Sallie Mae Loan and Chapter 7

[mysterie91]

My husband has a large Sallie Mae student loan (about $48K at the start of BK in April). We filed Chapter 7 in April and my husband lost his job in May - to stay afloat we did not pay on this student loan knowing that it would survive the chapter 7 and still be due after discharge. we needed that money to get by until he found another job.

Now I am worried. Sallie Mae won't talk to us and the website is not available since our Chapter 7 has not closed. I am concerned about having not paid on this loan and the accumulating interest. Does anyone know if when our case in failly disharged and closed and the student loans with Sallie Mae are due again, if the payment will go up? Or will the payments be same as they were pre-BK? My concern is that the interest will make the payments go up to a crazy monthly amount that we can't pay.

[caleb7mm]

we consolodated all our SL with student loan corperation (citibank) and they emediatly put us on a hardship because of loss of income and BK for 3 years.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Dear Misterie91, there is no debtors prison in our country (yet). Stop the worry as all things work out in time. Pay what you can, and as 'Caleb' said, you may work a deal. The important thing is, quality of life and "stress kills". Lay back, take a deep breath, hug your honey and say to he, "we have each other and our health, that is all that matters." You will be alright. GBWY 'Hub

[dingdong]

Apply for the William Ford Direct Loan program. They have an Income COntingent Plan, where they will ask for authorization to access your IRS records ( they find your income, basically), charge you interest only while you are being considered ( basically until they get the info from the IRS -and you can ask for a deferment during this time) and then base your monthly payment on your income. Every year the payment adjusts depending on your income filed with the IRS.

There is no credit criteria for qualifying, though your loans have to meet a certain criteria. Basically any loan that was govt backed or subsidized/guaranteed ( Stafford, Perkins, etc) qualifies for WFDL. There are others that qualify too. Check out their website by Googling William Ford Direct Loan program. You can apply online, sign the promssory note online and have your payments deducted from your bank account automatically and qualify for something like a quarter percent drop in interest rate.

One year, when I had not a lot of income, they dropped my payments to 5.00/month, yes, 5.00!

My student loan balance is HUGE! We are talking , I could be driving a Bentley huge!

They also take into account family size and whether any family member is attending college.

Also don't forget if you are attending college at least half time, and the classes are qualified to apply towards a degree requirement, you can defer your SL w/o paying interest.

So if you have a bachelors, and take two classes a quarter/semester towards a degree requirement ( Masters/Credential), you can defer your payment interest free!

If you don't qualify income wise for the IC plan, going back to school may save you hundreds a month. Plus, you get to hang out at the bookstore and drink coffee with the cool kids!