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I know this is a road well-travelled, but I'm 3 months behind with my larger student loan payment (I'm current on a smaller one). I have no other debt like credit cards, but my income dropped by about 1/3 (I work in the skilled trades). No lectures please, I have no intention to default, but I need to pay for shelter/food while I continue to reduce my monthly expenses (this process will take a few more months).
I need to contact them and find out my options, but have the jitters about it. Does anyone have experience on this? How nice/helpful will they be? Will they yell me? Will I be yelled at by all of you? If so, what would you do? Hang up and call back and hope for a nicer person? I've just heard so many horror stories now that I feel frozen, like deer in the headlights.
That all depends on the company and the individual you talk to and what their personality and how their day has been going. You might get a jerk or a standup helpful person.
It never hurts to ask and you might luck out and discover something helpful. Worst case scenario is you keep quiet and they take some action you might have avoided.
The only known outcome is that you will accrue interest and your loan will keep growing unless you start paying ASAP. Just call them, tell them the situation, and tell them that that you want to start making payments. You should pay something on your loan, so call them and don't worry about how they will act. Good luck, I hope you get your loan payments back on track.
So your saying then to pay something at least? I will apply for an income based repayment program, I just can't catch up on the past due amount.
Edit: you know what? I guess I have nothing to lose, I will call and let you all know the outcome. It's really not that bad compared to many people, I have full time work and a degree (not a dropout), I don't think I'm past the point of no return is what I'm saying I guess, I just needed to think out loud on it.
One more thing, the loans are federal, not private. The older current loan is Sallie Mae and the "late" one is DOE/FedloanServ, someone in another forum said that's a huge benefit.
If they're federal loans, no. Call 'em up, explain your situation, they'll walk you through an economic hardship forbearance... an ominous sounding word that means "we'll let you pay less/nothing while the interest accrues" (deferral is the same thing, just no interest). With the passed due amount, you'll probably have to refinance which does take a month or two. But they're not going to default on you so long as you're going through the process, which is what you want to avoid since it'll trash your credit.
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