My Kind of Debt Buyer: The Rolling Jubilee.
I got no love for (most) debt buyers. Creditors sell billions of dollars of debt to opportunistic “investors” for pennies on the dollar (an average of about 4 cents). The debt buyers then attempt to collect on the debts, often using aggressive debt collection tactics and without first verifying the accuracy of the debt. Consumers often dispute the amount of the debt, or that they owe the debt at all, each year disputing more than a million dollars in debt that debt buyers attempted to collect. But not all debt…
How to Get Started Dealing with Student Loans
Most student loans have a six-month grace period before you have to start making payments. If you graduated this past spring, that means now is a good time to get a grip on your student loans. Here’s how: Figure out which loans you have. You’ll find all your federal student loans listed in the National Student Loan Data System. Check for private student loans by pulling a free copy of your credit report using AnnualCreditReport.com. Decide whether consolidation makes sense for you. Some student loan…
New CFPB Report: Private Loan Processing Pitfalls to Avoid
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman, Rohit Chopra, issued a report analyzing complaints received by the bureau from private student loan borrowers. According to the report, private student loan borrowers face payment processing pitfalls that can lead to increased costs, prolonged repayments, and harm to their credit reports. To help borrowers take control of their private student loans, the CFPB also issued a consumer advisory yesterday to help certain borrowers communicate…
Department of Education to Contact Federal Student Loan Borrowers, Explain Repayment Options
As first reported, September 3, in The Huffington Post in an article co-authored by Shahien Nasiripour and Joy Resmovits, Sallie Mae, the nation's largest servicer of federal student loans, is failing to enroll many of its distressed borrowers into income-driven repayment plans. "Sallie Mae, a.k.a. SLM Corp., has enrolled relatively few borrowers into the Income-Based Repayment program. Sallie Mae dominates the now-discontinued Federal Family Education Loan Program, owning between 37 and 40 percent of the outstanding…
Sallie Mae Needs To Do More to Educate Borrowers on Repayment Options
Sallie Mae, the nation's largest servicer of federal student loans, is failing to enroll many of its distressed borrowers into income-driven repayment plans, critics say. According to documents obtained by The Huffington Post, "Sallie Mae, a.k.a. SLM Corp., has enrolled relatively few borrowers into the Income-Based Repayment program. Sallie Mae dominates the now-discontinued Federal Family Education Loan Program, owning between 37 and 40 percent of the outstanding FFELP debt held by the private sector. But its share of FFELP borrowers…
