Loan Default/Collection Agency--HELP!!

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Hi Everyone-

Here is my crazy story- Got a private student loan with my mom as a co-signer a few years ago; was supposed to start paying it, but I didnt, now the loan went on default; AES had it but now it was given to MRS Collection Agency; which are calling my mom, myself and even cousins and uncles which I feel is completely out of line; can they be doing this?

I am now at the point where I want to start paying this off; but the problem is that I don't know if there is anyway I can do a rehab program now since its in the collection agency. I called AES and they said now I have to deal with the CA (Collection Agency); but I have read many places that its possible sometimes to get the loan back to AES?

Here is another question; since they are calling everyone like crazy, I am planning to call them monday and tell them that I just sent [will send it Monday] a Debt Validation Letter; in which I ask for certain documents. Can they still be calling since I will be sending that letter? This will be the first time I am going to be sending such letter; but I am kind of scared they will say something because they are usually pretty aggressive and mean,they sometimes don't let me talk..

I feel so bad for all this and I regret this every minute of my life, but I guess I just have to learn from my mistakes... Is there anything else you guys can advice me?

I am still in school, finishing up a nursing school, so I dont have much money; once I told them I could only give so much; they told me aggressively again to talk to my mom [cosigner] and give them more money...

What do I do?

Thanks in advance,

Eddie

I think your solution is to start paying off your student loan.

If you look at the docs you signed when you took the money, yes, they can contact you as much as they want, they can contact your cosigner, your references, anybody who answers the phone. If you don't pay, you're in default. This is on you - it's not the bank's fault, and it's not the collection agency's fault..

Unfortunately you missed the opportunity to get payments deferred while you're in school. You can't get deferrals once you're in default. I hope you're graduating next month and that you have a job lined up..

Quite honestly, your credit rating is trashed now, which is a blocking problem for med school. There are very few schools that are cheap enough to not require GradPlus. GradPlus requires good credit and/or a cosigner.

My advice: get your resume together, get a stable job with benefits, maybe take classes at night. Pay off that loan as fast as you can.

Best of luck to you.

Loans don't just go into default. It takes a concerted effort to ignore multiple attempts by the lender to achieve a solution, including possible deferment or forbearance. That is now in the past for you, but this can serve as a cautionary tale for others so I will stress the point. Don't ignore any creditor or you will get sent to collections. When a debt goes to collections, the creditor doesn't get as much as they would have. That means they will be willing to work with you in a variety of ways in order to get you to pay. This goes for any kind of debt.

Once you go to collections, they can and will call anybody they think will help them to get some money for this debt. There are some rules about calling after being told not to call, but I don't know off hand-google search would probably help you. They will not be as lenient in terms of repayment plans, and they don't care what you say your situation is. They will assume you are a liar because lots of people who end up getting sent to collections are. Since your mom was your co-signer you are trashing her credit too. If she can afford to, I would recommend she pay off the debt. You can then work out how you can repay her over time.

By debt validation letter, I assume you are trying to see if you can get out of paying the loan due to paperwork getting lost. That is sort of an example of the liar thing I was talking about, because you already KNOW your owe the money.

Look into the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It delineates what the collection agency is allowed to do in order to collect the money you owe. I think you have to call them, or send a certain letter, and at that point they will only be able to contact you and your cosigner for certain reasons, within reasonable hours.