This blogger seems to have really struck a nerve, generating over 1000 comments to her piece in just 24 hours! Join the discussion!
The Packers and Saints will dominate the NFC while Vick (and Jackson) will run over the East. The Cowboys will improve and St. Louis will be back in the playoffs after a long absence.
They are correctly drawing attention to many of the problems with private student loans, such as inadequate consumer protections, excessive borrowing, and sky high variable interest rates. These are all valid points. Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
I was co-signer for my for my son's private South Carolina Student Loans. SCSL refused to forgive loans after I submitted documentation regarding his mental illness diagnoses a few years ago. Now I'm dealing with the company again. The past April I notified the company regarding the death of my son. He was the victim of a crime and died shortly after of cardiac arrest that Easter morning. I spoke with a representative who stated that his loan could be forgiven due to death. Instead, I received a letter that stated that I was still responsible for the entire amount of the loan. My options are making payments, paying in full or filing for bankruptcy. I was recently told by a SCSL representative that even if I filed for bankruptcy that they can still seek payment after bankruptcy ended.
This company has no heart ! Since notifying them, I receive calls daily and at least twice during the week. They said that it's their job to call me. I have been doing research on SCSL. What I found troubles. SCSL and the guaranty agency South Carolina State Education Assistance Authority are one and the same.
Though I have been informed that it is not unusual for the lender and guaranty agency to work together, I find it unethical. There is no way to deal with them in having my son's loans forgiven. They have a vested interest-money.
My son was making monthly payment out of his social security checks for approxiamately a year up until the month of March. There was an agreement between him and the company and he paid in good faith what he could afford. Recently, I found a letter and application for the SCSL company in my son's personal belongings. The letter stated that they needed additional information to complete an FFELP application. In never received a federal loan application and the one that was included with the letter was actually for the companies private loan. Knowing what I know now, if this application was forwarded back to the company, it would have been for a private and not federal in which the letter falsely indicated. I recently read an article regarding the alleged practices of SCSL and SCSEAA. The article stated that SCSEAA would either decline federal loan application or federal loans that went into default were reimbursed 100 percent by federal goverment (9.5 Scandal). Those application which were declined were declined were referred to the lender-of-last resort which is SCSL. This is a win-win situation: guaranty agency gets full reimbursement from government, SCSL now has borrower and co-signer trapped in private loan.
I believe that SCSL and SCSEAA should investigated and the college/financial aid officers for possible unethical practices. Over all I now how to learn how to move on in life without my son and deal with the loan company. SCSL calls me directly and it's stressing me out. I've called the Benedict College in Columbia, SC requesting a printout of my son's account to see for myself the amount of funds that were received from them from SCSL and how the funds were disbursed during my son's actual attendance in school.
Can someone please give me some guidance. If this is not a case of predatory lending, I don't know what it is.
Liddylu
grieving mother.
I cosigned with my son on two PRIVATE SALLIEMAE STUDENT LOANS, $20,000 each. My son got out of school in 2007, could not find a decent job so the loans defaulted. In this short time these two loans have grown to over $70,000. (The grand total of all his private loans are now over $105,000 and growing) The collection agency Salliemae turned it over to agreed with my son to pay them $200 per month and after a while they called and said it wasn't enough, so they stopped taking the money from his checking account. (He was only making about $10.00 an hour and I am permanently disabled and on a small fixed income)
Shortly thereafter, we received several letters from another collection agency. I called them to explain to them that we were paying the previous agency. After they made me feel like the scum of the earth, physically sick, they wanted $1200 down and two hundred per month. I sent them the first installment of what was agreed upon, that they would give me 4 months to come up with the money. After I made the first payment, they next week I got several letters from yet another collection agency.
I called Salliemae to find out what to do next, and to see what it would take to relieve me of the cosign obligation and after several conversations with the customer advocacy office at Salliemae they told me they have no answer for me. I am totally confused as to what to do next. I am not physically or mentally able to take more abuse from yet another agency. My son as developed panic attacks and other mental problems over this. I am 56 years old, divorced and I am terrified of becoming homeless over this situation. It's set up so you can never afford to pay them. Where can I go for help with these Private Salliemae Loans? There is no governance with them. Please Help Us!!!!!!!!! My son is so depressed over this, I am afraid it might cost his life.
VH
This is a tough situation. The bad thing is that it is a private loan so the government does not have any type of say so in it unless they approve some type of new legislation. There is a new program for Federal Student Loan forgiveness...if you are interested in finding out more, read this article on IBR.
I know it's very hard to be put in this kind of situation.But I think there are ways on how to deal with this matter.I know there are people who can lend a hand to help.First you need to know some conditions in order to avoid problems.Like for instance,It isn't that incredibly hard to wind up with bad debt – miss a payment or two and you can be in the cycle of collections.It does happen – but there has to be a distinction made to people between a creditor and a collection agency – collection agencies collect debts,and that's about it.They buy the bad debt from the creditor and try to collect it – from credit card companies to payday loans lenders to courts.Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,they are only allowed to call the debtor between certain times,and only speak to them.They aren't authorized to make threats,either – make sure you know your rights.
