Question:
Dear Steve,
I went to High Point University in NC a private institution in 2012.
Graduated finally in Dec 2017. I of course took out student loans both federal and private. Private being Sallie Mae.
I came home in Dec 2017 after graduation had no job for 2 months and Sallie wanted payment because I had used all my forbearance and deferment in the time I took a leave of absence from school for financial reasons.
Wrecked me and my cosigners (mom credit). I have not been paying on a plan with them for 4 years and no even making a dent, but it is killing me financially.
I can get most credit lines except buy a house, which has really been my goal.
I can’t save enough money for a down payment on a house and my income can’t go up fast enough for me to be able to be approved for a house.
I am debating on just stop paying my private student loans at least and just say forget it.
It has been a burden on my over 4 years at this point. I am paying high rent prices.
My credit still is hurting from the late payments that I could not pay and my mom lost her job and could not pay.
My credit isn’t going up or changing at all. They won’t let me release my mom from the loan. I don’t make enough to refinance
Are there options for me? I have 100k in private and 50k in federal.
DaQuan
Answer:
Dear DaQuan,
I wish I had some truly wonderful advice that would make this all better quickly and without any pain. This is a big financial owie.
Your situation has a lot of unfortunate parts. Since your mom guaranteed the private loans she is on the hook for them. Private lenders are notorious for saying they will release co-signers but they rarely do.
Even if you decide to walk away from them, your mom can be sued or garnished over them. The involvement of your mom makes this tricky.
You should put the federal loans into an Income-Based Repayment Plan to get the lowest possible payment. At least we can move those into a holding pattern and keep them from getting into trouble.
It is not impossible to get a settlement on private loans. I’ve seen them even accept very low monthly payments over time on these. But it takes surgical precision at times.
Since this is so tricky and benefits from expert advice I would strongly suggest you contact my friend Damon Day. He is an experienced Debt Coach that helps people work through these tricky issues.
Ultimately this is going to need a unique and specialized solution to ever break free from this debt. It’s the private student loans that are the biggest noose with the fewest options.
Sallie Mae / Navient will tell you they won’t settle the debt, but they will if you know who to talk to.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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