Cosigning Student Loans - Learn From My Mistakes - Please Read

[laz98]

sorry to hear that.  cosigning is always a bad idea.

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My nephew asked me to sign for student loan back in 2007. I trusted him.  He just stop paying in 2009 and I didn't know he was 60 days past due until I received a letter from SALLIE MAE advising me they had reported me to credit bureau.  I couldn't breathe.  I pay my bills.  I'm not going fight with my nephew. I just pay ever month now.  Since payment were missed does this mean I can no,longer remove my name from the loan after 24 consecutive on time payments?  It's only 15k.  I just feel so stupid and used.  I avoid thanksgiving and christmas last year with my family because he would be there. I don't want to hurt his mother who is my sister.

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If I were you I would call his mother; she needs to know what he is doing because he may also do things that damage her credit.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The one thing I just want to point out is that deferment isn't always bad. Medical residents have to, for example. However, they also know they will have a good paying job eventually.

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Agreed. As a dental resident for 3 years with a family there was little else I or anyone else in my situation could do  other than defer. I had $200K in school debt going into residency and those 3 years added a bit of interest.

I current repay ~$1750 per month in school loans which is admittedly not much of a hardship even at this early stage of career.

One aspect which is somewhat related to this topic is I think as schooling gets more expensive people have to really start looking at it as a business decision. College and grad school are not the end-all be-all they used to be. They are expensive, they reduce the amount of time you are in the work force, they do not always equal more money, and if you have to ask friends and family to co-sign for loans you have to ask yourself does this decision make sense if it's also going to ruin a valued relationship? 

 Quick comparison:

My brother has done HVAC for the past 10 years. He makes six figures a year, has zero debt other than the mortgage on his very nice home, vacations multiple times per year, has a summer house, multiple snow mobiles and toys etc and is one of the happier people I know. He has never stepped into an institution of higher learning.

I've spent a total of 23 years in school, hadn't made a dime in these last 10 years, have $200K in debt, have a house that's not nearly as nice as his, and I've had to "defer" the start of my life until recently.

When it's all said and done I'm probably down ~$800K-$1M between lost income, debt and general wear and tear on my mental health. I'm glad I did it BUT it ONLY MAKES SENSE IF IT PAYS OFF IN THE END! If you're going to co-sign for someone I think due diligence dictates that you look at their ability to complete their education and their ability to pay it off once they are finished. I have LOTS of friends who went to private colleges that cost $200K and for 10 years worked in positions that paid $43K per year with no hope of advancement because everyone above them has an MBA from an ivy league school. 

Unless parents are going to foot the bill I think the days of going off to the expensive private college for your mind-expanding liberal arts education are over.  We are increasingly going to school to learn specialized training to get to the end point of supporting ourselves. Again if the student is going to have most of the burden of paying for school on their shoulders then this has to be a business decision. 

 Diatribe over  

Message Edited by idmd on 12-06-2009 07:46 AM

[Anonymous]

I am currently in this nightmare. I co-signed for my boyfriend of three years, a year ago. The loan is through Sallie Mae and it is for 10k. He promised he would pay it and would notify me if he couldn't. Of course this did not happen. I am so paranoid about it, I let the account go five days late and couldn't stand it so I paid the $50 for the deferment. The minimum payment is $117 and of course at that rate if I decide to pay it the loan will balloon to 20k (due to interest) once the loan is paid off. I am starting law school in September and have to pull out my own student loans. I can't even work the first year in school so I don't know how I am supposed to survive off of student loans and worry about paying his. He didn't even finish at the school he went to. I know that it was mentioned that as a co-signer with 24 months of consecutive payments you can request to be released off the loan. I called Sallie Mae and asked them about it, I believe they said the stipulation was that the borrower had to finish school so if that is the case I am screwed. The other thing is they said they can only release me as a cosigner obviously if the loan is never more than 30 days late and if they can determine that the borrower has enough income to pay it. Which I think means they check on his employment and income to debt ratio and then they determine it. My question is what is their incentive to do this? If they are getting at least the minimum payments from me every month they could easily lie and just say nope, he doesn't qualify etc. I also read it is difficult to sue the borrower without a promissory note and of course being naive I assumed I would never need one, or that we would still be together. I have started sending him letters certified mail so I can least have documentation I am trying to contact him and that he is recieving them but I don't know if this is going to really help me if I have no shot at winning a civil dispute against him. I am going to have to deal with this long enough to at least get my student loans but after that I don't know. He is completely avoiding me. I am willing to work with him but he has no interest in dealing with this it seems like. I know if I don't pay it my credit is shot and they could eventually get a court judgement to withdraw money from my checking/savings accounts or garnish my wages. I guess also my question is do they garnish his wages too? Do they draw equally from both parties? I read somewhere they take 15% from your wages towards the loan. I don't know what my next move is at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I realize this was incredibly stupid and now have to deal with the consequences I guess I am just looking to lessen the blow as much as possible.

[Jazzzy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I am currently in this nightmare. I co-signed for my boyfriend of three years, a year ago. The loan is through Sallie Mae and it is for 10k. He promised he would pay it and would notify me if he couldn't. Of course this did not happen. I am so paranoid about it, I let the account go five days late and couldn't stand it so I paid the $50 for the deferment. The minimum payment is $117 and of course at that rate if I decide to pay it the loan will balloon to 20k (due to interest) once the loan is paid off. I am starting law school in September and have to pull out my own student loans. I can't even work the first year in school so I don't know how I am supposed to survive off of student loans and worry about paying his. He didn't even finish at the school he went to. I know that it was mentioned that as a co-signer with 24 months of consecutive payments you can request to be released off the loan. I called Sallie Mae and asked them about it, I believe they said the stipulation was that the borrower had to finish school so if that is the case I am screwed. The other thing is they said they can only release me as a cosigner obviously if the loan is never more than 30 days late and if they can determine that the borrower has enough income to pay it. Which I think means they check on his employment and income to debt ratio and then they determine it. My question is what is their incentive to do this? If they are getting at least the minimum payments from me every month they could easily lie and just say nope, he doesn't qualify etc. I also read it is difficult to sue the borrower without a promissory note and of course being naive I assumed I would never need one, or that we would still be together. I have started sending him letters certified mail so I can least have documentation I am trying to contact him and that he is recieving them but I don't know if this is going to really help me if I have no shot at winning a civil dispute against him. I am going to have to deal with this long enough to at least get my student loans but after that I don't know. He is completely avoiding me. I am willing to work with him but he has no interest in dealing with this it seems like. I know if I don't pay it my credit is shot and they could eventually get a court judgement to withdraw money from my checking/savings accounts or garnish my wages. I guess also my question is do they garnish his wages too? Do they draw equally from both parties? I read somewhere they take 15% from your wages towards the loan. I don't know what my next move is at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I realize this was incredibly stupid and now have to deal with the consequences I guess I am just looking to lessen the blow as much as possible.

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Is your boyfriend working? What is his situation?

[NuMelc]

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@LynnInMN wrote:

 

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@sunnyday wrote:

 My debt to income ratio is terrible due to this and it is not even my debt. 

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This is where you are wrong....it is your debt.  When you cosign for any loan,  you have the same responsiblity  and repayment obligation as the main borrower. 

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Hello...I'm wondering if you can answer a question I have about co-signing, although I'm pretty sure I already know the answer. I'm not concerned with the primary holder paying because I know he will and if he doesn't I would be able to, but my question is this:

I co-signed for $50K in student loans. I know it is on my credit report and will count against me if payment is ever late etc (again payment is not my concern) but if I go to purchase a car or try to get a mortgage or take out a loan for myself could having co-signed these loans prevent me from getting a new loan of my own?

My TransUnion is 699

Message Edited by halltj2 on 03-04-2010 01:51 PM

[Anonymous]

I have no idea what my ex-boyfriend is doing. He won't return my phone calls or letters

I think he isn't working though....

[laz98]

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@halltj2 wrote:

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@LynnInMN wrote:

 

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@sunnyday wrote:

 My debt to income ratio is terrible due to this and it is not even my debt. 

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This is where you are wrong....it is your debt.  When you cosign for any loan,  you have the same responsiblity  and repayment obligation as the main borrower. 

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Hello...I'm wondering if you can answer a question I have about co-signing, although I'm pretty sure I already know the answer. I'm not concerned with the primary holder paying because I know he will and if he doesn't I would be able to, but my question is this:

I co-signed for $50K in student loans. I know it is on my credit report and will count against me if payment is ever late etc (again payment is not my concern) but if I go to purchase a car or try to get a mortgage or take out a loan for myself could having co-signed these loans prevent me from getting a new loan of my own?

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if they think you have too much debt, & can't afford to pay for it all, then yes, it will definitely stop you from getting new loans.

[Anonymous]

So you know...2 years ago I, too, found that if I made 24 on-time, in-full payments to the SallieMae loan for which I cosigned I could apply for release. On February 15, 2010, I was told by SallieMae the loan was in good standing more than 24 on-time, in-full payments had been made and I was eligible for release and an application was mailed to me. The application was filled out and returned and then DENIED! Regardless of the 2 years of good standing on the account I was told it's not "just 24 months" it's the "FIRST 24 months" so that when I called on February 15, 2010, I wasn't actually eligible because I didn't start taking over payments on the loan until month 3. I was also denied because regardless of the good standing of the account the borrowers credit still leaves him as a risk.

As a result, having been denied, I now have no recourse and am responsible for the life of the loan.

I hope that when you apply you are approved but just know it's not a given.

[Anonymous]

MKoska1220, thank you for sharing your story, I am sorry to hear you are in the same boat as me. I am a cosigner in a similar situation and need to get some clarification on your cosigner release situation to help me, specifically:

1. Was your application for release turned down ONLY because your payments weren't considered the original 24. Or, were you ALSO turned down because the primary borrower was not considered creditworthy enough to assume the loan? In other words, were you turned down for multiple reasons?

2. The lender is telling me that after 24 consecutive payments that I am GUARANTEED to be released as cosigner. I asked them several times over to clarify. Specifically, I asked them to look at my account, and ask them specific dates on when they considered the 24 months to be satisfied. Also, I asked them: what if the borrower is not creditworthy at 24 months. Will I still be released? And they said yes, GUARANTEED. So my question to you is, when you talked to the lender 2 years ago, did they tell you then that your release would be guaranteed? Did they omit the fine print?

I want to believe them when they say they guarantee release but can't believe they would guarantee anything. Thank you in advance for your comments.