Posted on: May 30, 2009 by Matt
As many of you know – I have some student loans that have been in collection / defaulted for about seven years now. So far I have been unable to locate a rehabilitation program for them and have been pretty much at the mercy of one nasty debt collector. They yelled, cursed and degraded me in order to get payment and I am fairly certain that they had violated the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
So when I received letters in the mail last Saturday noting that my loans had been reassigned to another collection ageny I had some mixed emotions. I was disappointed because it appeared that I would now be dealing with the original lender once again but glad that I no longer had to deal with the folks from the previous agency. I was also a bit frustrated due to the amount of digging I had to do in order to contact somebody at the correct location. I had already called the previous collection agency, the processing company and the original lender and thought I had been given the correct place to mail my payments – then I received the letters noting I had someone else to call.
Earlier this week I placed a call to the new collection agency. Much to my surprise – they were courteous, professional and really easy to work with. They did not once accuse me of anything and were glad to work with me on a payment schedule. They were more than happy to honor my previous arrangement and even offered up a couple of pleasant surprises.
First – they noted that there had been a rehabilitation program that was offered up until about a year ago. The program ended due to the economic crisis but may become available again. I had been asking if there was any possible way to get these loans back into good standing for five years and was repeatedly told no but I could settle in full if I paid up $18,000 in cash. I found it a little frustrating that I had been lied to for so long and was a bit angry but I can not change the facts now. On the flip side they also said that should the program become available that they will submit all on time payments made as eligible for the program. That means if the program kicks off a few months down the road again I could be rolled into an automatic rehabilitation and have my loans back in good standing. Of course I do not expect anything yet but the folks over at the collection agency sounded a little hopeful that the economy was headed in a positive enough direction that they have heard a little buzz about the possibility.
Secondly – the new agency will send out monthly balance sheets! It might seem like a standard practice to get a monthly statement for your debts but for some reason the old agency would not send them. If I was to call and request them they would usually say they would send something but it normally would not contain complete records if it arrived at all. I discussed options for additional payments and was told that it was ok to have the normal payments applied and to mail back extra with any of the statements provided to have the additional payment applied to that particular loan.
Given the change in collection agencies I am cautiously optimistic that I can work something out and pay these debts down! Right now the loans I have in collection have followed me along like some form of financial leprosy and I will be happy to see those debts disappear! After paying them off I will be down to my last two student loans which are both in good standing and then will be (hopefully) debt free!
Posted on: May 28, 2009 by Matt
While stumbling around some of my favorite reads I happened upon a post over at Budgets Are Sexy asking What Would You Do With 3 Financial Do-Overs? which it turns out was an extension from a post over at Your Money Relationship. I know I can not change the past and I am in the midst of dealing with yet another collection agency but if the money genie did happen to stop by my house for a visit I would probably take him or her up on the offer.
After giving it a little thought I think that given the opportunity I would probably wish to:
- Have paid for college without loans: Well since it is a wish then when not go all the way? I suppose I would be happy with not having defaulted on student loans in the past as well though. If the genie was unable to get me through college debt free then maybe it could save me from myself right?
- Learned about personal finance earlier in life: I really had no clue when I left home for college at all. I could not budget or even balance a checkbook and I had no idea how credit worked. It was not until I read Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Make Over that I got the basics for the first time and that was about 4 years after graduating from college. I think that knowledge of all personal financial essentials probably would have saved me a few headaches in the past.
- Saved more: Only recently have I really started to enjoy saving money. I like to see balances go up for what I have in the bank and debt balances go down. If I had put 10% of what I have earned through my life in the bank and left it there I would probably be sitting pretty happy right now. I can still start doing this but I thought I might as well fill out my third wish.
Really the only thing that I wish I had done differently in my financial past was the way I failed to manage my student loans after college. The rest was a learning experience and while it may have been difficult at the time, I survived. The student loan issue is really the only lingering big financial mistake that I have to deal with and it will pass someday as well. All said – I think that a wish of making it through college without student loan debt would put me in a much different situation today and it is probably the one aspect of my life that I would change if I could.
However – I do keep in mind that by changing the paths I have gone done in life I may not have ended up where I am at today! I have a family that loves me, a place to live, a car to drive and food on the table. If changing my past meant changing my current family situation for any reason I would have to decline the money genie’s generous offer. The people I live with mean more to me than any sum of money – if I had to go through what I have gone through to get where I am today then I would not change a single step along the way.
Posted on: May 26, 2009 by Matt
Well I was hopeful that my student loans in bad standing were on the upswing and I may be able to work with somebody to get them back into good standing. However – over the long weekend I received letters from a new collection agency notifying me that they will now be processing the account. I was discouraged and frustrated and started to wonder yet again if I would ever be able to get these loans out of my life. I am really not sure how to put the entire ball of feelings I have about these loans into words but rest assured it is not pleasant.
I discussed the issue with my girlfriend and she helped me get through the despair of having the student loan mess once again. It seems that I have been paying money to these folks for 7 years (while working with a collection agency that would not provide monthly statements or balance sheets) and that the debt has not gone down. It sucked any positive attitude I may have had right out of me but we were able to talk it through to a point where I could see some positives. The biggest of the positives: the new agency seems to send out monthly statements that show my balance and interest.
So all said and done I believe that the new plan will look something like this:
- Call the new agency and set up payment arrangements based on what I can afford.
- Call the original lender again and make another attempt to get back into good standing.
- Continue to make minimum payments on the account(s).
- When I am able to pay extra – apply the extra to the account with the lowest balance and attack that debt.
Of course the process would go quicker if I had some extra income but currently taking another job or working extra hours and trying to make more would mean less time with my family. I do plan to put any income from the blog here back into debt repayment but other than that I will not be pursuing additional employment so I can still spend time with my family.
What would you do? Can anyone else out there think of another option that I might be missing?
Posted on: May 5, 2009 by Matt
Shortly before leaving for vacation I received a check back in the mail from the student loans I have in collections. I opened the letter and discovered that back in March my payments started to be rejected. I was nervous anyway just because I had not seen the payment post in my bank account but now I had confirmation.
I called the number for the servicing company and was referred back to the original guarantor of the loan. I then called the original loan holder and left them a voicemail as well as the collection agency that had been processing my account. I was hopeful that something had changed for the better and I may now be able to work out a rehabilitation program with the original lender to get my life back on track.
While we were away on vacation (see the photo, not taken by me but in the area we were – lovely place) I received a voicemail from the original lender noting that they no longer use the processing companies I had been working with and that I should now send all future payments to a new address. I have since returned their call and left another voicemail inquiring about possible rehabilitation options and am waiting anxiously to hear back.
If we are able to work out an agreement to rehabilitate the loans I think I may just be overjoyed. These loans have followed me around for about 7 years now in a state of collection or default and I have not had any options to rehabilitate them like a federal loan. I know it is my fault for messing up and letting the loans get to the point they are at but do want to clear them up. I guess now about all I can do is wait for my phone to ring – if it does I may post an extra update here to let everyone know how my luck turns out. I think my current attitude is of cautious optimism.
Tags: Collections, Debt, Debt Reduction, Future, Goals, Personal Finance, Planning, Student Loans Filed Under: Collections, Debt, Debt Reduction, Student Loans
Posted on: April 21, 2009 by Matt
So only yesterday I posted on how I am trying to relieve myself of credit card debt and this morning I am already being enticed into a new credit card offered by the nice folks over at Upromise.
When I first discovered Upromise I was kind of excited at the idea of having a passive means to slowly build up money to repay my Sallie Mae student loans. I figured I would just sign up and register my credit cards and use the site for shopping and other features that would allow me to add to my account, bypassing the Upromise credit card.
However when I logged in to check up on my account this morning for the first time in a few months I noticed a rather enticing offer for the new Upromise credit cards. They are offering a $25 bonus to your account in addition to the normal savings with your first qualifying purchase on a new Gas & Grocery or Dining & Grocery card.
I saw the bonus offer and thought “Why I use gas and groceries all the time…. Maybe I should get one of those and use it just for gas..“ It does give an extra whole 2% on gas purchases (which means in stead of $0.20 every tank I’ll get $0.22?) and there is no annual fee – I could just use it once for the $25.
Of course I know that while I would like the sign up bonus that I really have no need for another credit card, regardless of the frills. The offer is appealing though for the one time bonus if nothing else. I just wish that Upromise would stop trying to entice me with all their new credit card specials and offerings! They must make a lot of their money from their credit business and they market the products incessantly – it really does become difficult to avoid and not find something of interest.
I just managed to close my browser window and stop eyeballing the deal so I guess I am still one step ahead but I still feel as though I am leaving money on the table. What do you think?
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