Student Loan Debt Nightmares

Steve Mason and his wife were living a life that was fairly ordinary, and then one day tragedy struck. There 27-year-old daughter died of liver failure, leaving behind three children and a ton of student debt. Mason and his wife did the only thing that they could do, they took in their 3 grand kids to raise as their own. But, what they didn’t see coming, was the amount of student loan debt that they would also inherit with their daughter’s passing, since Steve cosigned on these private student loans for his daughter.Steve is a preacher and makes around $75,000 a year, while his wife earns even less than this. Add into the mixture 3 kids to raise, the idea of paying $2,000 per month in private student loans is outrageous. So the $100,000 worth of private loans, soon became $200,000 with all the late fees and penalties that were added into this.The student loan debt was all private student loans, which severely limits the repayment options. Federally backed loans allow for borrowers to claim hardship times if need be, and with these circumstances, it would definitely qualify. In addition, Mason cannot discharge student loan debt via bankruptcy, as this is the one debt that cannot be erased from records.The situation is very similar when looking at other cases within the United States. Angela Smith from Chesapeake, VA had a petition going that would make these student loan lenders look at the individual circumstances of repayment more closely. Her son was shot and killed, and it was a few weeks after his death that collection calls started from the student loan companies that Smith’s husband had cosigned on for their son.The key with student loan lenders is that the majority of these look at the individual case and decide whether they can lower interest or payments for the person. However, as Mason’s case goes, he was only able to lower three out of four of the private student loans, and one company would not talk to him at all. The same goes for the Smith’s.The only thing that parents can do when they are in this situation is to try to negotiate a lower rate and lower payment with the lender and hope for the best. They can try to get these debts discharged through bankruptcy, but there is a slim success rate for this type of discharge.If you are being harassed over a debt, you may be entitled to money damages. Get up to $1,000 for harassment, and $500-$1,500 for illegal robocalls. Under various state and federal laws, we will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or based on a contingency fee. That means, the collector pays your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t pay us a penny. We have settled thousands of debt collection harassment cases. Let us help you today. Contact Mike Agruss Law at 888-572-0176 to stop the harassment once and for all.