Student loan Wage Garnishment - How can I remove them?

I got a grant in the late 1980's for a truck driving school. After completing the written course from home, went to do the driving part, and it turns out the whole thing was a scam. They had taken off with our grant money. There was no driving course. A few years ago I started getting my wages garnished. I don't even remember the name of the phony truck driving school at this point. Is there anything I can do to stop this unwarranted garnishment?

You mean you havent done anything prior to now??? Have you contacted the US Department of Education? You probably took out more than just a grant...you probably got loans too...truck driving schools are not cheap. Have your taxes been taken???

Look in the sticky section...or google "US Department of Education Closed school discharge "

well actually this is for a friend of mine.. he did have contact with the dept of education and told them about the school but they didn't believe him.

I do not believe they did not believe him...he probably did not follow thru properly. The DOE has a closed school division that deals with closed schools.... he can look up the school here... http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/FS...searchpage.cfm and then he can find a contact here. http://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/helpContactI...ool%20Contacts

i know they didn't believe him because i was pretending to be him . i talked to a guy on the phone who had the power to decide to garnish wages or to not garnish wages and he was a guy who seemed to be power hungry. in my frustration for him to believe me, i probably carried a tone he didn't like.. my friends friend swears the name of the school was 'great american trucking school' in phoenix , which is not on the list

Well you talked to the WRONG people. It is not up to the CA to research closed schools. If you or him follow the links I posted, and talk to people at the DOE....ask the DOE what the correct name of the school was, maybe you can get to the bottom of this.

I agree. Not only is life "pretty much over for me" but I believe I need to end my life to make a statement of some kind... The student loans I took were for education, and then I took that "education" and used it EXCLUSIVELY FOR SERVICES RENDERED TO THE COMMUNITY. THIS IS A FACT and a matter of record. So what I am saying is that I used the "education" to better the world we live in. Yet... I own no property, I have an old car, and nothing much in the bank. STILL THEY GARNISH MY WAGES OVER $600 PER MONTH. This has been going on for over twelve years. It seems there is no end to it, so the only way to end it is to end my life. You'll read about it in the news... You may think I'm crazy but I'm just backed into a corner I can't get out of. I can only hope my end will be someone's beginning. I don't have any other way out. Just know I did love the world and the people I connected to. Hugs and kisses, sorry for those I hurt... Love ya all, LK

oh please, you sound like a drama queen. You brought the garnishment upon YOURSELF! Student loan consolidation and payments under the ICR payment plan were around for about 18 years! Right now by my calculations your take home is around $4k per month....you cant live on $3400 per month???

Garnishment can be resolved....you could have appealled it before it started. You could have rehabbed your loan. Instead you choose to feel sorry for yourself? Please

Well, "soap lady" you are truly lacking in the dept. of compassion. Yeah, maybe I'm a "drama queen" alright, but you have no idea what I'm capable of. You have no right to judge me. Especially me and on your speculation of what my "take home" is, you have no idea what my other biils are... so stop judging and be for real. My sister,God rest her soul, said "desperate people do desperate things" and o boy was she right about me and my situation. I am that desperate person! Like I said, read about me in the news... You are no "lady", just pretending like every body else. Shame on you, man...

Speculation on income? The department of ed has a formula of disposable income....gross minus taxes and health insurance....that is the point your garnishment is calculated. So if your employer is calculating your garnishment properly, it is pretty easy to figure out your take home pay. 401K and any other deductions are your choice. Anyways, what came first?? The student loan or the bills?? My point is you had the opportunity to avoid this by consolidating years ago. Sorry, but I will not sugar coat the facts....in this day and age and with the payment plans that have been in place with the department of ed for the past 2 decades, there is absolutely no reason for any default....even with a zero income you can consolidate and stay current with a zero payment. You didnt make your student loan a priority....so your guarantor did. So either rehab your loan by buckling down and making payments over and above your garnishment or learn to live on a budget. I am not here to be your therapist....just present the cold hard facts.

Hi Soaplady,

I have a fairly unique situation and am hoping you can direct me in the right way - both ethically and in my financial interests.,

I took out federal student stafford loans for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees back in the 90s and early 2000s. I was doing graduate work in New York City in 2001 when the towers went down, and it was very traumatic for me. I dropped out of school a week later, left NYC and pretty much dropped off the grid. I struggled for many years with the personal losses of so people I was close to at the same time - no income, no tax records, wasn't even thinking about student loans.,

A few years later we got a notice about student loans and my grandparents (now passed) offered to pay them and help me out. They got the free and clear on the payments and I thought it was all good. Well, I have recently re-entered the real world again and found out they only paid off the loans given to me by the school, not the federal ones, which are now 10 years defaulted.

I started working a few months ago, and the calls I originally thought were fraudulent pretending to be collectors are actually the real thing. So here is where I need some guidance - I am making a good salary and would like to pay off my loans, however with 10 years of interest tacked on I am shocked by the amounts: my $42k of loans have nearly $20k additional interest on them. I am hoping that considering the situation, I can work out a plan to repay with a reduction of that interest amount.

/p>No garnishment has started, however I did receive calls claiming they needed a call TODAY or they would contact my employer. A friend I spoke with who once defaulted said they can't do that until I have been working for a year, but I don't really want to play with the rules - I want to figure out how I can repay them without creating financial hardship for myself.

/p>I would really appreciate any advice. Should I contact the department of education or the scary collector from the garnishment department that has left a few voicemails for me (I was out of town for work for the last week, and came back to three identical messages)? I know the collector just wants to make as much as he can, and I have heard so many horror stories about people who tried to do the right thing and ended up with demands they could not meet. I have heard tales of people getting in more trouble because they agreed to make payments that included small print that led to much higher fees/interest they could not climb out of.

/p>Please help! Who should I contact and what is my best course of action? Should I just get a lawyer to help me deal with this? I don't have much savings, so anything worked out would have to be on a paycheck to paycheck basis.

/p>Thank you in advance,

/p>Remi

Your interest has been capitalized plus you were assessed up to 24% in collection fees.


. Wont happen. They will only reduce collection fees if you settle in a lump sum. Only in extreme hardship cases will they waive interest and they will not do it without a settlement...ie...they will not allow you make payments on a reduced amount.
Take them seriously....once the notice is sent to the employer, it gets even more difficult.



.your friend is wrong. You cannot be garnished for 12 months if you were involuntarily separated (laid off) from your previous job. If you were in school, or voluntarily quit, the 12 months does not apply.
Department of Ed will not talk with you...your account has been assigned to the CA under contract...they will not interfere without cause.
An attorney cannot do anything for you that you cannot do for yourself. You have to deal with the CA and quickly. The best option for you is either rehabbing your loans or consolidating ASAP with the Direct Loan program. With a $62k balance, your rehab payment for 9 months would be around $600 per month. The good thing about rehab is that it will waive your collection fees when you complete the payments.

Soaplady,

I just spoke with the department of education. They told me they cannot do anything anymore with me directly and I need to speak with the CA. Bummer, considering how unethical I think the CA has been in their efforts to contact me (thus why I assumed it was fraud).,

They did tell me, however, that if I have not been working for the entire last 12 months, the wage garnishment cannot happen until I have. That contradicts what you have stated above. I read through the thread believing you were hard-edged but trying to help by providing facts, but the discrepancy makes me wonder if your motives are to help people or just to get people to pay quickly and pay a lot. ,

I hate to be skeptical, but I must wonder why your information contradicts the actual Dept of Ed. collections department. I think a lot of people on there have relied on you for honest, expert and unbiased advice, and I sincerely hope that is what you have been providing.,

I am (somewhat apprehensively) going to contact the CA and try to work something out. The truth is, I will likely be leaving the country (for work with a non-US company) before year-end (I have dual citizenship). I doubt they will be able to track me abroad, so hopefully they will work something out that is reasonable. I fully want to repay my debt, and provided they don't try to do anything slimy and underhanded, I will. Right now, based on the messages they have left for me, I don't trust them at all.,

I do hope they will give me some relief due to my circumstances, but I suppose the phone call to them will tell.,

Remi

Sorry, but either the rep at the DOE gave you the wrong information or you misunderstood it.

From the DOE website...http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/awg.html
So if you were not laid off your previous job, this would not apply which is exactly what I said before.

Do not go into a conversation with them about what has happened in the past....they have heard every story under the sun and they are not going to cut you any slack. Look at going forward, getting it resolved. I collected Oklahoma student loans and I had people who were actually in the building when that one was bombed...they got a six month grace period/deferment added. Same with victims of Katrina...they got 6 months. At this point your options are rehab or consolidation. It isnt going to go away....ever.

Hi,

I have recently received a letter in the mail about what looks like wage garnishment from the court I live by. Also attached are papers to appeal in court. I'm slightly confused as to if this is the form to appeal the garnishment, but looking at my bank account, it looks as though it has already started. I owe $5,895 with the loan and the court costs brings it up to $6,100. I already know that they will take my tax refund, which usually that equals out to be anywhere from $2-4,000. My questions are:

1.) Should I fill out the forms given to appeal, if it look like the garnishment has already started?

2.) Addition to the above question, with my tax refund being as high as it is, will they lower the amount taken from the garnishment?

3.) And finally, if there is a low balance and I am able to pay it off, is it at all possible to just give them a check with the lump sum?

Thank you.

If they have already sued you thru the courts, your case is much more complicated. AWG rules will not apply You say you are looking at your bank account...are they seizing money out of your account?

Again, if they did pursue a court judgment, the appeal will not be sucessful. AWG garnishment is 15%...under a court order, most states will allow a 25% garnishment. Different rules.
It will lower the overall amount...it will not lower the monthly garnished amount. So you will be garnished for a shorter length of time. Keep in mind, interest is still accruing.

Of course you can.

Thank you.