Advice Help

[Passthemacs]

So my student loans company (salliemae) is f*ckin me over again big time and raising my monthly payments to now, what i CANNOT afford.

Let's say I owe over 100k for student loans for attending college and graduating.... (sighhh)
The payments I had were like a mortgage on a house as they stand... now I just found out they raised it up even more for this upcoming month. May be I missed something but trying to read financial policy / agreements / repayments blah blah is like the MA gun laws.

I was wondering if anyone had a good experience and or ties to a company that is taking on large student loans for consolidations with low interest rates (i know it's also based on my financial standing and credit) that has good customer service? I need to lower my interest rates and payments per month. ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED IN ADVANCE. I am now in panic mode. Please and thank you. PM's are welcome or email [email protected] or PM me to call etc.

Respectfully,

Chris

 

[ToddDubya]

When I was paying off my loans, the only benefit to consolidating was writing one check a month instead of several. The interest rate was just a weighted average of the balances and rates on the various loans. They did allow me to choose the length of my loan which gave me the opportunity to extend it, pay extra each month, but keep the option open to just pay the normal amount if money got tight.

If your payment is going up, it sounds like they've either changed your rate (is there such a thing as a variable rate student loan?) or the length of the loan (I doubt they can do that without your approval), or maybe something is no longer deferred because you graduated and you're starting to pay on it. Have you tried talking to your school? They might have a program that could help you, or at least someone who could translate the loan agreements into English.

I'm sorry to hear about your crazy loans. Whatever you do, keep paying at least something on them. You do not want to default on your loans.

 

[Passthemacs]

It is variable rates, I guess when I was working crap jobs to get buy they gave me a low payment plan for two years, that's what im recalling now and now the rates went up and so dont my payments. I've been out of college now for 3 years, I was just hoping i mean i dont mind extending my payments and paying extra in the long run so as I can make payments, stay in good standing, and still be able to Live and enjoy life not hide under a rock to pay the loans straight up.

Thanks for your condolences hahahaha. What company did you go thru to consolidate your loans the online searches bring up what seems to be AD sights an spoof links. I need to lower my monthly payment even if that means extending the life of my loan and adding interest in the long run. I can't afford it as is. even if i never bought another firearm again.

 

[Another_David]

I haven't had student loans in a while but look into consolidating your loans with the US Dept. of Education Federal Direct program. Even if the interest rate is the same--they were MUCH easier to deal with than Sallie Mae. US DOE won't jerk you around--they know they will get their money eventually since the only way to NOT pay them is to die or get permanently disabled. Sallie Mae used to screw up my payments all the time by crediting one account but not the other, holding checks to ding me for late fees and applying overpayments to next month's vig instead of paying down the principle.

Good luck. I know the interest rate "temporary reduction" is running out and the rates are going up from about 3.8 to 6.8% but keep in mind that back in 1990 the rate was around 11%!

see "consolidation" at bottom of page. It used to be you could do this ONCE provided you had at least one federal direct loan. Not sure what the rules are now though

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

I wouldn't trust ANY of those 3rd party loan consolidators/consultants/bill payment manager types.

 

[MetalgodZ]

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that a govt backed Sallie Mae loan could only be consolidated to another govt backed Sallie Mae loan.

I did it in '05, and consolidated DOWN TO a 2.85% rate.

 

[PaulD]

Maybe this is useful.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blo...uld-the-student-loan-forgiveness-act-help-you

 

[MetalgodZ]

Maybe this is useful.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blo...uld-the-student-loan-forgiveness-act-help-you

I know this isn't helpful in the current situation...BUT IF THEY DIDN'T BACK THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WOULDN'T COLLECTIVELY HAVE THIS PROBLEM.

It absolutely kills me that we don't effectively teach kids about debt, compound interest, or the job market, and then promptly lend them sums of money approaching home mortgage levels in order to get degrees. And then when the job market has changed, we DO IT AGAIN to fund a secondary degree.

 

[ToddDubya]

Thanks for your condolences hahahaha. What company did you go thru to consolidate your loans the online searches bring up what seems to be AD sights an spoof links. I need to lower my monthly payment even if that means extending the life of my loan and adding interest in the long run. I can't afford it as is. even if i never bought another firearm again.

I can't remember the name of the company. I do remember that the guy called while I was in the kitchen making tuna helper. By the time the tuna helper was done, I was on my way to having them consolidated. I asked him to call back in an hour and got the ball rolling.

I don't know how this helps you, but it's surprising what we remember and what we don't.

 

[Passthemacs]

haha i hear you i'll ahve to shop around and get more information from various lenders then. These are private student loans, so the whole federal route will not help me in this case. sighhh