Has anyone ever used them?
Forgive me, this is super long but I am really hoping to get some sort of advice.
I have a $1500 Perkins Loan that is in default. There have been lots of shady happenings with my lender since I entered repayment status about 3 years ago. I have appox. $45k in other student loans through a different lender that are perfect; I have had no issues getting deferments processed, forbearance granted, or making payments for that matter on the other bulk of my loans. Last Spring after not hearing anything from my Perkins Lender (SUNY Student Loan Service Center) I called to find out when my previous deferment was up. It was already past due at that point and I had not received any paperwork. They had an incorrect address for me, got everything up to date and began processing a deferment. I submitted paperwork, a month went by, nothing was processed. In June I received a letter letting me know that my loan was going to be seriously late. I called again and they said I needed to resubmit the form along with a $14 late fee payment and the deferment would be processed. This is where things when really bad and I take partial responsibility since I completely and honestly forgot to return the form. It was the month we had retained our lawyer and there were a million and one things going on. Honestly never even thought about it since I had already mailed in the paperwork TWICE. So fast forward to October when I get a letter from a collection agency telling me I am in default. I told him that I would be filing BK and there would literally be no money for me to pay him... I couldn't even make my $40 min payments from the loan before. Right from the get go he started pressuring me to Consolidate all my loans which meant that for one $1500 loan, my interest rates would increase on all other $45k! I kept asking for another option but was told there wasn't any. I started my consolidation application because it really seemed like there was no other choice. By chance I happened to get a letter from the consolidation lender and found out about loan rehabilitation which would not only put me back in good standing, but also remove the default from my credit report. This would be a HUGE help since I will also have that nice Ch7 on there. I also found out it HAD to be offered to me. Called the lender, they referred me to the collection agency. So I asked the Collections rep. He says sure, we can do that but I would have to pay OFF my loan in 9 consecutive payments. So I tell him that it says I have the right to an affordable payment plan. At this point he started becoming very unfriendly once he realized I wasn't going to just consolidate so he could get paid. He told me that SUNY has exceptions to the Dept of Ed rules and that is how they do the loan rehabs. I contacted an Ombudsman (December) and at this point the Lender is having a compliance charge filed against them since they ARE required by law to 1) offer loan rehab and 2) offer a payment plan. It has been discovered that they are forcing people into consolidating so they get paid off and for the people that find out about and decide to go for a rehab and pay off the loan in 9 months, it is showing as Paid in Full and at that point the default cannot be removed. The lender has hung up on the Ombudsman's & FSA Compliance offices. The Ombudsman does not want me to consolidate because then they have to drop their investigation since the loan would essentially be paid off. Before we filed, SUNY SLSC tried to keep my state tax return. I did file for injured spouse since none of the refund was mine (I owed state tax) and am really worried that when they find out about that they will be looking to garnish my wages. I am really ticked off that the laws are being broken and there seems to be little that I can do. I would really like that default gone, but at the same time if I consolidate this can all just go away for now even though I will really be paying for it in the long run. Is it worth trying to get a lawyer involved? I don't even know what kind to look for!
If you've made it this far, thanks... and any suggestions??
Forgive me, this is super long but I am really hoping to get some sort of advice.
I have a $1500 Perkins Loan that is in default. There have been lots of shady happenings with my lender since I entered repayment status about 3 years ago. I have appox. $45k in other student loans through a different lender that are perfect; I have had no issues getting deferments processed, forbearance granted, or making payments for that matter on the other bulk of my loans. Last Spring after not hearing anything from my Perkins Lender (SUNY Student Loan Service Center) I called to find out when my previous deferment was up. It was already past due at that point and I had not received any paperwork. They had an incorrect address for me, got everything up to date and began processing a deferment. I submitted paperwork, a month went by, nothing was processed. In June I received a letter letting me know that my loan was going to be seriously late. I called again and they said I needed to resubmit the form along with a $14 late fee payment and the deferment would be processed. This is where things when really bad and I take partial responsibility since I completely and honestly forgot to return the form. It was the month we had retained our lawyer and there were a million and one things going on. Honestly never even thought about it since I had already mailed in the paperwork TWICE. So fast forward to October when I get a letter from a collection agency telling me I am in default. I told him that I would be filing BK and there would literally be no money for me to pay him... I couldn't even make my $40 min payments from the loan before. Right from the get go he started pressuring me to Consolidate all my loans which meant that for one $1500 loan, my interest rates would increase on all other $45k! I kept asking for another option but was told there wasn't any. I started my consolidation application because it really seemed like there was no other choice. By chance I happened to get a letter from the consolidation lender and found out about loan rehabilitation which would not only put me back in good standing, but also remove the default from my credit report. This would be a HUGE help since I will also have that nice Ch7 on there. I also found out it HAD to be offered to me. Called the lender, they referred me to the collection agency. So I asked the Collections rep. He says sure, we can do that but I would have to pay OFF my loan in 9 consecutive payments. So I tell him that it says I have the right to an affordable payment plan. At this point he started becoming very unfriendly once he realized I wasn't going to just consolidate so he could get paid. He told me that SUNY has exceptions to the Dept of Ed rules and that is how they do the loan rehabs. I contacted an Ombudsman (December) and at this point the Lender is having a compliance charge filed against them since they ARE required by law to 1) offer loan rehab and 2) offer a payment plan. It has been discovered that they are forcing people into consolidating so they get paid off and for the people that find out about and decide to go for a rehab and pay off the loan in 9 months, it is showing as Paid in Full and at that point the default cannot be removed. The lender has hung up on the Ombudsman's & FSA Compliance offices. The Ombudsman does not want me to consolidate because then they have to drop their investigation since the loan would essentially be paid off. Before we filed, SUNY SLSC tried to keep my state tax return. I did file for injured spouse since none of the refund was mine (I owed state tax) and am really worried that when they find out about that they will be looking to garnish my wages. I am really ticked off that the laws are being broken and there seems to be little that I can do. I would really like that default gone, but at the same time if I consolidate this can all just go away for now even though I will really be paying for it in the long run. Is it worth trying to get a lawyer involved? I don't even know what kind to look for!
If you've made it this far, thanks... and any suggestions??
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