Recent Posts

1

Student Loan Scams / Re: United Legal Discharge

« Last post by Bonas1990 on Today at 04:55:01 PM »

Is anyone familiar with National Student Loan Service Center out of NY?  They charge $700 to consolidate your loans. But it seems there are some additional services too.  Please let me know. Thank you!

2

Student Loan Scams / Re: United Legal Discharge

« Last post by Ton_14 on July 13, 2017, 05:10:15 PM »

jfquirk,
how did this go? They recently contacted me as well.

3

Student Loan Scams / Re: Student Loan Forgiveness Scam?? National Student Aid Care nsa-care.us

« Last post by hweir04 on July 12, 2017, 04:09:30 PM »

I just found out today that this company did not consolidate my loans, or enroll me into the program they told me I would be enrolled into when I paid them $750. When I contacted the company and explained that my student loans are past due, and I wasn't enrolled into the income based repayment program I was hung up on. I called back multiple times and was again hung up on each time. When I finally got someone on the phone he refused to give me his name, and told me he couldn't help me then hung up again. I reported them to the BBB, where I discovered similar stories to mine from other people. They also have a score of F, and are not an accredited business according to the BBB. When I went to report them on yelp I discovered they were caught paying people to write good reviews  $10-$15 per review. Don't give them your money or information!!

4

Student Loan Scams / Re: Assure Direct Services

« Last post by TheCollegeInvestor on July 11, 2017, 08:03:02 PM »

StudentLoans.gov is the Department of Education's resource and it allows you to apply for income-driven repayment programs and more.

They have a great repayment estimator that will show you what plans you potentially qualify for: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action

There is also nothing wrong with paying for help - just make sure you know what you're getting and follow up if you do. I personally think it's easy, but I also think filing taxes is easy. But even the government says it should take "on average 15 minutes" to apply for these programs.

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Student Loan Scams / Re: Assure Direct Services

« Last post by LovingLife on July 11, 2017, 12:48:28 PM »

Yes, this article is how I found you.

I don't know how to begin learning about the forgiveness program. My University basically said they don't do anything with it and it's up to us to figure it out.

Do you have any links or resources that are reliable?

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Student Loan Scams / Re: Assure Direct Services

« Last post by TheCollegeInvestor on July 10, 2017, 10:35:04 AM »

Did you read the article above? There are red flags you need to look for before working with any company.

Beyond that, yes, you can do it for free at StudentLoans.gov. Before you spend any money, spend 1 hour and educate yourself on your current loan situation, and what your options are.

As for 100% forgiveness, typically doesn't happen. The "best" plan is 10 years for public service employees, so you'll have to make 120 payments based on your income. If your income is low enough, maybe you're payments are $0, but that doesn't happen often.

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Student Loan Scams / Re: Assure Direct Services

« Last post by LovingLife on July 10, 2017, 08:29:59 AM »

So, I signed up for these services because they said they can get me into the loan forgiveness program.

Is there a way that I can do this for free?

I am nervous because they took a lot of my information and seem to be legit but are saying I don't have to pay anything for my student loans. I just don't know if I should trust them. My University told me that there is no way to have 100% of loans forgiven... So, I wonder what they are trying to do? Is it possible to do that?

They want me to pay $999 for the consolidation service and no payments on my loans, which will supposedly expire/be paid for by the government in 120 months. I have to allow them to track me and my income for the next 10 years in order to ensure that I am still eligible? But they also said I will be eligible no matter what. I don't understand how this works.

I'm having a hard time understanding the forgiveness program and how I could work with that. It would be a miracle if I didn't have to pay my loans back considering I am living in poverty.

Thank you for this forum. ❤

8

Navigating Repayment / Re: FedLoan IBR recertification

« Last post by TheCollegeInvestor on July 07, 2017, 06:59:56 PM »

You should be relying on the IRS definition of a dependent. Here's a good resource for figuring it out: https://www.irs.gov/uac/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

9

Navigating Repayment / Re: Consolidation troubles

« Last post by TheCollegeInvestor on July 07, 2017, 06:56:30 PM »

Sadly you fell into a big trap, which we cover in-depth here: http://thecollegeinvestor.com/18164/the-problems-with-student-loan-consolidation/

There aren't a lot of good options. You could try to refinance your loans, but that's about it.

10

Navigating Repayment / FedLoan IBR recertification

« Last post by bea on July 07, 2017, 02:46:01 PM »

I am currently enrolled in the PSLF program, have consolidated with Fed Loan and am completing my first year in the program. I am in the process of recertifying my IBR plan but am unsure of how to approach my family size in the recertification. I live with two older retired relatives and pay more than half of the housing costs, but the mortgage is not under my name. I live with my spouse and child as well. I make slightly more than my spouse and have filed separate but married on my taxes. The IBR plan I did last year, with the help of an agency to get me enrolled in the program, has included my elderly relatives as dependents, but I’m not sure if I should continue this. The benefit of doing so is that it reduces my monthly student loan payment to a more manageable rate and I’m under the impression that the IBR’s definition of dependent is different than the IRS. However, I neither want to be fraudulent nor jeopardize my PSLF program. My elderly relatives are not listed as dependents on my tax return. Does the PSLF program scrutinize the dependent portion of the IBR very closely or is living with relatives and sharing a significant burden of their housing cost constitute grounds enough to consider them as dependents within the IBR plan with FedLoan? Any advice on how to approach this issue? Thank you.