$90,000 In Debt

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit as part of the HuffPost College Student Debt series.

I'm am the proud owner of about $90,000 worth of student loan debt. I paid Allied Interstate $200 a month last year toward one of my 13 non-consolidatable loans until they took a monthly payment out twice and over-drafted my bank account. They still call a few times a day, but at this point I tell them to come get me, because if I've got a choice between groceries and some tool getting an extra vacation day for the commission of my loan payment, well, I'll take the groceries.

Did I mention that mountain of debt only bought me an Associates degree? Yup, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Associate of "Specialized Sciences" in Graphic design. I know! Hilarious, right? I was the first in my immediate family to go to college. I'm starting to think I should've just stayed in West Virginia, gotten knocked up and taken a luxurious government funded life in a trailer park.

I don't bother calling Sallie Mae anymore, they freak out on me every time I do. The last chat I had went something like this;

Sallie: "Well, Miss Smith, you're 977 days late on your payment! This is awful, I'm going to have to refer you to our blah blah blah department..."

Me: "But, I'm telling you I don't have any more money."

Sallie: "Well, can't you take out a loan or something??"

Me: Lady, I can't even get a Victoria Secret card. Why in God's name would someone just hand over thousands of dollars to someone who's only collateral is a Nintendo and a tabby cat?

I've gone to credit consultants (one of them actually said "Well, you could move to Mexico but, they'd probably find you.") I've talked to other people with the same problem and most of them think I'm an idiot for trying to pay the loans off. Every time I get a little ahead on one of my loan payments, the deferment rides out on another one. I can't afford a lawyer or an accountant (I have a job, I'm WAY too far over the poverty line to get state help) and honestly, what pro-bono lawyer wants to take on a giant student loan company? Come on.

So, I'm waiting for them to try and garnish my wages again. At that point, I'll probably have to quit and start waiting tables.

And, I'm NOT holding my breath for Obama anymore. I'd do better to run with the Mexico plan.

BTW, they just called again! No kidding.

Comments

[smrttrainer]

04:40 PM on 02/24/2010

You seem angry at everyone in the story except the one individual that links them all together, yourself. My guess is the reason you have 13 different loans is because no individual institution would loan $90,000 for an associate degree in graphic design. The one you should be angry at for irresponsible behavior is you!

You could have stated in West Virginia, lived at home, worked a part time job, and graduated from a community college debt-free. How did you justify moving to Pittsburgh and borrowing almost $100,000?

Don't go to consolidation agencies, they want your money, too. Find someplace to share living expenses with one, two, or three other individuals. Someone in your situation, I've seen multiple post on Huff here. Contact one of them. Live on half your income (or less) and in 10 years (or less) you'll have them paid off. Costly mistake, very costly.

[rferneyhcfiorg]

01:25 PM on 02/24/2010

Consider this:
1. Dept of Ed (ED) is going to repurpose the "savings" as Pell grants and other education initiatives. No real savings to the taxpayer.
2. ED will borrow from Treasury to make loans. Treasury will borrow from ... China. More federal budget debt.
3. ED has already contracted with 4 FFELP lenders to service these loans. Service fees - can you say subsidy?
4. Elimination of about 30,000 middle class, private sector jobs - loans processors, IT, collectors, … . Loss of jobs and tax revenue.
5. ED will increase their staff to originate all those loans. Kingdom building.
6. Student loan interest rates are set by congress. FFELP lenders offer incentives to lower interest rates - ED does not. Students/borrowers lose.
7. The rules that govern student loans are set by congress and ED. So nothing is going to change by going direct anyway.
8. Of over 200 FFELP orgs, only about 5 have been accused of wrongdoing.

[Kamalanicole]

08:52 PM on 02/23/2010

Thank you! It's hard walking around with a financial anvil over your head but, you gotta stay positive. At least I went to college. At least I'm working in my field. (Hell, at least I've got a job!) I still preach higher education to my nieces and nephews back in WV. I was 19 when I started into this black hole of crippling debt. My parents, (who are wonderful people) didn't have the experience with college rackets to give me much guidance. All I knew was that; if I didn't sign the piece of paper in front of me, I wasn't allowed to go to college anymore. So I signed.

I want to pay my loans back, I DO. I try! But, I just feel like a hamster in a wheel with this situation. I'll keep telling the nieces and nephews to go to college but I'll be sure to go with them when they're talking financials.

[wizardofsnog]

08:14 PM on 02/23/2010

Historical record shows that sallie mae began the lobbying effert to get bankruptcy laws removed.
No law group can give a decident explanation as to why they did it, other than to get congress to protect their pork.. And I think people are starting to see that.

As for Allied Interstate.. NEVER NEVER NEVER deal with 3rd party collections agencies. You don't have a contract with them. They cannot garnish your pay, only the original lender can. And why pay them for the PRIVLIEGE of taking your money? The mob never had it so good.

This is why government needs to take over the student loan industry and eliminate the 3rd party parasites.

Or better yet, have the Fed pull out of student loans all together. I bet college costs would drop faster than the dow jones industrial index did.

[The Cronk]

07:54 PM on 02/23/2010

Bankruptcy laws were adopted by America's founding fathers to help give bankrupt Americans a fresh start. But, thanks to lobbying by private loan lenders, student loans have been stripped of all consumer protections, including bankruptcy protection. I don't see how you're ever going to get out from under this debt, especially in this economy, especially once the late fees and collection fees start piling up. So if you want a fresh start...

I hear Tijuana is lovely this time of year. Seriously, Good luck.