I have heard of private lenders who allow loans to be taken out of default, but it’s always an uphill battle. The nature of the program, and why you would not have taken it in the first place. I wonder if this is even possible?? An additional 3.2 million borrowers owe more than $100,000 on their federal loans, data show. He was paying the bills up until a couple months ago. A local bankruptcy lawyer will be able to offer advice on how you should proceed. Any advice? My federal loans through navient and fedloan are all current and in good standing. I have a pretty reputable bankruptcy attorney that is willing to try this. The loan was affirmed and I haven’t missed any payments for over 15 years. Lenders employ skilled internal and third party debt collectors who hone their skills day in and day out to pressure, confuse, obfuscate, threaten, and yes – befriend you, all to get the borrower to agree to terms that are beneficial to the servicer and that will result in the biggest performance bonus or commission for the debt collector. A similar system is already in place for borrowers with public student loans, and it seems entirely reasonable that this system could work quite well if it were extended to cover private student loans as well. President Obama’s Administration created The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and assigned them with the duty of making “markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans”, which means that they’re supposed to fix problems with mortgages, credit cards and private student loan debt. I have 2 private loans with Sallie Mae that are a result of extremely high tuition fees from a “for profit” college. If so, no, those loans cannot be forgiven with Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Good luck, and please do return to let me know how things turned out for him. Pursuing a forgiveness program might be a door that’s closed off to you, but as you can see, there are certainly other ways to help deal with non-federal student loans. Seriously a week after they went into default, I had a job that would allow me to make the payments, but it was too late. I do not make very much money and struggled for a few years after I graduated to get a full time job. The CFRB definitely appears interested in making that happen, but like we stated earlier, don’t expect it to be an easy fight as the financial services lobby is quite powerful. Also when he came home his education was not attended to, and he had to be tutored to return to public school at a cost his father paid for. You never need to pay for a federal loan consolidation, loan repayment plan, or forgiveness application. There is not anyone who can call you to resolve this for you, but I would advise that you do two things: 1. If you want to save money on private loans, your best option is to refinance to a lower interest rate. Tim's experience struggling with crushing student loan debt led him to create the website Forget Student Loan Debt in 2011, where he offers advice, tips and tricks for paying off student loans as quickly and affordably as possible. ), is definitely building up to become a major turning point in the way these things are handled. Regardless of whether a settlement is lump sum or structured, you’re going to need some funds! My federal loans were put under an income based repayment program that made my payments much more affordable. At this point in time, I am unable to pay that outrageous amount of money and still keep a decent way of life. I’m also considering filing my taxes separately from my husband as he makes a lot more money than I do and works in the Financial Services industry and half of these loans were taken prior to us even meeting each other. A distant relative of mine, Sam, cosigned for two private student loans for me that are now with Discover (initially taken out as CitiAssist Loans back in 2009). As a related example, the Government denied my Mother-in-Law’s request for disability pay, because she went back to work for a few months after having a kidney transplant. It does not apply to the provincial or territorial portion of a student loan. Biden has called for student loan forgiveness. Navient student Loan program? Student loan forgiveness 'doesn't solve the crisis long term,' expert explains The 'broken' public service student loan forgiveness system is particularly brutal for military veterans I have a mortgage and also around 24k in federal loans with Great Lakes. I’m at a loss at the moment and really don’t know what to do. That’ll put him on the path to forgiveness with the federal debt, but he’s going to need to deal with the private debt separately. The ball is in your court – but you have to play hard ball with your lender. The origination was 57,000+, but because we had put them on forbearance, not able to pay, they are now at 92,000 for a pay-off. I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter’s situation! Check out the complete list of student loan repayment options below to see what is the best option for you. A year or two later, I was paying them $550/month. It’s possible, but unlikely, that you’ll be able to negotiate on the debt with your lender. At issue is a Biden proposal for loan forgiveness that, according to a CNBC report in November, would “ would forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, and the rest of the debt for those who attended public colleges or historically Black colleges and universities and earn less than $125,000 a year.”. Look at my page about Le Cordon Bleu Student Loan Forgiveness for additional details. I attended The Art Institute and have a private student loan, to my understanding The Art Institutes are involved in fraudulent activity. This program is an absolute-guarantee for those borrowers with Federal loans, and a “maybe” shot at getting a discharge if you’ve got Private loans. I filed Chapter 13 to help me get through other obligations that I had but you are correct in that private student loans are not even considered. You don’t want to go this route either, and for a variety of reasons. Columbus, OH 43215 Even including the performance based negotiation charge, a skilled negotiator can achieve net savings greater than what would be possible for most borrowers on their own. If you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in certain elementary or secondary schools or educational service agencies that serve low-income families, and meet other qualifications, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to a combined total of $17,500 on eligible federal student loans. Loan forgiveness programs are incredible opportunities because they allow you to completely walk away from your debt, rather than getting it reduced, restructured, or consolidated, but while there are plenty of forgiveness programs for federal student loans, those of you with private student loan … I don’t think she is permanently disabled, but the reality of finishing her law degree for quite some time is unlikely. Was that stupid? 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