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@JamP wrote:
I rehabbed the loans before I consolidated. All my loans showed up and gave me 19 years aaoa. Now I am starting to regret consolidation..
On a side note .. under REPAYE they do not count your spouses loans if the spouses loans are in default. This could be under any repayment plan.
Now I'm trying to go back to the regular payment plan as that payment is lower but for 20 years. They state it will still apply to my PSLF. I would have stayed on this plan from the beginning as the payment is lower then any other plan.
Here is a recap of my payments over 20+ years.
They started at around $500 a month under garnishment. Which made it extremely difficult but we did it for many years.
Rehab got the payments to $120 a month which was great.
REPAYE they want $395 a month which is now to high as they are taking even more from my wife in her garnishment.
Income Driven they want $300 a month.
Amazing how stuff changes so fast and the kicker is if I would have left them in garnishment, nothing was on my credit Rating and they would have been paid off sooner then10 years...
I have a very similar timeline/account history as yours.
Because I didn't struggle with the garnishments (I think it was ~800/month, but I don't have a lot of bills or any other debt), I just went ahead and "let it ride."
When I got the loans consolidated, I noticed that yeah, I could have everything paid off a lot faster with the garnishments, and now I have this stupid young loan on my account.
I went ahead and scheduled my payments for my old garnishment to have it paid off in a couple of years - I don't qualify for PSLF, and I just want the **bleep** thing done with.
@Anonymous wrote:
calyx:
Actually you'll be done sooner than if you were having your wages garnished. If you're still paying the same amount (there is nothing stopping you from paying more than the minimum), you'll benefit from the lack of collection fees. You also got a significant credit score boost, right?
That is true - I did forget the fees, though TG didn't assess as many as a lot of places seem to.
I started my credit build (I didn't have credit beforehand) and was removing fraudulent accounts at the same time, so I'm not sure how much of the boost was from the student loans. I went from 540 -> 610 with 1. getting a revolving account 2. removing the fraudulent accounts and 3. getting the new, cleaner SLs - that's a lot in one month!
I do *not* for one minute regret bringing my loans current, and I know it's better for my credit, and honestly, it's the right thing to do, regardless. I just thought it was interesting that my new loan is for 10-20 years which adds up to a lot of interest, when I was knocking it down so much faster with a garnishment. By paying the same amount as the garnishment, I'm saving thousands in interest over doing it over the 'standard' or IBR plans. It's the smarter move, money wise and since I'm already used to living on the reduced paycheck, is easy to keep up.
I'm also lucky that my lender pushes out my payment as well as applying to the principle. I'm gonna have a heck of a <9% loan for a long, long time for the max scoring boost
It's awesome that you're helping someone out! And yeah knowing there are IDR, extended, etc. plans would've been SO nice, instead of just putting everyone on deferment and racking up interest.
My default happened when I was in the middle of an ugly divorce and my loan was reassigned to PHEAA - I was never informed and didn't update my payment information (I was in a not-great place financially and wasn't watching my accounts closely), next thing I know I'm garnished and thought "eff it, they're getting their money anyway."
I guess the only upside is that it was nearly 7 years ago, so at least all the baddies are coming off now and in the next few months.
I DO wish there were better/more clear information out there for borrowers. I know it's our responsibility, but it could be made easier to understand, which would really help with compliance and payback (I think). I also wish the guarantors/servicers were held to any kind of standard. If I had been informed of the change in companies, I would've updated my information, but I literally didn't know. I learned later that PHEAA is really good at not informing their 'clients' about changes.
I'm questioning the math here - I'm finding it hard to believe it's possible for an AAoA to drop from 19 years to 3 years from a loan consolidation.
Are you getting your AAoA and scores from a source that gives VantageScores and only takes into consideration open accounts? FICO scores include open and closed accounts in the AAoA calculation.