Is it possible to refinance a student loan that has already been consolidated? I have loans from '93/'94 that were defaulted and then consolidated. Although I have been in repayment since May of '99, I have had several forbearances, and I still owe more than the original amount of the damn loan. (Nevermind that the *original* amount was made much larger by the default.) If I could refinance at 6% instead of the 8% I have now, I could make the same or slightly larger payment as I am now and be paying more principle. Currently I owe $14,845 at 8.25%. The original loans totaled only $10,125, but after adding interest and 25% collection fees totaled $14,501. The monthly interest alone is over $100. It seems a shame to be throwing that money away...
You may only consolidate federally guaranteed loans once, unless you either take out an additional loan or have loans that were not included in the original consolidation. That is the Federal Regulations. Sorry to not be able to give you a positive answer. fla-tan
Right, I pretty much knew I couldn't consolidate again, but are there any options,short of a conventional loan, to getting these down to a lower rate? Also, since a few on this board seem to have vast knowledge of student loans, am I completely out of luck as far as the whole rehabilitation thing goes? If I had known when I was 'forced' into reconsolidation that I could have rehabilitated I certainly would have gone that route instead...
Did you consolidate w/ Sallie Mae for a fixed rate? Did they pressure you to do so? And now you feel like you have no options for lowering the rate when so many others do? If you can't tell, I can answer yes to all of the above. It's frustrating when all you hear about are the lowest rates in history and yet it doesn't apply to you. I am tempted to call SM and make them provide me w/ copies of the original consolidation docs to see if there are any loopholes.
MandyB: I had defaulted and after about 8 months was being contacted by Van Ru Credit Corporation and they basically told me they were going to take my tax return and garnish wages or some such, not to mention how horrible my credit would be. Of course, I was stupid and knew I owed the money. I also had no knowledge of the rehabilitation program. After sending two post-dated checks they got me a reconsolidation. It was gravy money for them, that 25% collection fee. I really had no clue finacially at the time, but I'm still paying dearly now. Oh, the consolidation was through AZ Educational Loan company, who is now Southwest Student Services Corporation. It's fixed at 8.25%
I thought rates were low last year so I consolidated.. only to find out that they were more than 2% lower this year. The only way I was able to consolidate was to do a joint consolidation with my wife's loans. I know there are disadvantages to doing that, but the 2% was too much to pass by. So check and see if your spouse has some loans.. then do a joint consolidation. My rate went from 6.8 to 4.25.
