Comments on: Closing in on Another Student Loan Milestone – Slow and Steady

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:56:42 +0000

I hear you, Peter. The NJHESAA was horrible to deal with – HORRIBLE! I repaid those punks $66,240.30 in principal, interest, and fees over the course of about 5 years so I know all of their tricks.

The thing that made me the most sick as one of their borrowers was that they listed me as missing a few payments while the loan was in deferment because I was still in school! When I called and complained to them, it took me over an hour on the phone (bring switched from person to person) for them to admit their mistake – AND THEN – they said there was nothing they could do about it and they were “sorry.” REALLY?! These bastards tried to ruin my credit and they said there was nothing they could do about it. Unacceptable.

Thankfully, when I complained to the credit agencies they immediately understood the problem and wiped away the NJHESAA mistake so it never had a negative impact on my credit. But in the mean time, I had the “honor” spending hours, days, and weeks fixing a mistake that the NJHESAA idiots made. They’re the worst.

Good luck, Peter.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:33:25 +0000

Just came across this blog, and I found it very interesting.
Over 15 years ago I attended a private university in Washington D.C.
I completed over 3 years, and took out some student loans with NJHESAA.

At the time I was still in my early twenties and not very responsible.
I eventually rebelled, dropped out, said “screw it” to my loans, and spent the next ten years working and traveling.
Eventually I realized that my future was coming up against without my degree.
To get back into school to complete my degree, I spent over a year rehabilitating my student loans in not one, two but three programs. More then 150 hours in phone calls, emails, and compiling and mailing documentation. While I resolved most of the issue, my NJHESAA loan for $5000 BALLOONED to over $25,000.

So I’ve gotten back into school and reinstated the NJHESAA loan, but it still remains in default status. And I’ve Never Never been able to find any assistance to reduce the interest that accrued over those last 15 + years.
Nor does it make sense to consolidate it, because then I’d be forced to pay all that interest, plus lawyer fees. That might be OK, but if you’re just beginning that long process in your thirties with little savings and nothing for retirement it would be keeping you in the poor house for decades.

I just wanted to share this with everybody out there. My experience of what life is like when you make a mistake, try to make amends, but remain in Student Loan Hell.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:22:48 +0000

At the time I was still in my early twenties and not very responsible.
I eventually rebelled, dropped out, said “screw it” to my loans, and spent the next ten years working and traveling.
Eventually I realized that my future was coming up against without my degree.
To get back into school to complete my degree, I spent over a year rehabilitating my student loans in not one, two but three programs. Over 150 hours in telephone calls, emails, and compiling and mailing out documentation. While I was able to resolve most of the issue, my NJHESAA loan for $5000 had BALLOONED to over $25,000.

I’ve gotten back into school and reinstated the NJHESAA loan, but it still remains in default status. And I’ve Never Never been able to find any assistance to reduce the interest that accrued over those last 15 + years.
Nor does it make sense to consolidate it because then I’d be forced to Begin To Pay all that interest, plus lawyer fees, in my mid/late thirties.

So I just wanted to share this with everybody out there. Share my experience of what life is like when you make a mistake, try to make amends, but remain in Student Loan Hell.