I have a friend, a saint actually, who just can't make it anymore. Can you offer advice?

She is a 47 year old woman with $68K in college loans.

She has dedicated her life to working with the mentally challenged. She oversees a program that integrates mentally and developmentally challenged people into the community. And. she oversees a recycling center and is dedicated to going green as much as she can.

She has no children, no pets. No spouse.

She lives in an apartment that costs $220 a month.

And she phoned me tonight...at the end of her rope.

I need advice as far as what to tell her. Should she declare bankrupt? Should she hire a lawyer? (I would be paying for that because she literally has not one single dollar left.)

Can her college loans be forgiven?

This is one of the good people. She has dedicated her life to those that society has left behind. She can't manage to live anymore.

What should I tell her to do?

Two can live as cheap as one in many aspects.

I'm sorry for your friend, and I hope her fortune changes soon.

In a very small community with no services for the challenged people.

She has devoted her entire life, since she was 16, to working with the developmentally challenged people.

Good luck to your friend!

:hug:

could be wiped out through a bankruptcy. I have a horrible feeling they can't.
:(

and has been struggling ever since.

She LOVES her work. But she gets paid nothing.

And this has been going on for 30 years.

In a bankruptcy proceeding, a court MAY cancel outstanding student loan debt if she can demonstrate sufficient "undue hardship."

one of them. It's not easy - I've tried - but it's possible. Or you could just tell them to f**k off, you just don't have the money and that's that.

for lower payments or perhaps student loan forgiveness (if she's made 120 payments). Can she apply for income based repayment? That caps at 10% of her income so the payments wouldn't be much.

check with a bankruptcy lawyer. They are generally not dischargeable, but there are often exceptions, and a bankruptcy lawyer would know if there is one and if she qualifies.

If not, offer to pay them $5 per month - that's all they are going to get anyway.

Or google "bankruptcy laws student loans" and that should give some information whether it might go through a bankruptcy.

Here's the top link for that. Just skimming, it looks like there is a chance.

http://www.legallawhelp.com/legal_law_channels/bankruptcy_law/bankruptcy_student_loans.html

apply for a deferment for one year and figure out how she can make more money?

If they make an agreement, that won't be a problem. The thing to do is show them, this is a stone, no blood is there, get what you can.

all?

She is an honest person and has begged her college loan holder to be kind.

One guy called me at all hours and suggested that I prostitute to make my payments.

If she has federal Loans, have her go here:

http://www.direct.ed.gov/RepayCalc/dlindex2.html

And read up on Income Based or Income Contingent repayment. It could save her from TONS of heartache and headache.

I'm expecting they'll bring back debtor's prison, or some kind of work camps, eventually. I expect that's the only way I'll ever pay off my debts--primarily medical and student loan debt, but hey, this is America: if you're not connected, you're just one of the little people.

due to hardship. If she could call the people who holds her loan. I had a loan, that included reduced rates for hardship, losing a job etc. It would be temporary (buys some time, and ease the load) until a better job and economy picks up. :shrug: Best thing to do is be honest up front, they would rather get a payment, even reduced payment than have it erased altogether due to bankruptcy. I am not even sure you can forgive a student loan with a bankruptcy...:shrug: This is what I would do.

cases they can be discharged in bankruptcy. You have to prove hardship and/or inability to find work in the field you education qualifies you for. At least that is what my online research turned up. We have yet to follow through and hear that is a possibility from a lawyer.

I would think she could make some money "babysitting" special needs children in the evening and on weekends, but not if she is already working two jobs.


I am at a loss, maybe she could marry a rich guy and then divorce his ass. :sarcasm:

Good luck to you and to her. I am sorry I could not be more helpful.

working three jobs isn't reasonable


It sounds to me like she needs a raise or to find a better paying job. I know this is tough in this economy so I am guessing that isn't an option.

She might want to look for a better job anyways. I know that some companies are trying to find higher quality employees now that labor is so plentiful. It can't hurt to go online and hit some sites.


Is renegotiating the loan payments an option? I know that in the long run that isn't a solution but if she is really at the end of her rope it might buy her some breathing room until things pick up.

That won't cost her anything for advice on how to proceed with a possible bankruptcy.

Since she is a very kind. devoted person, I wouldn't hesitate to ask churches for assistance. One of the churches I've attended adopts a family to assist each year. With her service record, she would be a definite contender.

smaller payments. It may be that smaller payments are better than no payments to her creditors.

If she isn't good at that, she needs to find a friend who is.

she needs smaller payments or she's going off the rails doesn't need any legal training.

A bunch of people are defaulting right now. It may be, they have a unit set up to handle this stuff.

Just be assertive. If you get somewhere, be sure to get the new payment amount in writing -- email or snail mail.

You may have to go through one or two layers of collectors first, but if you hang in, you might get to a smart person who will refigure her payment amounts.

Good luck.

to tack on interest , she'll just be throwing money away when she pays them, and the debt will still grow..

Some agencies pay up to $10/hr for respite services. And parents of special needs children are always looking for a good respite provider. (I'm one of those parents).

She'll be able to bring in more money, basically 'babysitting' for a special child of her choosing. It won't help her get out of paying off her loan, but it will help her bring in more money to make those payments.

If she provides Habilitation services on the side, that usually pays a little better, but it is more "work" & it sounds like she already has a full plate.

Please suggest these to her incase she hasn't thought about it already. Respite is easy - you can just chill out with the special child - watch movies, listen to music - stuff like that.

If she quits this job, she loses her health insurance.

And, as it stands now, she is not able to take a second job because she is required to be on-call for her current job.

Under certain circumstances, she should be compensated for her "on call" time. Please see below.

http://labor-employment-law.lawyers.com/wage-and-hour-law/Pay-for-On-Call-Time.html

http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/Business/PDfs/Employers_Guide_to_Employment_Law_Issues_in_Minnesota/03_Wage_Hour_Issues.pdf

them put her loans in abeyance temporarily. I think they will still charge interest, but for a period she won't have to make payments. Maybe that will help. :shrug: Then lend her some fucking dough and buy her some food. She's your friend right?

I'd personally go with the $5 a month payback plan. If you ain't got it, you ain't got it.

Being in Minnesota, there HAS to be better help available than most places. I don't live there anymore, so I can't say. How about looking for help with other things, like housing (subsidized) or food stamps or whatever?

Definitely try to find some free legal advice, that would be my first step.

If she is out of food or basic necessities, go to the Salvation Army or some other church group (like the UCC or Unitarians, they are less judgmental).

I hope things turn around and there is some help for your friend. If she teaches in a rural school, there is often some student loan forgiveness options (I've signed papers for some of my staff because we are rural poor, and teachers get some kind of loan break for taking a job here).

Bless your friend for what she does. Compassion is necessary and in short supply (well, maybe it just seems that way these days).

but I went to this organization and they have helped me with my debt.

This is their info on student loans:

http://www.takechargeamerica.org/financial-education-resources/financial-articles/i-cant-afford-my-student-loan-payments/

What types of public service jobs will qualify a borrower for loan forgiveness under this program?


The borrower must be employed full-time (in any position) by a public service organization, or must be serving in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position. For purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, the term “public service organization” means:
A Federal, State, local, or Tribal government organization, agency, or entity (this includes most public schools, colleges and universities);
A public child or family service agency;
A non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (this includes most not-for-profit private schools, colleges, and universities);
A Tribal college or university; or
A private organization that is not a for-profit business, a labor union, a partisan political organization, or an organization engaged in religious activities (unless the qualifying activities are unrelated to religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing) and that provides the following public services-
Emergency management;
Military service;
Public safety;
Law enforcement; and
Public interest law services;
Early childhood education (including licensed or regulated health care, Head Start, and State funded pre-kindergarten);
Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly;
Public health (including nurses, nurse practioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practioner occupations and health care support occupations);
Public education;
Public library services; and
School library or other school-based services.



http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov/cancellation.html

Thank you to ALL who have tried to help my very good friend.

Something is very wrong with this country when a person dedicates her entire life to the developmentally challenged and is paid nothing and is hounded by creditors.

Again..this person lives in an apartment with a rent of $220 per month.

A well written letter, or a carefully placed phone call.

She sounds like a hero that her community might want a hand in saving!!!

scheme. Nobody who is willing to dedicate themselves to helping the unfortunate should be in this spot.

Is she religious? Maybe join a convent? I'm pretty sure that joining the church would wipe our her debts? Sounds like she's living a fairly cloistered life already, doing good deeds. She's clearly already learned to live with being in poverty....

I hate these kinds of threads....

Low repayment terms, based on income (I have $50k in loans, pay $110 per month)
Forgiveness of outstanding debt after 25 years

Have her call here ASAP:

Phone: (800) 848-0979

And read this ASAP:

http://www.direct.ed.gov/RepayCalc/dlindex2.html

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showforum=19

Read this: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=315934

There is a lot of info here and she has a lot of reading to do, but it is a way out.

This was part of the stimulus package, I believe.

College is inescapably a financial investment.

The overriding imperative is to do work which repays that debt. It is unfortunate if the degree has no employment value.

That said, in my experience special education teachers (and occupational therapists) are in demand.

Now the government can't set required payments at more than a certain percent of your income (it's something like 10 or 20%). And after a certain number of years, if you can't pay back the loans, they are forgiven. I'm not sure if this is retroactive or not and I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to loan through private banks, but it might be worth checking out.

She should check with FedLoan Servicing if her loan is through the government. The website has details on different payment and forbearance options and talks about the new reforms.

Declaring bankruptcy won't help- it won't erase the loans.

http://www.naswdc.org/loanforgiveness/

Sources of Loan Forgiveness:
The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 established a new public service loan forgiveness program that will discharge any remaining educational debt after 10 years of full-time employment in public service.

Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at
1-800-433-3243 to see if you are eligible.

First what is her total income. Under FEDERAL LAW, attachment of wages is restricted to 25% of Income. i.e. any creditor, INCLUDING HER STUDENT LOANS, can NOT take more then 25% of her income in any attachment (and the 25% is a TOTAL cap, i.e. NOT per Creditor, per wage earner i.e. ALL of her creditors together can NOT garnish more then 25% of her wages.

A second federal restriction is that she MUST be left, on a weekly basis, with at least 30 times the minimum wage. Federal Minimal wage is $7.25 per hour. 30 times $7.25 is $217.50 per week i.e. if her wages are attached she MUST be left with at least $217.50 per week ($435 if she is paid on a bi-weekly basis). This restriction applies even to student loans.

A third federal restriction is if attachment is order, your employer can NOT terminate you do to the Order of Attachment. i.e. your employer MUST comply and can be sued in court if you are fired by your employer do to the attachment of wages.

The big exception to the above is child support, that can be as high as 60%, but that is the ONLY exception to the above Federal Restrictions.

Various states have other restrictions, but apply only to non-student loans. For example Pennsylvania prohibits ANY attachment of wages. Texas and Pennsylvania are the only two states with that prohibition.

Now, she obviously rents her residence, thus she owns no real property (Real property is defined under the law as real estate or any other interest in land). On the other hand she has to own some personal property (Which is everything EXCEPT real estate i.e. personal property includes not only her clothes, but the furniture in her apartment and her car and if she had any pets, the pets).

Most states have various exemptions from attachments that varies from state to state (My home state of Pennsylvania, while generous as to attachment of wages, restricts its exemptions of personal property to just $300 and a bible). It is unheard of for Student loans judgment to be collected by execution sale of personal property, but such sales are done for private debts all the time. Thus this exemption is aimed at her other non-student loan debts, if she has any (You did not mentioned that she had any non-student loan debts but I suspect she has). Most states are more generous then Pennsylvania when it comes to what is exempt from an execution sale (DC is the worse, not permitting any exemptions from execution, on the other extreme Florida expanded its list of exemptions to include what is exempt if someone files Federal Bankruptcy, through I do NOT know if this expansion is in regard to all execution sales in Florida or just federal Bankruptcy, something a Florida Attorney will know).

My advice to her would be to stop paying her bills except her rent and her utilities. If she does not pay her rent, her landlord will evict her, and if she does not pay her utilities, the utilities will be shut off, thus those debts should be paid. She should pay on any debt secured by a piece of property she wants to retain (For example, she should make her car payments if she wants to keep her car). The rest of her debts can ONLY be collected if someone files a lawsuit against her (There is an exemption for student loans that permit an administrative action in lieu of court action, but if the Federal Government takes that option, any attachment is restricted to 10% of your wages). Once the lawsuit if filed, a judgment can be entered against her. That Judgment is a lien on all of her property, but can NOT be used to go after exempt property (as defined by her state) and in Pennsylvania can not be used to attach wages (In every other state but Texas wages can be attached).

Leave her creditors sue her, she sounds Judgment proof i.e. her creditors can sue her, get a Judgment, but not collect a cent. Now, if her creditors does file an action they can attach wages (but subject to the above two exemptions). If she has any question tell her to contact me, but my advice would be to see a lawyer in her home state. Such an attorney will know what is done in that state, what is exempt and what is attachable. Such an attorney will also tell her if it is better to go with the Federal Exemptions or the state exemptions if she decides to file bankruptcy (In my home state of Pennsylvania I would recommend the Federal Exemptions for they are much more generous then the $300 state exemption, but in Florida with its expansion of the State Exemption to include the Federal Exemptions, the State Exemptions would be preferred).

As to Federal Bankruptcy, the filing fee is $299. Attorneys charge around $2000 for filing bankruptcy (Most will take payments). If she is below $150% of the poverty level (for the year 2010 that is $16,245) the court will waive the filing fee if the attorney opts NOT to collect a fee (This is done by legal Services Attorneys and some pro bono programs tied in with various law schools and local Bar Associations).

If she has any question feel free to e-mail me at my DU e-mail address.

something. Is she unemployed, underemployed or what?

I feel for your friend. I really do. I know what it is like to have student loan debt hanging
over your head. I did quite a bit of research, due to my situation, and I've learned quite a bit.

Here is what I know:

Student loans can NEVER be forgiven if you declare bankruptcy. My loans were the only debt I had,
so believe me, I would have probably done this, if I could have. I was told that bankruptcy was
not an option--EVER.

Secondly--the longer she does not pay, the more the interest compounds and increases the loan amount.
When you don't pay (or when you put the loans into deferment or forbearance) the interest
continues to grow and believe me----THOSE LOANS SEEM TO GROW EXPONENTIALLY and it is not at all
uncommon for the debt to double, triple or quadruple, or even more. These people are NOT kidding around.

I had 50k in loans. My loan servicer, at the time (Sallie Mae) defaulted my loans when I was a full-time
student. This is illegal. I kept sending them form after form after form. They pretty much said, "tough
luck, the loans have defaulted." I was a poor college student, paying my way through--working 3 jobs and
an unpaid internship. I could not afford to pay tuition, room/board, books and other expenses and pay
off the loans. I couldn't make the payments and I put my loans into forbearance--as your friend did.
My debt climbed to 100k. I finally consolidated and now I pay $1,200 per month. I'm on an aggressive
pay-down plan. I am sacrificing SO much to do this, but I can't wait to get this debt off of my
shoulders. I literally have a change jar, and at the end of the year I cash it in and I put this extra toward
my student loan. Every penny I have goes to these people.

Your friend needs to call them, get the loans consolidated and get on a payment plan she can manage. They
will work with her and give her options.

I think it's incredibly noble and wonderful that your friend is doing this amazing work. It's terrible
that our society does not pay people what they deserve, when they choose to help others and try
to make their lives better. With that said, your friend may have to explore some options. She has a
degree in special education. With her experience and caring nature, is she open to taking other jobs
that might pay more? What about working in the schools? They pay special-ed teachers decent salaries.
That work may not be her first choice. However, she could do this temporarily until the debt is paid
down--and return to the work she loves after a few years.

I know it's so hard! I worked many jobs--one in my field and I even worked nights at a factory. It
was crazy--but I did what I had to do to get the money flowing in and the debt down. My student-loan
debt is now down to 41k. Yeah!

It's a hard reality--but when you take out these loans--there are sometimes unpleasant repercussions. I know
many young college graduates working as waitresses, at movie theaters and in fast-food restaurants. They
can't find jobs in their field, but they have massive student loans. They do what they have to do.

You have to focus like a gazelle and get that debt GONE FOREVER--so you can have your life back.

This is my 2 cents, and I hope the best for your friend. She's no doubt a kind soul. :hug:

NOT.

I'm sorry for your friend. The advice you've received here is good. An attorney is her best bet.

...and wanting to help. I would just like to point out that, in my opinion, dealing
with an attorney would be an exercise in futility.

An attorney cannot help you. An attorney cannot help you get your debt erased. Student
loans are NEVER forgiven via bankruptcy. Never. So a bankruptcy attorney would not
even be needed.

An attorney might take her $500 to talk with her for an hour and follow up with her. However,
an attorney can't get this loan forgiven. When you borrow student loans, you sign
contracts. Legal contracts. You are obligated to pay them back.

The only way this debt is erased, is if you die!

I worry that hiring an attorney would be a waste of money, because they can't do a thing.

She needs to call her lender and ask about income-contingent repayment plans. They can
structure a payment plan that may be manageable--even on a very low budget.

will help exactly how?

Civilized nations pay for health care and education. Civilized nations pay decent wages for social work of all sorts.

If people are unable to find jobs because the national economy is taking a crap, civilized nations support the unemployed in a manner that is not degrading, dangerous, and harmful to a person's self-esteem.

The U.S.A. is not a civilized nation. We are a corrupt "developing" nation with more money than most, the number one top dog of banana republics and oligarchies.

it is not.

Going waaaay into debt for any reason when the means to repay is limited is imprudent. If one cannot afford full time college, piling up student loan debt is imprudent.

Part time schooling is available, and many people do it this way. I have a 42 year old daughter who got her master's two years ago, and her bachelor degree in her mid 30's, going part time and raising two sons - one of whom graduates in May with his degree in marine biology.

The grandson was a full time student, but he also worked up to 40 hours a week.

Here's where you can rant and rave about the 'bootstraps' argument, but it won't matter. Some people are prudent, others less so. That isn't bootstraps, but it is life.

So, it isn't the fault of the country. In many cases it is grabbing a loan application without facing reality. But, it ever so much easier to blame the country - or something/anything.

Our banking system is falling apart because risk has been disconnected from the lenders.

But with education that's not the point. Education is beneficial to society, it is the common good, it's clearly something we ought to be paying for with our taxes.

When I first went to college I only had to pay for my books. And sometimes I managed to get grants for those. The year I graduated university fees were still low, a little over a thousand dollars a year. My rents for crappy shared student apartments were $80-$120. I was making $8 to $10 part-time (whenever I wasn't studying science) as a handyman for rotten penny pinching landlords. My parents contributed. A friend who managed a fast food place gave me food that was headed for the trash... My grandma gave me $100 a month for "groceries..." or so she claimed. But knowing my crazy grandma she was providing me beer money while she partied in her vivid imagination with my friends as if they were horny sailors on shore leave in World War II...

Nevertheless, I didn't need loans.

And everyone I knew then who wasn't blessed as I was, who had to take out student loans, even those who went to very expensive colleges, got good jobs and paid them back.

This modern world isn't at all like that

Some people just aren't worth it.

as someone who's interviewed many people on this issue.

Create items you can sell online and/or locally - jewelry, artwork, pamphlets with tips, etc.

Buy items at yard sales and resell them on E-Bay. Become an expert on something, anything. One woman I know bought antique and vintage aprons for $1 apiece and sold them for $20. Granted, the economy has made this harder. But there are still collectors out there.

Find a fair housing or roommate matchup service. There are elderly people who will offer free or low-cost rent in exchange for light chores, cooking, or errands run.

If you have a yard, plant cuttings or seedlings and sell them.

If you're near a city large enough to have consumer marketing firms, sign up to do occasional product testing. These usually take a couple of hours and pay $25 to $100 or more.

Sign up for a temp agency; some have weekend jobs such as offering product samples at Costco.

Have a yard sale.

Dig out those unused valuables/heirloom from the safe deposit box and sell them on E-bay or at a pawn shop.

Put a sign up around the neighborhood and offer seasonal services, such as putting up Christmas lights or Christmas trees.

Host a pot luck "rent party" for friends and ask everyone to bring $10 and a dish to share.

Find a multi-level marketing product line or a company with in-home party line products to sell - many, many people do this when the economy gets bad and are able to make ends meet. Nutritional or health products, cosmetics/personal care products, cool kitchen items are just some of the items you can sell and make a modest profit. Don't go with a company that makes you buy a garage full of products. There are many people who are able to earn at least a few hundred dollars a month doing this. With the Internet, even if your town is small, you can sell products online and the parent company will drop ship it for you. I ghostwrote a book once for a national network marketing consultant and was pretty amazed at the stories of people brought back from the brink of poverty through this stuff.

Go through your house on a hunt for lost coins -- check old purses, pockets, under sofa cushions and car seats.

Join a food coop, grow some of your own food, use coupons, and do more home cooking to save a few more dollars.

Pick up a $20 down comforter online and you can keep your heater off at night to save on the heating bills.


Offer to house-sit for others. I have a friend who was homeless for a while but she lived quite well by house sitting for rich people who went on vacation, and also walking dogs and pet-sitting.

Hope some of these ideas help.

Good luck to her...good luck to us all. A fine system it is that's been made for us all to live in. :(

to determine repayment. if your income is low enough, you may not be required to pay anything until your status changes.

Here are some links
http://www.finaid.org/loans/icr.phtml If you don't qualify, I don't know who would.
http://www.direct.ed.gov/RepayCalc/dlindex2.html
http://www.direct.ed.gov/cancellation.html
http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/repayment/repayment-plans/

...that if you have a low income and you keep qualifying for forbearances and deferments--the
loans explodes. She's got 68k in debt. Pretty soon she will be staring at 100k to pay off.

In my opinion, you just have to go balls to the wall and knock this debt out. It has to be
your first priority, because you don't want to be imprisoned by this loan forever.

They will make you face the music, because student loans never go away.

They will garnish your wages too, if you don't pay. And they're not nice when they do that.
They embarrass you with your employer and they take out a hefty chunk.

These loans are the devil!!! The best thing to do is just pay it down--ANY WAY YOU CAN!!

Nice links you provided too!

head. My husband and I have about $50k between us. But we can't afford to pay on them right now. And neither can this woman. This is not meant to be a long term solution. Income contingent bases the payments on income. you can pay it down 'any way you can' but if you don't have the money to do that, then that isn't going to happen. honestly they should be able to help forgive this debt for someone who has spent her whole life working to help special needs kids! i don't understand why they don't do that for people who work in these types of jobs. but i digress.

...and it is unfair. We need caring people in jobs like that. It takes a special
person to do that job. I wish we could just erase this debt for this woman. It
breaks my heart.

It also angers me--because her story is VERY typical. It is COMMON for students
to graduate with 40k, 50k, 60k in debt. In my opinion the banks are taking
advantage of these young people who do not completely fathom what they are doing.
They wrack up huge debt, then graduate in this economy and it is very difficult
to find a job. College students are now competing for jobs--against many people with years
of experience, who will work for less. I haven't seen a serious article on the
challenges of young, recent grads in the job market--but some reporter should get
on that. It really is an epidemic.

These loans will chain you to "the man" for decades.

My loan debt was 100k and now it's down to 30k. I just so wish these financial aid
counselors would have me talk to these students before they take out these loans.

I just read that 30 percent of all student loans are in default. Hello? Sounds
like a crisis to me. Something needs to be done. And it's not just the fault of
the students. Banks are preying on young people like drug dealers prey on kids
in the school yard--selling heroin.

I hope this woman is able bodied and healthy--and can get this debt paid off. If
I win the lottery--I'll pay them off for her! :)

instead of helping the regular folks they just give money to the banks. just like with the housing thing they could have given that money to all the borrowers with the explicit requirement it be used to pay the mortgage to the bank and it would have killed two birds with one stone. could do that with student loans too!! you could say that we shouldn't help the borrowers who got in over their heads, but if they were just going to give it to the banks anyway if they would have given it to the borrowers instead the banks would have had bad debt off their balance sheets and there would not be all the foreclosures !! it would have been a better use of the money. maybe the borrowers could have to pay it back through automatic withdrawls from their paycheck or something. i don't know.

what i am saying is that regular folks are getting screwed. sure there are those who shouldn't have borrowed, but then the banks are taking advantage also. and no one is there to help the borrowers when they are struggling. but for the banks they just backed a truck up full of money with no strings attached. it pisses me off. there are people like this teacher who are trying to do good who are enslaved basically with this debt. as many of us are as soon as we get out of school. good little soldiers who will keep their nose down and not rock the boat because they are trying to tread water.

i wonder what the tipping point will be. when will people wake up and see what is going on here. we can shout to the rooftops and it seems that there are so many too busy to notice what is going on. how we are royally getting the shaft here.

College USED to be something really worthwhile, but for a pretty long time now, the loans needed to GET that degree make it almost impossible to pay them off AND have a life:(

Part of the problem is that maybe people go to college too young, and with little or no understanding of how loans work.

Maybe a better age to start college is 21...not 18. Live at home with Mom & Dad while you work & save all/most of the wages made and THEN go to college after you have decided what you want to do with your life.


Back when I went, college was dirt cheap, and students had the luxury of staying in as long as they liked, and changing their majors over & over as new things interested them, but those days are over.. Getting an education for its own sake, is no longer possible for anyone but the rich dilettantes.

If the only debt your friend has, is college debt, bankruptcy probably won't help her. It sounds as if she's living as frugally as possible.

Perhaps she could consolidate them into one , and maybe throw herself on their mercy, and beg for interest forgiveness:shrug:

If she has nothing of value, there is nothing they can take from her, but the debt will continue to escalate

We are pretty broke here because of loans. You have to have a masters to teach special ed here...but my job (3rd year) pays 41K...after taxes and student loans we are BROKE!

Posting here, too, so that you don't miss it.

and not just a teacher. If she works in public service for 10 years her loan will be forgiven.

Public service jobs include, among other positions, government, military service, public safety and law enforcement (police and fire), public health, public education, public early childhood education, public child care, social work in a public child or family service agency, public services for individuals with disabilities or the elderly, public interest legal services (including prosecutors, public defenders and legal advocacy in low-income communities), public librarians, school librarians and other school-based services, and employees of tax exempt 501©(3) organizations. Full-time faculty at tribal colleges and universities, as well as faculty teaching in high-need areas, also qualify.

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=315934

She can consolidate her loans and pay the min. while working in one of these fields and after 10 years he loan is forgiven.

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x714363

How many hours a day does she work? My inclination would be to ask her if she can supplemental income. Or find a higher paying job.
With $68k in student loans, I'm guessing she's most likely qualified to do a great many things.

Don't get me wrong, I have filed bankruptcy and will again. This time I'm timing it. And no, it won't get rid of student loans, but can forestall the payments for years. Each state has different laws. Talk to a lawyer, some should give her a consultation for free. It just boggles my mind that she can't swing $220 a month for rent, though. Unless there's more to the story...

they called and offered new terms. They called me and I said that as far as I can tell, he is never going to pay them and has no money anyway. He lives via the underground economy.

defaulting on student loans isn't the worst thing in the world. It happened to me years ago. Slowly, eventually, I was able to climb back up. Pay them off. My credit is ok now.

Call Al Franken's office. Let them do the work to find out what's available in MN.

zalinda

Here are some links to check out, or she can google the topic.

http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Loan%20Forgiveness.pdf

http://credit.about.com/od/reducingdebt/a/student-loan-forgiveness.htm

http://studentloanprogram.bestconsolidatingstudentloans.com/how-student-loan-forgiveness-programs-may-help-reduce-your-college-loan-debts/

http://topics.info.com/College-Loans_4520

She will still have to pay the student loan.

Lawyers will usually give a first consultation free.

Just Answer is an online service that gives advice by real lawyers (or vets, or accountants, etc.) for a small fee ($15 or $35 for a month). I've used it because it's legitimate and you get to talk to real professionals. You pay if you're satisfied with the answers and you can keep asking questions as long as you need to. It's like writing back and forth live, or you can have them call you.

http://www.justanswer.com/sip/Justanswer?r=ppc|ms|4|General+-+JustAnswer|Just+Ask&JPRC=1&JPKD=2491882649&JPDC=p&JPAD=691004758&JPKW=just%20ask&JPRQ=just%20ask%20lawyers&JPAF=txt&JPCD=20110317&JPOP=Tara_GoogleSync

FindLaw is a site for student loan forgiveness, and deferments of a year or up to three years.

http://bankruptcy.findlaw.com/bankruptcy/more-bankruptcy-topics/when-you-cant-pay-student-loans%281%29.html?DCMP=KNC-BANKRUPTCY&HBX_PK=student+loan+forgiveness&HBX_OU=52

your friend may also benefit from help from a caregivers' support group. It sounds like she is a generous soul, perhaps overburdened by her financial troubles and by taking on the cares of others. Just a thought.