Student loans after discharge

[gingerbug]

Talking about sallie mae here - converting from a 13 to a 7 and pretty soon sallie mae will come knocking for their money. Does this happen after discharge or after closing? If it is closing, how long does it take for a case to close?

[novayalife]

As far as when they come after you im not sure. However, it usually takes 60 days after 341 meeting to discharge and if your a no asset case then closing should come shortly after. If you do have assests then closing could potentially take much longer.

[freshstartfl]

I tried to start paying Sallie Mae again about a month after my 341 Hearing. However, I'm locked out of their Web site due to the BK, and when I call them, they actually say they will not accept my money while my account with them is still in the active BK department. I was advised by them to "sit tight" until I get a letter from them after discharge. Well, I was discharged last week, and still no letter or reinstated Web site access. It appears that they take their time; I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Clover329]

I tried to start paying Sallie Mae again about a month after my 341 Hearing. However, I'm locked out of their Web site due to the BK, and when I call them, they actually say they will not accept my money while my account with them is still in the active BK department. I was advised by them to "sit tight" until I get a letter from them after discharge. Well, I was discharged last week, and still no letter or reinstated Web site access. It appears that they take their time; I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I have Sallie Mae loans too. I filed on 3/20 and my 341 is on 4/29. Sallie Mae is calling me because I haven't paid March's bill yet. I get paid bi-weekly so it's kinda a pain. My lawyer said that once I file, SM will tell me not to make any payments, however that hasn't happened yet.

Freshstart, how long after you filed did SM say not to pay them?

[freshstartfl]

Let's see... I filed 12/22, December's payment had already been made. In January I still had the online access, so I went ahead and paid them for January also (I know I didn't HAVE to, but the debt isn't going anywhere, so might as well!). At the end of Jan they locked my account down online and stopped accepting my money.

[Clover329]

I just tried to log on to my account and I couldn't. I'll have to call the 800 number to make sure that's the reason.

Thanks!
Clover

[ProjMgrNewb]

Problems with Chp 7 and School Loans

Hi there, I'm new on this forum but hope you can help me. I am curious about the experiences you've had with your school loans and Chp 7 case. I had my 341 yesterday and it seems that my Chp 7 may be thrown out, because of how the school loans were listed on my paperwork. See the info below, that I posted on the creditboards forum... If you can provide any insight, it would be a big help.

Thanks so much!
ProjMgrNewb

On 4/15, I emailed my attorney to confirm the appointment, see what I needed to bring, etc. He said that the US Trustee in my case has an issue with my school loans, but that we'd talk about it in the morning. I'm thinking, eh.. no big deal, right..

My 341 is 4/16. He gets there 15 mins before the hearing. He tells me 10 mins prior to the hearing that the issue with my school loans is that he included them in the paperwork as a Priority Claim. The US Trustee is arguing that they do not belong there. If they are not included as a Priority Claim, then it throws me from a Chp 7 into a Chp 13.

Of course, I'm floored. I'm thinking to myself.... why couldn't he have prepared me for this ahead of time?? He said that the Northern district of Ohio has ruled that it should be included as Priority Claim, but that my district (Southern) has not ruled either way. Apparently, the argument is that the loans should go under the "Additional Expense Claim", and by doing that it would give $ to pay in a Chp 13. This is not including the fact that I am going to have to pay $3500 in Federal Taxes, and $500 in State taxes this year. According to some on-the-spot calculations, it will still give $ to pay to a 13.

All that was before the hearing...

We go in, and naturally I'm a nervous wreck. We get through the preliminaries of name, address, etc. Then there's the unexpected invasive stuff. I had to, in a public forum, explain my health situation as to why I have a large amount of out of pocket expenses. I had to explain different other things like my 401k withdrawl from last year, current living arrangement, boyfriend's age (we live together - I'm 34, he's 33), if I was comfortable in my job and if my position is in any danger, all which the trustee said that the US Trustee wanted asked. It was brought up though that there was an error in the paperwork regarding the car payment (my b/f got a loan for me for a vehicle, all which is in his name), that supposedly will work in my favor. I was in that room for 20 minutes. It was horrible. I am amazed that I didn't have a breakdown while sitting there.

Lawyer said that he is going to contact the US Trustee's office today, and that he'll "be in contact with me soon." I have absolutely NO IDEA what is going to happen with my case. Looks like the following:

1) Maybe convince the US Trustee to keep it as a Chp 7 (not sure if this is likely).
2) Litigate and Fight for it to go on a Chp 7 based on previous case law (not sure if this is feasible due to $$ and the fact that there are other states that have case law to put the student loans in the Additional Expense section like the Trustee wants.)
3) Go with a Chp 13
4) Dismiss the case.