Student Loans

[King]

Ok. I owe about 12,000 in student loans to the government and another 5,000 to the bank. I am not working at the moment so I have no way of paying off these loans. I also have no assets as far as a car or a house. I keep getting phone calls from the collection agency saying that they will take me to court or they will seize detachable assets and such. So, I guess my question is, what can they really do? I have no job so they can't garnish my wages, and I have no car or house for them to take. Is there anything they can do other than that? I do intend to pay them once I find a job, but until then I have no money with which to pay. I was advised to see a lawyer about suing them for harrassment seeing as they call nearly every day. Is that really an option? Any serious advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

King

 

[anon1]

Get married, have a kid, they'll forgive the debts.

 

[Sasha Jones]

When they call just tell them that you are not home, ask if you can take a message, eventually they will get tired of calling and just start sending letters, the letters can then be used to start you campfires this summer.

ooops did I just say that

 

[papasmerf]

King
If you consider that 17K is less then the cost of a new car, this is not a ton of money.

Not being sure how it works in Canada; I can say that Bakruptcy is not an option in the US. As student loans can not be "charged off". With that said they can be restructured. You can make arrangements for lower interest and payment. Try a credit counciling service or on the next call arrange to pay say 50 a month for the next 36 months. Then reopen the negoations.

Why ruin your credit for 17K?

 

[kingcobra]

Can they sue you? Yes. Will they? Not likely as long as you're not working and or have no assets. The dost of legal action can be prohibitive as the balance exceeds the limits for small claims court.

Explain to them that you are not working, ask them to send you a financial assessment form to complete. You fillin the form with details of your current financial situation and they will see there is really no point throwing good money after bad in taking legal action.

If you can, offer them nominal payments of $50 or $100 a month until your financial situation inproves.

Suing them for harassment is not an option. According to the Collection Practices Act they can call you as long as they don't call with "such frequency as to constitute harassment" and calling once a day really doen't fall into that category. If the collector is being abusive speak to the collection manager. If you don't get satisfaction from the collection manager you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services (in writing) They will investigate, the agency will have to respond and will be much more agreeable to making a deal.

Ministry complaints are a pain in the ass for any agency, trust me, I've been in the business for over 20 years and have responded to many.
Most agency managers, collection managers are good at what they do and are professionals. If they have collectors stepping over the line and contravening either the Act or their client guidelines, they want to know about it and will fix it. There are still some neanderthals in the business but that's where the Ministry can come into play.

 

[SDFeuerzauber]

What "they" can do...

Make a note in your credit bureau
Garnish future wages
Prevent you from obtaining a profesional lic

What "you" could do...

Pay only the interest on your loans until you find employment or return to school at least half-time.

 

[fob]

I believe declaring bankruptcu does not wipe out student loans because it is a government program and is exempted from bankruptcy proceedings. Also, you can apply for a waiver to pay the loans for six months while you try to find a job. If you still do not have a job at the end of the waiver period then make an arrangement to pay what you can because they would want you to pay something rather than nothing. Deal with the bank directly ratheg than the agency.

It is surprising your loan is in collections as it is aa very unusal situation. I am assuming you ignored the bank's letters and phone calls. It is never a good thing to ignore them as they will take it to the next level and not simply forget about you.

 

[AnonSP]

Bankruptcy does not void any government debt including student loans.

 

[Primetime21]

Re student loans

King
I have been preparing tax returns for the past ten years and have seen all the problems people have had with student loans. The worst thing you could have done is not talk to someone at the government about your loan. The fact that a collection agency is calling would indicate you did not talk to anyone about your loan. That threat about taking your assets is a load of crap it is just a way to scare you. The next time they phone ask for their name and their supervisor's name and tell them you are going to call the better business bureau. Write down on paper how often they are calling so you have proof. If you have no job or assets, about the only thing they can take from you is your income tax refund. As stated previously, declaring bankruptcy is not an option as it does not cover student loans. The best thing to do now is to phone a 1-888 phone number the government has conecerning student loans. You can either check your phone book for the number or phone ccra at 1-800-959-8281 and ask them for the relating to student loan liens. Good luck,because you have a long process in front of you.

 

[Cruise]

king,

17k isnot much, i owe much than u do, but i am not afraid of that, first of all. i am expecting to get 40k fiscally. and i know i the minimum i need to pay every month is about 300$
thats not a big deal for me.

and do u have relatives to borrow momey from? get some money and pay them monthly, and for god sake, find a job. any job.
anyjob can help u pay the student loan.

my dad bought a 250k house, and he probably has less education than you.
it is all about hard work

 

[Joker]

If you're on a government assistance plan (i.e. UI or Welfare), and the agency doesn't believe you maybe they can speak to whomever is handling your file (i.e. case worker).

Try to pay the interest. (I owe $29K from my MBA and my interest is $150/month - my tuition was $12K alone, unbelievable!)

 

[Joker]

I thought of something else. When I started work I was paid poorly, $35K pre-tax, after my undergrad. I was scraping by with shared accomodation (a flat mate) in Toronto. My advice is that if you're starting out, consider getting a job outside of Toronto. Although the pay may be lower, the money will go way further outside of the city and more than make up for it.

 

[submissivedave]

This shit happened to a friend of mine who went to York.

There was this guy in a mean deep voice calling every single fucking day asking my friend to pay up. Unfortunately, he (my friend) was so broke that he was unable to complete his degree. All he had was one more semester left ...

Shit like this is a very sad story ... that's why education should be free even up to post-secondary ...

 

[Romeo]

When I was young you didn't have to pay back the student loans so many didn't. They couldn't even include it in your credit history.

 

[DenWa]

I owe $36K to the US Gov and the University of Michigan...it stresses me out a great deal. My minimum payment is $340 a month, and I'm a struggling writer in Hollywood. I know going to U of M and getting a degree in writing made me a better writer, but the degree itself isn't worth the paper it's printed on. I try not to regret having gone to college, as I know I learned a lot about my craft, but that's hard medicine to swallow when I have people constantly calling me and demanding money I don't have.

 

[Goober Mcfly]

...which reminds me, DenWa, you got that twenty bucks you owe me?

 

[TravellingGuy]

Bankruptcy does not void any government debt including student loans.

I was told differently by the government regarding outstanding GST and Income tax,if you can declare bankruptcy on your income tax and gst, why not your student loans?

 

[DenWa]

I gave it to your mom, Goober...

 

[Goober Mcfly]

Did she give you change?

 

[DenWa]

no, but she gave me a coupon for the next time I see her.