Student Loans are Killing my Credit!

[dcastillo68]

I owe over $83,000 in student loans. ugghhh and don't know how I can get started with making some payments to start reducing my debt.  The monthly payment is another mortgage!  Ridiculous.  Anyways I was never on top of my credit and decided that I needed to do something about it.  I have a total of 14 loans and for the months of August and September of 2014, they are showing 90-120 days late!  This is killing my scores.  I just sent a notification to Navient to see if they would be kind enough to remove these lateness.  I have been really naive about my credit and really didn't think that my student loans would impact it this much!  I feel that these student loans are my anchor.  Anyone has had any experience with Navient and are they flexible with removing lateness?

[youdontkillmoney]

The lates will likely not be removed.

You need to make the minimum payments. Do not fall behind.

You need to look at loan consolidation to get an overall lower rate and make a single payment to get organized.

You need to make boatloads of money and pay off the loans aggressively.

That is the secret if you want to get debt out of your life....make a lot of money. How? Different people do it different ways, hopefully your major was a good career choice that will help you get a job that pays well. 

Look into a part time job or two, to make more money and pay off the loans.

There is no way around it, make a lot of money.

Also attack the student loans from the other side, cut your unneeded expenses....eating out, cable, etc etc. This leaves more money to pay the student loans.

[MzOptimistic]

You can also consolidate your loans and enter into the IBR (Income Based Repayment Plan) and pay according to your income. That's what I did and after 10 years of repaying my loans, they will be forgiven. As long as I continue to work in a non profit organization.

[Anonymous]

Before you consolidate, make sure you do it the right way or you may not get that loan forgiveness at the end of the 10 years.  Read here for more info: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

[dcastillo68]

Thank you all for your help and feedback!

[Anonymous]

You can try to request a rehab for the late payments through Navient... Most people believe that rehab can only happen on a defaulted student loan and that is simply not true. I just finished a rehab agreement with another student loan servicer - 9 months of timely payments and they remove the lates. I can't speak for Navient, but it seems to be a common courtesy on student loans. Worth calling their CSRs!

[youdontkillmoney]

That's good advice.

[dcastillo68]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can try to request a rehab for the late payments through Navient... Most people believe that rehab can only happen on a defaulted student loan and that is simply not true. I just finished a rehab agreement with another student loan servicer - 9 months of timely payments and they remove the lates. I can't speak for Navient, but it seems to be a common courtesy on student loans. Worth calling their CSRs!

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Didn't know that, thank you!