I previously spoke to a CA about rehab and he flatly said he required $125 one time payment, and $50 a month. I am not working and am able to pay very little per month. I've read payments can be really low, say $5 a month. Can anyone concur with that? Has the CA misrepresented my right to make a reasonable and affordable payment plan? Do I have a claim under the FCRA? Anybody with experience in this, such as super low payments on a rehab?
How much is the total amount owed on the student loan to be rehabilitated? Many servicers require 1-1.5% of the total loan amount payed per month. I had to pay 1.5% of my total amount. You can apply for a "hardship request" to have your monthly amount reduced below their "requirement" (I had this done as well for one loan), but you will have to go through the CA and fill out a detailed income/expense form. I've never heard of a servicer that accepted $5.00 a month on a student loan; there may be a minimum payment accepted for rehabilitation per the DOE. I also haven't heard of a DOE requirement for a flat sum down (i.e. $125) before accepting the normal rehab payment, so I think they are trying to give you a hard time on that up-front payment issue. If you are able to pay $50 a month and just that, then tell them that's all you have. Go to the CA supervisor if needed to make your case, and then to the DOE Ombudsman's office if the supervisor doesn't accept your payment amount. On the other hand, if you can't afford $50 a month (that's a pretty low amount, since $50 a month is generally the mininimum payment with most servicers anyway, defaulted or not), then you may want to consider not rehabilitating your loans until you're able to work again. You HAVE to eat and have a place to sleep, and since they can't dock your pay if you aren't working and since they can't put you in jail over defaulted student loans, I'd let it remain defaulted until I could have a steady income. Once rehabilitated, they get deleted no matter how long they've been in default.
They are student loans. I was considering consolidation, but in research and help of this board, I'm learning rehab is the best. My loan totals: 3 with Dep of Educ, total $3700 1 Perkins with a university, total $2400
The $5 minimum payment is for the Income Contingent Repayment Plan with Dept. of Ed. loans. The minimum payment may be $0 if your income is less than the poverty level. Interest keeps accruing though. I am not aware of a similar repayment plan for Perkins loans,but they do have deferments for unemployment which may be a better option.
