Had to post this - Student loan fugitives

[Mecro]

Quote from GermanTrader:

Doesn't matter, they do it anyway, knowing that the worst that will happen is they will be told to stop it, by the law. Until then and unless that happens, they have nothing to lose. The penalties are thus rarely enforced.

You don't know what you are talking about.

Each offense is a $1,000 violation. If you have some self respect, pride and ability, you will fight back within the rules of the game. Most are just too stupid or too scared to do anything about it.

The effcient & smart collection agencies don't mess around. They just go get judgements instead of playing childish games.

 

[GermanTrader]

Quote from Mecro:

You don't know what you are talking about.

Each offense is a $1,000 violation. If you have some self respect, pride and ability, you will fight back within the rules of the game. Most are just too stupid or too scared to do anything about it.

The effcient & smart collection agencies don't mess around. They just go get judgements instead of playing childish games.

Right, I don't know dozens of kids who got in over their heads with student loans and got harrassed at work, had their parents and friends called, had some bitch from India scream at their bosses over a speakerphone where they could hear... yeah, won't ever happen.

The rules only assure framework. The penalties were not imposed in any of these cases, all of which were reported to the Feds via the FDCPA and FCRA. Stop assuming, fuckup.

That said, they all paid their loans back in time.

 

[forsalenyc]

Quote from ML_QUANT:

Well, then harassing is all they can do? If he comes back, no one will know his add. nor his number, his credit is screwed already so won't be looking for new loans, just pay his monthly dues based on what he can afford, deposited by money orders and that's it...live a normal life back in US.

you cannot buy a car, you cannot buy a house, you cannot have transactions over $10k at banks, and a fear that the govt will eventually catch you down the road can lead one to mental depression.

 

[forsalenyc]

Quote from blackjack007:

stafford and perkins loans are guaranteed by the government (hence, their interest rates are the lowest).

other loans are not. it's not clear from the article which type of loan it was but i'm sure part of them had to have been private loans because you can't borrow that much from stafford/perkins.

are direct loans a part of stafford/perkins?

 

[jeangenie]

I like the solution that Karen Finerman bandied on "Fast Money" some time back - college students should pledge a percentage of their future earnings to school in exchange for their higher education. It is simply untenable in the longer term for people to come out of school this deep in the hole.

Incidentally, the people I know who are *deepest* in debt with student loans and feeling the burden worst happen to be med school grads. Factor in med school plus shitty salary during intership and residency then trying to build a career/practice, and you don't really start earning money until 10-plus years out of school. Depending on specialty, of course.

 

[Compulsive]

I ADMIT, I was one of those back in 1992...I default and damn....one can not shake that loan off....EVERY YEAR they would garnish any "money" I would get back on my returns. Eventually I paid it off....but it's like a bad smell, IT WILL NOT GO AWAY. Either you pay ot off or you will die with it...not even BANKRUPTCY will take it off

 

[clacy]

Quote from Compulsive:

I ADMIT, I was one of those back in 1992...I default and damn....one can not shake that loan off....EVERY YEAR they would garnish any "money" I would get back on my returns. Eventually I paid it off....but it's like a bad smell, IT WILL NOT GO AWAY. Either you pay ot off or you will die with it...not even BANKRUPTCY will take it off

That's how it should be in my opinion. You have to feel pain when you borrow money you cannot afford to pay back. It should be that way for banks, citizens, and governments, but unfortunately it rarely is.

 

[jeangenie]

Agree, but I think we are at a crossroads in terms of determining what levels of debt are reasonable for ordinary law-abiding people to sustain in obtaining the very basic necessities of life.

Higher education is supposed to be a ticket to upward mobility. The way our society has regressed, it's exactly the opposite. No wonder people idolize gangstas and pole dancers and sleazy reality TV stars. Their cost basis is simply so much lower than that of the law-abiding middle-class aspirant.

 

[clacy]

If these things weren't backed by the US government, nobody would qualify for a $160k loan for a music degree. When goverments make guarantees, you get lose with your money.

 

[forsalenyc]

Quote from clacy:

That's how it should be in my opinion. You have to feel pain when you borrow money you cannot afford to pay back. It should be that way for banks, citizens, and governments, but unfortunately it rarely is.

yes, and they should get rid of bankruptcy protection for the sake of fairplay. Nobody gets out of any debt......you borrowed it then you payback.

I totally agree but govt should put these lending 'sharks' under control....i mean, these lenders are wreckless and they have no mercy....again, this has to do with our govt backing them up. This, in my opinion, needs to go away.

say, for instance, Mary defaults on her 100k loan. Mary does everything she can do to come up with some payment every months, and asks the lender to give her a break on the interest rate. Only thing she'll get from the lender is late payment notices, penalties accruing on her balance, and outstanding balance doubling every 5 years. with the interest rate gone down from 6% to 1.5%, these lenders have not lowered the interest rate at all. To me, this system is flawed and unjustifiable.