Can anything be done after Student Loan WG has begun??

I consolidated my student loans Dec '00, and because of the low paying job I had, I kept asking for a forbearance, and still wasn't able to make payments so the loan defaulted.

In June '04 I began loan rehabilitation with General Revenue making 12-$250 payments. Sallie Mae then sent a letter June '05 stating they were servicing the loan again, but never has the $3000 paid to GRC been credited.

The $3000 in voluntary payments you made doesnt go to sallie mae...they went to your guarantor who was holding your default and owned the loan at the time.


I made sporadic payments from 6/05-1/07, and then quit after the advice of an attorney.

You should sue your attorney....he is an idiot that caused you to default and cost you additional collection fees of up to 25%!!

In Feb'08 Pioneer Credit took the loan over.

Pioneer doesnt take over the loan. You defaulted on the loan and Sallie Mae forced your guarantor to pay the claim. Your guarantor hired Pioneer as a CA to collect on it.

During two conversations with reps they were informed not to contact me, but to contact my attorney and I gave his name and number, but this was never done, nor would they return the calls of my attorney. The begining of this month, I received notice from my employer that my wages would start being garnished. The first garnishment began this past Friday.

Attorneys are notorius for not returning calls. Did you still have him under retainer??

I have now hired a company called Student Loan Relief Organization (SLRO) out of NJ, that claims they will be able to help with a payoff settlement.

Dont waste your money. They cannot do anything you cannot do. Actually using a third party or attorney is telling the CA you have money to waste....you never get as big a settlement using a third party.
My questions are:
1) Should I not be getting credit for my $3000 that was paid to GRS in order to get the loan rehabbed?

You already did.
2) Is Pioneer Credit Recovery not required under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to contact my attorney after I've asked for them to do so?

If your attorney did not respond in a reasonable time, then they are free to call you again.
3) Is anyone familiar with SLRO?
yes....a waste of money.
4) Are settlements ever done?
Yes..you can easily have some to all of the collection fees waived.

Sorry, just have to say it again, SOAPLADY, your the best, and if and when I need your assistance I hope I can count on you. Thanks for being here for so many.

Luke

I wish I could help you. But all I can do is wish you the best of luck. I'm in student loan hell myself right now. I put myself and my husband through 5 years each of college. $200,000 of student loans. I'll be paying them off until the day I die.

Soaplady,
Can you give me guidance on finding out how much of the amount owed is collection fees, and then how do I approach the CA on doing a settlement? I spoke with them almost two weeks ago and the most they would do was 10% off of the $62,298 they say is owed as of May 22nd, would it be more?

What about forgiveness if I worked for a 501(c)3 for the required amount of time, is that still an option even if I am already in wage garnishment?

Soaplady,
Can you give me guidance on finding out how much of the amount owed is collection fees, and then how do I approach the CA on doing a settlement?

You have to ask the CA what the breakdown is.

Settlements....10% off is approximately 50% of on the collection fees which is pretty standard. You might be able to get a bit more, but they tend to be rougher on those already in garnishment. Also keep in mind that you will receive a 1099 on whatever balance is settled, so it will cost you more in taxes next year.

I spoke with them almost two weeks ago and the most they would do was 10% off of the $62,298 they say is owed as of May 22nd, would it be more?

What about forgiveness if I worked for a 501(c)3 for the required amount of time, is that still an option even if I am already in wage garnishment?


For starters you are not in voluntary repayment. Secondly, only those loans being held by Direct Loans are eligible. Since you already defaulted on a rehab, you do not have that option again, thus you will not be able to consolidate either as loans in garnishment are not eligible.

At this point it sounds like my only option is to do a settlement. Or is there anything else that you know of that can be done?
Any tips/suggestions on how go about getting them to give more than 10% off the collection fees? Will they allow me to pay on the prinical and then several payments to pay the interest back?
My experience with Pioneer hasn't been too good thus far. In Feb. I asked for a complete accounting and they said if I got that then the account would be due in full, don't understand how that can be true.
Thank you again for your wealth of knowledge!

Any time you default on a student loan, the balance becomes due in full immediately. In your case you did not have the option of rehab since you already defaulted on your 1st rehab and you may only do it once. Once you hit the garnishment phase, paying the loan off or settleling the account is your only option.

By law, your payments go to interest and fees first and then principal...you do not have the option to pay principal.

Settlements are a one time payment....which means you need to come up with a lump sum. Occasionally they will break it into two payments. Making payments over a long term is simply considered paying in full.

settlements have 3 options:with these two being the best.90 % principal and 90 % interest or 100 % principal 50 % interest.all collection fees are removed and you have 90 days to pay it off.the collector is not going to tell you this so just call them up and get your principal and interest.tell them you will call them back later.figure out which is cheaper then call them back with the figure that is lower and that you can pay

Settlements are not written in stone and each FFELP guarantor and the DOE have different guidelines. SInce the OP had a Sallie Mae loan we have no way of knowing which FFELP guarantor currently holds the loan. Some are more generous than others and ultimately it is up to the CA collecting to determine how low the settlement will be based on the best interest of the guarantor, not the borrower. Settlemnts over 90 days are also subjective....some will some wont. When I was collecting, some guarantor gave us blanket authorization to settle....others made us jump thru hoops. In all cases we had to document why the settlement was made and usually a credit report anaylsis of current debts. Hardships were easy...no employment or underemployment, no credit or with totally bad credit. If mortgage inquiries were showing up within the past 90 days, forget the max settlement.

One trick...settlments offered closer to the end of the month will generally be easier and faster to get. Many a time I had a settlement offer after the 25th of the month....crunch time. Instead of emailing settlment requests, we would call for authorization. Often we would pay for overnight FEDEX pickup and delivery for a cashiers check or certified funds. In some months we would jump thru hoops as traditionally August and January were slow months.

My biggest or highest settlement? $270k loan settled for $200k. It made my record collection month of $1.96 million collections with cash, rehabs and consolidation credits. I got crap for not hitting $2 mil. I paid cash for my 93 saturn from that commision check. These types of numbers are not typical...I was a damn good collector and had been doing it a long time.

I have been trying to make a settlement with the CA, but they seem to be playing games. The first time they said they would settle, I was asked to email them pic's from hurricane katrina, of everything I lost.......then no reply after I sent everything. I originally took out 9500. worth of loans, and I now owe 24,000. What can I do? Is there a company that can help out? SLRO claims they can do the job, but I can't see paying a company before the job gets done. Advice needed......

Are these federal loans??

As I have said before, SLRO is a waste of your money. You can settle your own account. I used to be the collector sitting behind the desk deciding on the settlement. Our agency was instructed not to work with organizations such as this by most of our clients because a) they are not attorneys and B) we needed to deal with the borrower directly.

Quite frankly, I dont see why pictures are required. You should be able to get a settlment of around $19-$20k with no problems. You are not going to get lower than this,regardless of what anyone tells you.

yes! Dothe collectors get paid on how much they settle with the debtor for? Why can't they take 15,000.?

Yes collectors are on commision . However the guarantors set the guidelines for settlements. Since these are federally insured loans (ie taxpayer funds) settlements are never as large as what credit cards debt would be. $15k would be discounting interest, collection fees and principal...that aint going to happen.

Keep in mind that you will receive a 1099 on anything over $600 you settle on. You will pay taxes on this settled amount.

Yes, while you dont NEED a third party, SLRO did help alot as alot of this stuff is over my(and many others) head and they are good at what they do..if you are in a bind and need help..their service is worth it

They also charge a hefty fee for doing something you can do yourself. I have heard of people in default paying $1000 and then were forwarded a consolidation application.

Most collection agencies will not deal with companies such as this.

SLRO is the worst and they are crooks. They take your money then send you a consolidation app, or a garnishment hardship app and that is it. A filed a complaint against them with the BBB. Do not believe their lies.

I wouldnt call them crooks..if you can find them on the internet, then you already scrolled thru all the information on rehab and consolidation. Too many people are looking for an easy way out and they believe the promises that SLRO makes...which in fact are true. However you could have gotten the information from your guarantor or the CA handling your account for free. BBB wont do anything....they are just paper pushers.