Help getting started with rehabilitation?

[Anonymous]

Posting here because I've reached a hurdle and could use some help...I'm finally ready to enter rehabilitation, but can't seem to get started! 

QUESTIONS:

1. How does one start the rehabilitation process? I can't find a working phone number /who owns the debt, so wondering if I should do this by mail, through the Omsbudsman, or by filing disputes/DVs online...
2. Or, is consolidating faster/better for my situation since all of my accounts are "closed" (see bottom)? FYI I'm under a time crunch for improving my credit report to apply for an apartment in two months and a car in four months.
3. Btw, after rehab, do all of your accounts -- for me, 17 -- become "paid / paying as agreed"? 

BACKSTORY: My federal student loans were always paid as agreed, even after becoming unemployed in Nov 2014. In June 2015, I learned about deferment, filled out the deferment forms, and asked someone to submit it -- but its unclear what happened to the paperwork. I made my last payments in July 2015. By Nov 2015, my Perkins loan reported as 60 days late, and by Feb 2016, it had defaulted. Looks like a similar timeline with my Direct loans too.

ACTIONS: I really want to take care of this asap. But every number I find (credit reports, studentloans.gov, the internet) is nonworking. When I called all of the contacts from studentloans.gov and from my Experian credit report:

• UHEAA/UTAH aka "unknown/transferred" status original loan accounts -- the phone number goes to a competition sweepstakes line that definitely sounds like a scam
• NELA/NAVIENT aka "negative" status loan accounts -- the phone number just beeps with a busy tone
• CES/UHEAA aka also an "unknown" status loan account -- the phone number is "a non working number" per the recorded greeting.
• And when I called my university, and they referred me to the servicer who had no record of my account in the main office, transferred me a few times, and finally said that "their [state] offices were closed" every time i called during normal business hours. I had been in touch with this office before -- its a collection agency that wanted me to consolidate rather than rehabilitate, and said my unviersity wanted a rehabilitation payment that was literally the full balance divided by 9.

REPORTING: Originally, I 2 sets of student loan accounts with two servicers, ACS and UAS. Experian now shows 17 accounts...

1 account entitled CES/UHEAA 

• OPENED approx fifteen years ago; ACCOUNT STATUS closed, PAYMENT STATUS "Transferred", BALANCE doesn't show but is somewhere around $5000; PAYMENT HISTORY perfect until 60 days late in 11/15, account closed 3/2016.

8 accounts entitled UHEAA/UTAH SBR:

• OPENED approx 15 years ago; ACCOUNT STATUS closed but shows "Unknown" in quick view, PAYMENT STATUS "Transferred to another office"; BALANCES all $0; PAYMENT HISTORY differs on mobile and web versions! but basically 120+ days late from 1/16 to 3/16

8 accounts entitled NELA/NAVIENT 

• OPENED Sep 2016; ACCOUNT STATUS closed, PAYMENT STATUS "Seriously past due / assigned to attorney, collection, agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department" and shows "Negative" in quick view; BALANCES varied between $60-600ish; PAYMENT HISTORY Failure to Pay from 9/16 to present

Advice appreciated! Also, this is my first post so please feel free to send edits!

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about this but I had to do it for someone else recently so maybe my experience can help.
Since you have your pin from the student aid gov site, use the national student loan database (NSLDS). nslds.ed.gov This website has much more detailed information about the loan status and where it currently is. Contact the collection agency listed and if it had moved they should be able to tell you where. Otherwise in the servicer's sure it will say paid or closed when it's actually not, for you.
Keep in mind you can only rehab once so be very sure that you will make payments on time from now on. I think it's something like 6-9 payments. If you turn in the financial disclosure your payments will likely be much lower. Unfortunately this process is probably not going to resolve in the next few months but you should at least get it started imo. You can ask them what the changes will be on his they report it to the credit bureaus while you are in rehab, if any, to give you a better idea.
As far as consolation, I do know that it will make it so that your loans show up as a single, new loan. I don't think the old loan is removed either. I'm not sure if the timeline of when it will be removed from collections it how it will change in your credit report. You could ask someone in the credit score or rebuild topic if it will significant change in AAoA or AoOA because I think the previous 17 loan accounts will be listed as closed. Idk.
Hope this helps and of you have further questions I'll try to find answers.