I am very frustraded with my student loans. I have been paying them for the past 5 years and it seems that somehow I still have loans that are in default. Everytime that I get set up with collections agency they tell me that I can consolidate my loans and make just one payment a month. Then after the loan gets returned to Sallie Mae, They claim that I still have loans that are in default and send it back to a different collections agency. I am very frustrated since everytime the loan is passed to a collections agency I have to deal with the exhausting persistent harrasment tactics that they use. Today I just got off the phone with a company called Outsourcing Solutions Inc. and they were so rude and insulting all because I refused to give out all of my husbands financial information. I am currently unemployed as a housewife. At this present moment I solely attend to my 3 small babies so I do not have a source of income. Although I explained to them my current situation and am more then willing to repay my loans in which way I can. They refused to accept my offer. I offered to pay $50 a month since I am out of work and that amount I know that I can definitely afford without putting any strain on my family. My phone call was passed to a "Supervisor" and she went on to insult me telling me that the amount to be paid was for them to determine based on my husbands income and not for me. I tried my best to explain that my husband refuses to disclose any of his personal information since it is his right to do so. Although we are more than happy to make the $50 payments until our situation betters she went on to tell me that I had to abide by their terms not them by mine. She was extremeley patronizing and went on to tell me the responsability of marriage and that he HAD to do this and that for me as a wife. I got very upset and all I could possibly say at this moment was "Im sorry, it is a privae matter" "It is his personal choice" "He has a right to his privacy" I found myself in this exhausting argument that I had never intended to take part of. And she got so upset that the last thing she told me was "well then theres nothing I can do for you" and I said fine and hung up the phone. Is this right? isit okay for them to do that? is there something tha I can do about this? I am frustrated beyond belief and dont know what to do anymore.
If you are in a community property state, your husband might be responsible for your debts. Can they say those things? Well, yes, they do it all the time. Do you have any recourse? Yes, but recording the call (with permission, if necessary) would help your case. They do it because they can and no one puts up a fight. But, back to your loan, you agreed to pay the loan back when you took it out. You might go back to those agreements to see what recourse they have. I don't know the details, but I know student loans have some provisions for if you can't make the payments. There might be some options and clarifications. You definitely don't want to get your advice from a collection agency. If I were you, I'd: 1) get a telephone recording gizmo for the next time they call (it sounds as though they're likely to do it again. 2) review the student loan provisions to see if it spells out your options under your circumstances. 3) I think you were wise in not giving any information out over the phone (for however difficult that might have been). 4) Try contacting SallieMae and starting from there (even if it's in collections) to see if they can help you with your options.
I believe if you get on the DOE's website you should be able to locate all of your loans. Find out exactly what you have then work from there.
It sometimes helps to go to the DOE Ombudsman as well. He can help you figure out a course of action.
