Topic: I was served legal papers for my school loans

[W7RE]

I think the short version of the story is that i'm fucked. My dad cosigned, so he's fucked. I owe $35k and it's been 20 years since I held a job for more than 3-4 days.

[gpw11]

Probably not too fucked. Who serves papers in this case there, a bank or a state sponsored loan issuing agency?  In any case, my first move would be to check out a financial advise reddit (like this) and find out what the best thing to do in your specific situation (state, financial status, etc).


With most student loans you can go into a "rehab" program which brings it out of collections or bad standing.  You can then renegotiate a payment plan based upon income (or possibly delay if you have no income).

The majority of lenders are willing to work with you because they'd rather your loan not go through collections - where they stand to lose a large portion of it. You're probably not nearly as fucked as they make it sound.  Probably.

[Fixed the URL - Luv, Que]

[W7RE]

This is over one loan, which was taken out over 10 years ago. It's a non-government loan also, which is probably a good thing. It's already been passed on to a collection agency, and that's who filed the court documents. There's no court date, but we're supposed to "respond" within 30 days of receiving them. We called some place called the North Carolina Legal Aid Helpline and they said that since I have no income, and my dad does, and he cosigned, they're going to go after him. They told him he'd lose his house, all but one vehicle, and anything of significant value.

I guess my fear is not so much that they're coming after me. I have no money and nothing of value, so I'm not sure what they'd do there. It's the idea that they will go after my dad that's the problem. He filed for bankruptcy a few years back, so there's a little hope there that he can retroactively get his name taken off the loan. If so, perhaps I can file for bankruptcy. Of course, I have no money to pay a lawyer or anything, so I don't know how that will work out.

[gpw11]

Check out that sub-reddit, someone will have good advice pertaining to tour situation and where you should look for further guidance.  Creditors usually don't want to go to court (including collections agencies).

[Cobra951]

This is over one loan, which was taken out over 10 years ago. It's a non-government loan also . . .

. . . It's the idea that they will go after my dad that's the problem. He filed for bankruptcy a few years back, so there's a little hope there that he can retroactively get his name taken off the loan.

Wait a sec.  If the loan is 10 years old, and your dad filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, why would this affect him at all?  Non-government, right?  What am I missing?

In any event, don't let collections agencies intimidate you or your dad.  They are bottom feeders.  Keep your wits, get good legal advice however you can muster it, and power through this.

[Quemaqua]

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/chapter-7-13-bankruptcy-limits-benefits-30025.html

Bankruptcy doesn't kill student loans or, I believe, prevent anyone from taking assets to cover them. Heather's got a small load of them. She was originally hoping to get it eliminated by working in shitty schools for several years (there's a program for this), but I don't think she's going to survive that plan. Her current job is a nightmarish misery.

Is getting a job and starting to make payments not an option?

[W7RE]

Is getting a job and starting to make payments not an option?

I don't know. The lawyer we talked to at the legal help line said that now that legal proceedings have begun they're not going to be willing to work out a payment plan. Also from what I heard from my dad about his conversation with her, all she did was a lot of fearmongering about all the shit he's going to lose, and that they'll leave me alone and go after him because I don't have any income.

We're meeting with my dad's bankruptcy lawyer to see if there's anything else we can do, probably tomorrow. He'll bill us $185/hour, which we won't have the money to pay.


I'm thinking about checking myself into a mental hospital when the immediate stuff is dealt with. I've been paralyzed into inaction for the past 10 years, and have no idea what to do with my life. I'm just so shut off from everything that I feel like I can't handle anything anymore. Then on top of that, no one believes me when I say something's wrong.

[Quemaqua]

Damn. Sorry to hear that, man. I know how it can go, though ... sometimes the being cut off just breeds more feelings of being cut off, until you don't know how to deal.

I hope you guys can figure something out. I'll keep an ear to the ground and let you know if there are any rumbles since we're also looking at bankruptcy (well, Heather is, mostly due to an out of state home that things went very, very badly south with).

[gpw11]

Sorry to hear that W7RE. There are a ton of resources out there to find help once you get the chance and I wish you the best.

As for the loan, it sounds crazy that the legal aid line was fear mongering like that, especially because I'm hard pressed to believe that there'd be anything more than a lien filed on the house over 35k.  You defaulted on a student loan, not a mortgage.  Talk to the lawyer tomorrow and then seriously look into what other people have done in this situation.  And generally creditors will still be very willing to work out a payment plan once proceedings have started unless you absolutely burn that bridge.  They don't want to fuck you, they want to make money on the bad loan that they bought.

Have you contacted the collections agency at all?

[Pugnate]

This thread makes me so upset for W7RE and his father.

[Cobra951]

Sorry to hear that W7RE. There are a ton of resources out there to find help once you get the chance and I wish you the best.

As for the loan, it sounds crazy that the legal aid line was fear mongering like that, especially because I'm hard pressed to believe that there'd be anything more than a lien filed on the house over 35k.  You defaulted on a student loan, not a mortgage.  Talk to the lawyer tomorrow and then seriously look into what other people have done in this situation.  And generally creditors will still be very willing to work out a payment plan once proceedings have started unless you absolutely burn that bridge.  They don't want to fuck you, they want to make money on the bad loan that they bought.

Have you contacted the collections agency at all?

I have a hard time myself believing that losing his house is an option any court would go along with in a case like this.  Don't panic, W7RE.  Remember that collection agencies don't have the power of law.  In legal squabbles, they are citizens, just like us.  Since no one knows what a court will do (not even lawyers) they are always willing to come to a settlement before things get there.  Fear is how they get to you, how they get you weak, despondent.  That gives them all the leverage.  Don't give it to them.

And fuck that legal aid dummy.  Makes me wonder who they work for.

[gpw11]

.

And fuck that legal aid dummy.  Makes me wonder who they work for.

Yeah, it seems really weird.