My student loans have went into default do to not reporting an address change to the right agency at the time. I am still a full time student and have been for past 4 years. The collection agency is calling me 5 times a day to repay in full. This has caused a lot of stress. Should I get an attorney for this harassment or what options do I have? Thank you
You have the option to rehab the account and then consolidate with deferment. Rehabilitation is 12 monthly payments on time that will erase all of the derogs associated with this loan from your credit record. Consolidation is combining your loans into one loan with one payment. Deferment is a "grace period" of no payments while you are enrolled in an accredited college. I would do it in those three steps. Other than that, there is nothing you can do.
As far as I know, Erica is correct in all her statements except the last one. I think you should do as she says, except that you can run the collection agencies off pretty easily if they keep on bothering you after you have followed her advice and they still keep on bugging you. I'd think that once you have made peace with student loan, they should get noticed by student loan to get off your case, but if they don't get the message after about 30 days or so, you can make them stop hounding you. In the meantime, one thing you can do is to simply answer the phone and tell them they will have to put whatever they have to say in a letter and then just hang up on them. They will get the idea real quick that way and you won't be slamming any doors with student loan either.
Wait... have you always been a full time student since taking the loans? Then why are you paying back now? I'm lost. If I understand correctly, it sounds like a paperwork messup where they don't realize you're still a student. IF so, skip the comments on rehab and consolidation. Go to your financial aid department at school and pick up the forms proving you've been a full time student. With those in hand, call the original creditor and explain the situation. Have them work to delete the negatives...
I agree with Bkev. I don't think normal consolidation/rehab issues apply to you, since this isn't your fault. You'll also need to involve the Dept. of Education's Ombudsman's Office (http://osfaombudsman.ed.gov/) for help in getting the derogatories cleared up - AS WELL AS your student loan record on the National Student Loan Database. You may have a fight on your hands, but with persistence and the proper paperwork, you should come out on top.
