Student loan Wage Garnishment - How can I remove them?

Garnishment started on my paycheck's maybe 6 months ago (15%). Before, garnishment they took my tax refund (0. Will they take my refund for 09 since my paycheck's are being garnished? If they do, is there anyway to file an appeal?

You are not paying voluntarily so yes, they will take your tax return. You would have been sent a letter last summer to inform you of their intent....that was the time to enter into voluntary repayment to avoid tax offset.

My loan payments are $459 a month. I can not pay this. I can only afford $100 a month. What can I do? My loan is in collections. Money is already tight- we are having to foreclose our home- I do not qualify for economic hardship. I just spoke to someone at Sallie Mae and they are putting me in Forbearance till Feb 14th-then all my forbearance is up. I still won't be able to pay that then. Do I have any options?

What type of loan is it? Private or federal?

My wages have been garnished for about 5 years now for failure to pay back my student loans after college. My tax refunds have also been taken for the same amount of time. In a couple of months I'll have fulfilled that financial obligation. That's also around the time that I'm expecting my federal tax return. Do I need to fear that the CA will continue offseting my tax refunds or garnishing my wages once this debt is paid? I know that I now owe about $900 but I keep contacting DCA to find out the exact amount but they continue to ask for my social security number. They say that it's my account number and that they can't give me any information without it. I've always been reluctant to providing this information to anyone, especially a CA! What can I do?

This is a federal student loan...your account number is your social security number.

I would suggest you wait to file your taxes. Because you are not paying voluntarily, there will be a lien and the lien figures are not up to date with what you have been garnished. Say you finishing paying your balance March 1st and file shortly thereafter...odds are that the lien will still seize whatever amount. The guarantor will refund it but it is going to take time.

Is the $900 your calculation or an old calculation from the CA? Keep in mind that interest is accruing until the last payment arrives.

Thank you SOAPLADY for your response. That is the amount that I was quoted in December as my balance and I estimated that to be at least 2 more payments but there will be a little less than $150 left to pay afterwards and I assume that they'll take it from a 3rd payment. I've always been able to get my account balance information over the phone without giving my SS# so I thought it strange for them to request it now with a couple of payments left.

soaplady, you seem knowledgeable but also kind of unobjective. your advice and responses bear a strong hint that you may be a debt collector yourself, probably an aggressive one.

It is called tough love. Just the facts as to what will happen. And I am an ex student loan collector and ex financial aid office. And a damn good one at that.

it should have been added above that "aggressive" in the debt-collection industry means often, not always doing it legally.

Yup, I was a aggressive and a top collector....however I never broke the law. What is the point? I worked with my debtors to get them out of default and I got people to pay that no one else could. I had 2000 accounts in my portfolio on any given day and it the debtor wanted to be an asshole, I shipped them off to the garnishment unit if we had their place of employment. I could be firm but never rude. I educated my borrowers and in several situations, I walked them thru how to persue and sue other collections that did violate the fdcpa.

as you probably know, many CA's do try to go further than the laws allow. it happens all the time.

at least to me, it's easy to see that you have a profound disgust in the back of your mind towards deliquent student loan debtors. your foot is too poised on a foundation of the CA and as such, you're ineffective to help people's inquiries on their rights with garnishment issues on this web forum - i don't understand why you're here.

i'm surprised that all over this debt consolidation forum for the past two years, no one else has ever seemed to see that....and i only happened upon this site for the first time a few hours ago.

I dont and wont sugar coat it. And in most cases, by the time someone gets to the garnishment department, they have had ample opportunity to enter into repayment voluntarily. Truthfully, I dont have a lot of sympathy...too many people bury their heads when it comes to student loans and the federal loans are the easiest consumer credit to manage....loads of deferments and forebarances and consolidation with the ICR repayment plan prior to default makes student loan repayment affordable. However, I will not stand for collection agencies strong arming with incorrect information and threats.

Dude, what in the hell is your problem? Soaplady can be abrasive at times, but she's an incredible asset to this community. If you're in a bind with a defaulted student loan, would you rather have facts, or some sugar-coated version of what you want to hear?

If you have a point to make, kindly make it. Otherwise, I'll thank you to keep the innuendo to yourself.

what this forum needs are additional specialist members who are financial advisors and/or rights advocates with genuwine motives to help people, and not just a one-sided former bill collector.

You hit the point! Collectors dont give a damn what is happening in an individuals life. It is the reality of being in debt....that is why I will not sugar coat. However the majority of the debtors that I worked with defaulted out of burying their heads in the sand...that or setting other priorities like having kids, not opening their mail, buying that new car they just gotta have. I worked damn hard to get my borrowers in affordable repayment....there was no such thing as "I cant afford to pay". And quite frankly I dont give a damn what you think, particularly when you post as an annoymous non contributor.