Starting Out -- Help!

[HectorVictorious]

So I am quite new to these forums and definitely an amateur when it comes to student loans.

After I finished school I became jobless for some time, and my loans went quickly into default. I now have a great job, and I am trying to raise my credit score as quickly as possible.  The problem is, however, that these loans are so old that they have been taking my tax refunds for years and I am puzzled on where to go. That being said, I have some questions that I would like assistance with.

1. If I rehabilitate these loans, and start to pay current on them, is there any chance that it will lower my credit, like paying an old credit card and starting the DOFD again?
2. In my NSLDS report, some of my loans say: This loan has been transferred to the Debt Collection Service of the Department of Education.. Can I still rehab those loans, and if so, who do I contact?  DoE or Sallie Mae?
3. If I do go with loan rehabilitation, on most of my school loans in the Experian credit report under Dept of Education/Sallie Mae, the status says: Transferred, closed.  Is this hurting my report?
4. Some of my loans have a bunch of different companies listed as contact type, the different ones are: Current Lender, Current ED Servicer, Current Guarantee Agency, and Current Servicer.. What do these mean, and who would I contact to rehabilitate these?
5.  Most of my loans were listed under EdFinancial,  but now only one is payable through them on their website.  Is there any way that I could pull them back to EdFinancial so that I can pay them all there?

I'm sorry if some of these questions seem silly, but I am very new to this after years of just putting them off, and my whole financial situation just seems very overwhelming.

I hope that I get some responses,

Thanks,

Hector

[InvincibleSummer3]

Hi Hector - welcome to the forums!

When you look at the NSLDS entries, they do say "defaulted", correct? If so, then yes you can rehab the loans. There should be contact information listed at the bottom of each page, when you look at the loans individually. In my case, it was a DOE-contracted collection agency. It's unlikely that you'll be able to pull them back - but take heart: rehabbing is actually better in the long run for your scores than pulling them back would be anyway. After you rehab, your loans show as "paid as agreed" from the date of default forward. That doesn't happen if you simply pay them off.

A defaulted student loan is a major derogatory, so yes these are hurting your scores. Your credit score will not drop while rehabbing due to paying on the loans.

There's more information here if this helps: http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/collections/federal-loans/getting-out-of-default-federa...

[HectorVictorious]

Thank you so much for all the help! I appreciate the knowledgeable and thorough answer.  I will start contacting for loan rehab immediately.