Question:
Dear Steve,
Asking this for a dear friend who co-signed her son’s student loan and now he has defaulted on the loan. She was unaware.
Her son supposedly consolidated other loans but states he “thought” this one was included. Well, it wasn’t.
She is greatly distressed. She can’t get any real answers from her son, and she doesn’t make enough money to make the payments. She’s a very good person who sadly made a very bad mistake.
Does she have any recourse? Is there any way out for her.
Thomas
Answer:
Dear Thomas,
Thank you for being such a good friend and asking for help and advice.
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It is not clear if she co-signed for a private student loan or took out a federal Parent PLUS loan for her son.
Typically when people say they consolidated a number of student loans they are federal student loans.
We can get to the bottom of this if you can ask your friend a few questions for me and then post the update in the comments.
In general, if it is a Parent PLUS or a co-signed private student loan, your friend would be responsible for the loan. Period. Any repayment of the loan would be an agreement between the son and your friend. Not the lender.
Sadly, this is a situation I’ve seen over and over. It is horrible.
If you want some more help, just give me a bit more information on the loan.
Thank you Steve. I will try to get the answers to the questions you asked. Thanks again.
Asked question for friend.
Answered.