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Are your loans in deferment/forbearance, or are you just ignoring them?

Are you on IBR? I have been since I graduated and haven't paid a cent towards my loans.

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theramblingfool wrote:I don't have a low income, that's not the problem. The problem is being taxed as a single 23 year old, when I'm a single father with a lot of expenses.

rinkrat: I guess I'm "just ignoring them". Although I'm not ignoring them. I'm simply unable to keep up.

This seems like a sound financial decision that could not possibly haunt you for years. Well done. Definitely don't investigate other options with your lender.

rinkrat19 wrote:

theramblingfool wrote:I don't have a low income, that's not the problem. The problem is being taxed as a single 23 year old, when I'm a single father with a lot of expenses.

rinkrat: I guess I'm "just ignoring them". Although I'm not ignoring them. I'm simply unable to keep up.

This seems like a sound financial decision that could not possibly haunt you for years. Well done. Definitely don't investigate other options with your lender.

sarcasm?

Gooner91 wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:

theramblingfool wrote:I don't have a low income, that's not the problem. The problem is being taxed as a single 23 year old, when I'm a single father with a lot of expenses.

rinkrat: I guess I'm "just ignoring them". Although I'm not ignoring them. I'm simply unable to keep up.

This seems like a sound financial decision that could not possibly haunt you for years. Well done. Definitely don't investigate other options with your lender.

sarcasm?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mSd5t2n3ck

rinkrat19 wrote:

theramblingfool wrote:I don't have a low income, that's not the problem. The problem is being taxed as a single 23 year old, when I'm a single father with a lot of expenses.

rinkrat: I guess I'm "just ignoring them". Although I'm not ignoring them. I'm simply unable to keep up.

This seems like a sound financial decision that could not possibly haunt you for years. Well done. Definitely don't investigate other options with your lender.

your sanctimonious insincerity toward a young man raising a child alone is shocking, even for tls

KeepitKind wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:

theramblingfool wrote:I don't have a low income, that's not the problem. The problem is being taxed as a single 23 year old, when I'm a single father with a lot of expenses.

rinkrat: I guess I'm "just ignoring them". Although I'm not ignoring them. I'm simply unable to keep up.

This seems like a sound financial decision that could not possibly haunt you for years. Well done. Definitely don't investigate other options with your lender.

your sanctimonious insincerity toward a young man raising a child alone is shocking, even for tls

A young man with "not low" income responsible for raising a child should be making better financial decisions for him and his kid than "ignoring" student loans. If he really can't pay them, he needs to investigate all ways to blunt the effects of not paying the loans. Whether that's deferment or consolidation or forbearance or getting the court to adjust child/spousal support or selling a car or getting a different job or getting a smaller apartment, I can't tell him. But I can tell him that just ignoring them is fucking stupid and will have the worst possible future effects on him and his ability to provide for a kid.

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theramblingfool wrote:To be fair, I was unemployed for about 5 months, and because of nuances in how unemployment benefits work, I was receiving about $100 a week for that 5 months. I fell behind on not only student loans, but car payment, utilities, had to sell most everything I owned of value, etc.

You can feel how you'd like about my actions, but let's try and pull this thread back on course. My question isn't how bad a person I am, but rather how this will affect my ability to attend law school and what I should to do try and mitigate any of these potential effects.

If you were unemployed, you should have gotten a deferral on your loan payments. You can get your loans suspended for up to three years!

Yes, having a year of unpaid student loans will absolutely torpedo your ability to get any new loans. Until you get your current loan situation sorted out, you're not going to law school.

You need to approach your lender and ask what can be done.

theramblingfool wrote:To be fair, I was unemployed for about 5 months, and because of nuances in how unemployment benefits work, I was receiving about $100 a week for that 5 months. I fell behind on not only student loans, but car payment, utilities, had to sell most everything I owned of value, etc.

You can feel how you'd like about my actions, but let's try and pull this thread back on course. My question isn't how bad a person I am, but rather how this will affect my ability to attend law school and what I should to do try and mitigate any of these potential effects.

First: http://www.top-law-schools.com/funding- ... ation.html

For Grad PLUS loans: "To qualify for these loans, you must be enrolled at least half-time in a graduate or professional program and have a credit history that is not “adverse”. You are considered to have an adverse credit history if you are 90 or more days delinquent on any debt or if, within 5 years of the date of the credit report, you have been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or write off of a Federal Student Aid debt (for example, a Direct Loan or Federal Stafford Loan). You may still receive a Grad PLUS loan if you obtain an endorser who does not have an adverse credit history. An endorser is someone who agrees to repay the loan if you do not repay it. While this might be limiting for some candidates, Grad PLUS Loans are also not contingent upon demonstrated financial need, meaning they will be easier to obtain for some other candidates."

I don't know about Stafford or others.

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Not to hijack the thread, but what about commercial/credit card debt and its effect on both private and federal loans?

hernanmi wrote:Not to hijack the thread, but what about commercial/credit card debt and its effect on both private and federal loans?

As long as you aren't 90 days late with payments on anything, the amount of debt shouldn't affect your ability to get Fed loans. I had a fairly high credit card balance (gone now) and a mortgage (still there) and I got Fed loans.

I don't know as much about private loans, but they are more dependent on your actual credit score, which is affected by your debt/credit ratio.

hernanmi wrote:Not to hijack the thread, but what about commercial/credit card debt and its effect on both private and federal loans?

Eligibility for getting private loans will depend on the creditor, but for federal loans, having a lowish credit rating, a lot of debt, or a high debt-to-income ratio isn't enough to keep you from getting them. To be ineligible, you'd need something like what was mentioned in Philafaler's post - bankruptcy, delinquencies, judgements against you, etc.

If you can't pay your current loans, why would you want to take out more and go to law school?