Would collections prevent me from getting federal financial aid or an apartment for med school?

[barbieandbrainsmd]

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I am about to fill out FAFSA for financial aid, but I realized something that is now haunting me: I have a couple thousand in collections (personal loan taken out in my name that I didn’t know about to pay for school, then went unpaid :/) and am slowly paying it off. Will this play a role in or even prevent me from receiving federal financial aid? Also, will this prevent me from leasing an apartment for med school? I plan to get roommates, hopefully

I will be quite close if not done paying off the collections by the time I start med school, and I have been told it’ll be removed from collections when I do. However I obviously will be receiving financial aid and choosing an apartment a bit before then, so just want to plan accordingly.

 

[wysdoc]

Existing loan balances will be taken into consideration for your federal loan application, but if you are making payments on the loan that is a good factor for you.
Did your parents take the loans out "in your name" without telling you?

 

[pazzer2]

The collections will be noted on your credit report, for up to 7 years. Future landlords will be able to find this information out. But it looks better since you're paying them off.

 

[chilly_md]

You may have trouble at apartment complexes that are managed by a company. Would be good to get the free credit report that you are entitled to at the large credit bureaus.