Questions about Student Loan Default

[Anonymous]

Hey Guys, I am new to this forum.   It looks like a great forum, and lots of people helping each other.  I am glad I found it.

A little background.  I had a business go under in 2008 in which basically caused me to stop paying everything in my life but the bare essentials.  I was the personal cosigner on several hundred thousand dollars worth of business leases, as well as had 5 or 6 company cars that were financed in my name that went to repossion.  

So knowing my credit was about to crater, I stopped paying everything.  Credit cards, Car Notes, Student Loans, everything but my mortgage.  

The company went into receivership and eventually bk, and due to some legal "issues" I was not able to declare bankrupcy personally.    

So its been about 6 years, and I have recovered slightly.  Started looking at my credit report, which didn't look as bad as I thought it would, and trying to get some positive tradelines working.

So far i have gotten 4 secured credit cards, a secured personal loan from my credit union, and a car loan (I was amazed that i got this)

Plan on paying these like clock work.  

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So my first question is regarding the student loans

I have three different TR for student loans:

First One shows OPEN, Last Activity on NOV 2008 (balance due  

Second One show OPEN, Last actitty on NOV 2009 (balance due different amount)

Third one shows Closed, Last activity on Dec 2008 (no balance due)

1) My questions are what the best approach to deal with these are.  

2) I know that Student Loan debt never goes away, but does it every fall off the credit report?  

I want to start paying these again and have the money to do so but need to find the smartest way to do so while rebuilding my credit.

==========================================================

Thanks everyone for any advise on you can offer!

[pizzadude]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey Guys, I am new to this forum.   It looks like a great forum, and lots of people helping each other.  I am glad I found it.

A little background.  I had a business go under in 2008 in which basically caused me to stop paying everything in my life but the bare essentials.  I was the personal cosigner on several hundred thousand dollars worth of business leases, as well as had 5 or 6 company cars that were financed in my name that went to repossion.  

So knowing my credit was about to crater, I stopped paying everything.  Credit cards, Car Notes, Student Loans, everything but my mortgage.  

The company went into receivership and eventually bk, and due to some legal "issues" I was not able to declare bankrupcy personally.    

So its been about 6 years, and I have recovered slightly.  Started looking at my credit report, which didn't look as bad as I thought it would, and trying to get some positive tradelines working.

So far i have gotten 4 secured credit cards, a secured personal loan from my credit union, and a car loan (I was amazed that i got this)

Plan on paying these like clock work.  

==================================================

So my first question is regarding the student loans

I have three different TR for student loans:

First One shows OPEN, Last Activity on NOV 2008 (balance due  

Second One show OPEN, Last actitty on NOV 2009 (balance due different amount)

Third one shows Closed, Last activity on Dec 2008 (no balance due)

1) My questions are what the best approach to deal with these are.  

2) I know that Student Loan debt never goes away, but does it every fall off the credit report?  

I want to start paying these again and have the money to do so but need to find the smartest way to do so while rebuilding my credit.

==========================================================

Thanks everyone for any advise on you can offer!

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Hi woodlandsman, welcome to the forums !    I'm going to move your post to the Student Loans forum for better visibility.   There are a lot of nuances to student loans and you should be able to get a lot of good advice.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Pizzadude.

Also does anyone know who i am suppose to contact regarding setting up a rehab on my student loan?

James

[empiror22]

To find who has the account, i would call the OC and ask if they or a collector has them.   100% you should rehab instead of pay in-full.  If you can pay in full, finish the rehab part then pay in full a month or two later.

[SCF]

Are these federal or private student loans?  If you aren't sure, visit the National Student Loan Data System  All of your federal loans will be listed there, including some that have potentially fallen off your credit report.  Federal loans are the sort that never go away, and you should use the contact information on the NSLDS to get in touch with the collection agency that currently holds the loans and start the rehab process to get the loans out of default.  Even if the loans aren't on your report, rehab will result in a clean tradeline back-dated to the original disbursement of the loan, which could be a great boost for you as you rebuild your credit.

Private loans are a whole different animal.  They cannot be discharged in bankruptcy without meeting very strict standards (so they rarely are), but they are also subject to the statute of limitations - so you will want to figure out what SoL laws apply to your loans and where that clock is before you take any action.

[Anonymous]

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@SCF wrote:

Are these federal or private student loans?  If you aren't sure, visit the National Student Loan Data System  All of your federal loans will be listed there, including some that have potentially fallen off your credit report.  Federal loans are the sort that never go away, and you should use the contact information on the NSLDS to get in touch with the collection agency that currently holds the loans and start the rehab process to get the loans out of default.  Even if the loans aren't on your report, rehab will result in a clean tradeline back-dated to the original disbursement of the loan, which could be a great boost for you as you rebuild your credit.

Private loans are a whole different animal.  They cannot be discharged in bankruptcy without meeting very strict standards (so they rarely are), but they are also subject to the statute of limitations - so you will want to figure out what SoL laws apply to your loans and where that clock is before you take any action.

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Hi SCF - 

This was very helpful, thank you. I am also new to the forum, and ready to tackle my student loans in default like a BANDIT! I've been working with Navient to try and get them consolidated, and rehabbed, but nearly 4 months have passed since I submitted my application. FAMS currently holds them. Or maybe it is ECMC. I can no longer tell, and I don't answer their calls anymore since I am waiting for Navient to process my paperwork. I also have a private student loan that is in that mix, and I do not know who holds that baby. I think it actually maybe it has fallen under this statute of limitations you speak of. Anyway, I'm going to look at this National Student Loan Data System link and see what I can find. I'll post new news in the Feb. update for the Fico Score challenge. Meanwhile, if there are any updates on your end(s), keep us posted. Best of luck! 

[SCF]

What type of loans are these?  Are you confident that these are the only student loans you have?  First, I would log on to the National Student Loan Data System and get a handle on all of the federal students loans you owe.  These loans can go through a process called rehabilitation to bring them back into a positive account status, once that is done, you can access all the benefits of federal loans like income-driven payment plans, deferments and forbearances.

Private student loans work much like other installment debt (other than the much higher standard to discharge them in bankruptcy), and are subject to the relevant statute of limitations.  If all your loans were from pre-2008, chances are the SOL has expired on any private loans.