My husband's student loans are going to end up costing us $133,000! We only took out $48,000! How the heck does this work? And is there any way to reduce our payment by consolidating?? We're with Sallie Mae and I really think they suck!
2007-03-15 07:35:45 · 5 answers · asked by socmum16 ♪ 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Financial Aid
Not that it really matters. But my husband and I have excellent credit. We're getting screwed that's the bottom line.
2007-03-18 04:59:29 · update #1
The short answer is, you can't reduce or default on your loans. You'll never be able to reduce your payments to your lender. There may be lenders who will transfer the debt by paying it off and letting you owe them instead, but I imagine you'd have to have excellent credit for that, since you could use bankrupcy on your new creditor. Consolidation could reduce your payments if you can find anyone who will do it. I seem to remember there were a few... also some scams out there too.
However there is one way of directly reducing the balance, that happened to me, though it involved defaulting. My creditor declared the loan bad and the government picked it up since it's a government backed loan. Over about 14 years a $2000 loan accrued interest until it was about $4500 last year. They hit me with lien and garnishment, but I wasn't working so that did nothing. Eventually, last year, they sent me an offer: settle the debt for principal +half the interest and no collection fees! About $3000. I was working now and had money so I quickly took the offer. Now I'm qualified for student loans again even.
This is an extreme method of course since it involves potential wage garnishment and liens, but it's an example of a student loan that was reduced. Not negotiated, though; the government simply made an offer suddenly. There's noone you can contact to negotiate with, that I know of.
2007-03-15 07:51:42 · answer #1 · answered by kozzm0 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That sucks. I was gonna say I didn't pay back anything on student loans cause I didn't have any. That sounds wrong. I know on a loan the interest adds to what you end up having to pay back but that sounds like too much. I'd see about getting a loan with a lower rate.
2007-03-15 14:45:27 · answer #2 · answered by poof10958 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You should have only accepted subsidized loans. The interest rate does not accumilate until you are out of school and ready to pay.
2007-03-15 15:00:02 · answer #3 · answered by william74044 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I paid nothing! I had a 4 year scholarship for my undergraduate degree, and the GI bill of Rights put me through my Master for nothing. All I paid for were my books. I was real lucky.
2007-03-15 14:45:17 · answer #4 · answered by Alfie333 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
that means they jacked up the interest rate.. if you have bad credit that could reflect... if you are paying that almost tripple the amount you orig borrowed.. i would strongly reccomend going some where else
2007-03-18 03:01:50 · answer #5 · answered by Grace 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋