Student loan Wage Garnishment - How can I remove them?

Miguel

Try to figure out some other contact number for them. You can search BBB and check if they have any additional address or not. Also try to contact your lender, if they can help you get an address. If all fails, contact ED's Administrative Wage Garnishment Branch (AWG).

Also go through this page to know your options and rights with wage garnishment "http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/awg.html"
Try to get your loan rehabilitated; this is good for your credit too.

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Miguel,

For you to get out of wage garnishment and back on your feet, talk to the agency that is holding your loan. They will help you figure something out. You could pay the balance in full in 1 to 6 payments, or settle for principle and half interest in 1 to 3 payments, or rehabilitate your loan. In order for you to get out of garnishment with a rehabiliatation, you may have to tighten your belt for a six months, because that's how long it will take for the garnishment to life if you choose to rehabilitate. There is a topic about loan rehabiliatation in this forum that you should read up on. It's the best remedy for you credit. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help you out.

Tax Offset and Wage Garnishment
If you default on your loan, the U.S. Department of Education has the authority to deduct money from your income. This may happen through tax offset or wage garnishment (or both).

Tax Offset. The Department of Education may offset, or withhold, money from your federal income tax refunds to collect on defaulted federal student loans.

If the offset of your federal tax refund creates a severe hardship for you, it is possible to request a refund. Examples of extreme hardship include very high medical expenses or the threat of eviction from your home. To request a refund, you will need an explanation of why the offset is causing an extreme hardship, a copy of your income tax form and other proof of income, copies of your monthly bills, and, if possible, copies of the bills that represent your case for extreme hardship. Send this information to your guaranty agency.

Wage Garnishment. If you are in default on your student loan, federal regulations and law allow your guaranty agency to garnish up to 10% of your disposable income, or the U.S. Department of Education to garnish up to 15% of your disposable income for repayment of your student loan.

I had my wages garnished for 6 months and made no headway with the CA. they did not care. I finally requested a hearing with Dept of Education in writing. They sent a copy of everything I sent them to the CA. The CA came back and told me too bad, but the Dept of Ed held the hearing and decided I should not have been garnished. They sent a stop order! I then consolidated my loans directly with Dept of Ed. the CA told me too bad I was not able to do that. My loans were consolidated and the payment was reasonable - much better than the garnishment. Point is know your rights because the CA's just want to make money.

That is good news dmack! Others will benefit from this! :D How long did the process take with the Dept. Of Ed.?

From the time I sent the request to Dept. of Ed until I was notified that a hearing had been held and that my garnishment would be stopped was only a month. The loan rehab program is not for everyone. once my loans were cosolidated they showed as "paid" on my credit reports and I now have so much flexibility. The only thing I didn't know was that the hearing would be held without me. So the more informationyou send the beteer. You have several options, you cannot be garnished if you are unemployed, or were unemployed within 12 months preceeding the garnishment. The CA's will not tell you any of this! I bought a book about managing student loan debt and there was a wealth of info. in there. If I had bought the book first I would not have gone the rehab route. The payments were way too high and the CA was very unpleasant. They found me by pretending to be doing a reunion for my college.....I learned a great deal in this process.

it is my understanding that if you as little as 50.00 a month/ every month that they can not garnish your wages.

If you don't mind me asking, were you not paying anything at all and it went into default? Is that why they are garnishing your wages?

I was paying 100 per month and the collection agency wanted 15% of my net incime, when they garnished they took 14% of gross

I have been told over and over and over again that if you pay something they will not garnish you. Or that is what Jedi tells me anyway. See, why I have so many questions.

It is not true that if you pay "something", you will not be garnished. You must have an approved payment plan in place to prevent garnishment.

Rules of AWG...

If you are recommended for garnishment, a 30 day notice is sent out. It explains all your legal rights in detail. You MUST respond IN WRITING within 30 days of the date on the notice with all requested/required documentation. You can call in but the objection or the hearing request must be returned via the mail within the 30 day time frame. Failure to do so will initiate a garnishment. You cannot use the excuse "I didnt receive it cause I moved"....under the terms of your prom note, you agreed to notify your lender of any change of address with 10 days. If your objections are sent in AFTER the expiration of the 30 day notice, the garnishment will start and will not stop until after the hearing.

All the information can be found on this page...the only thing that has not been updated is that the garnishment amount if now 15%.

"http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/awg.html"

For the person who is being garnished 14% of gross....that is your employers fault. They are sent calculation worksheets with the formula to calculate garnishments. The guarantor simply sends the order...the employer does the calculations.

"http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/awg.employers.guide.html"

Life is pretty much over for me and this haunting default of college loan. I, uneducated regarding loan disagrees, thought someday someone would have to prove what they are saying I owe and provide copies of the actual checks they say I cashed.

I remember once having a loan check and I did not cash it, I destroyed it, it seemed easier than returning it to the financial office where I picked it up.

Now a decade later my loan has gone from maybe 20K to 60K and I am doomed.

No one has to prove anything, they can ruin me, prevent me from getting a job, lien my property, levy my automobile and garnish my wages.

I do qualify for disability but I keep on working as I prefer to take care of myself and don't want to feel more degraded than I do now.

Is there anyway to dispute and settle on the amount owed or is it true..........we have to pay what they say we owe plus ALL of the puffed up legal fees.

Doomed, you are not better off dead-that's a permanent solution for a temporary problem! Read the posts above yours by Jedimistress Ari-and Dmack-there is some info you might be able to use. Also, you can PM Ari, she has a wealth of experience with student doans she can share. There is a student loan forum also, look through these threads for others experiencewith them--Keep us posted on what happens!..KAren :D

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I agree with Bossy....There is always a way to get things straigtened out and taken care of and being dead is never one of them. I sympathize with your situation as I too at one time felt the same way over my financial problems but this site helped me get back on my foot and get the problem resolved....Utilize the valuable informatin in this site and you will find a way to solve this :) best of luck!

I just saw a report today and it was regarding the government stepping in and handing out huge fines for corruption with this system. Sallie Mae was the biggest offender. The investigation showed that students and their families were directed towards loans with higher interest rates and if they chose certain providers then the financial aid officer received a bonus from the loan company. Stated that the colleges were involved. And the government is handing down fines in the multi-millions of dollars for the corruption activity. And corruption isn't my word, it is the federal governments.

I saw the report as well. Not only that, but several high ranking officials in the government are heavily invested in Sallie Mae. Schools were directing students and families to those loans because the lenders were giving the schools kick-backs. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

Sigh...guess who my student loans are with? Of course, I have had my deferred until December 28th 2007...but that sure seems to be coming quick huh?

One could only hope for one of the greatest acheivements of George Bush the first -- an amnesty for student loans.

Yes, I forgot about that segment in the report stating that government officials had invested in these companies and didn't they also say that they uncovered that some of these financial aid officers were also given the opportunity for investment if they steered students towards their programs? That report absolutely disgusted me.

Back when I was collecting, as a manager I used to go to a lot of conferences. Even back 15 years ago, there was talk of getting rid of the state guaranty agencies and going completely to Direct Lending thru the DOE. That would basically put Sallie Mae, Citibank and others out of the loop. I really think that this scandal will probably result in a bigger push towards direct lending.

By the way, Sallie Mae is being sold.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/16/news/compa...dex.htm?cnn=yes

Student loan amnesty...will never happen. Interest rate reduction is more likely.

Even with a reduction in interest rate could save a person thousands in the long run.

I heard a report today that Sallie Mae has just been sold in a multi-billion dollar deal. I didn't catch who bought it though.

I contacted the agency garnishing my wages and asked about getting my loan out of default. They said i would have to make an additional monthly payment along with what the wage garnishments for 9 consecutive months to get my loan out of default, and that i would not be able to get approved for loan consolidation since my wages are already being garnished. If this is true I'm in some real trouble cuz i can't afford the 15% they are taking out already. I have to work overtime just to make ends meet.

I received a phone call today at work from the student loan people. I was pretty irate that they called me at work but anyway they told me they could garnish over $400.00 from my paycheck. I make $11.00 an hour and work 37 hours a week. Are they serious? Can they garnish that much or just trying to scare me?

If a federal student loan, it is capped at 15%... Write a letter demanding they only contact you via mail, and send it CMRRR.

I have a student loan currently being garnished. They have been deducting 25%, rather than the 15% they are suppose to. What do I do?

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Good morning,
I am being threatened by Van Ru to garnish my wages. The payment arrangements they gave me are extremely high and I cannot afford them. I have one income in my household and they are not trying to work with me at all. What can I do?

DMACK......you're right. Dept of Ed WILL work with you. However.......it's difficult to get a defaulted Student Loan out of default. I had mine in default for about 2 years. Until....Dept of Ed helped me out of it. It took ALOT of paper work and alot of time. But..I'd rather have that happen than be in default again.

Trigaye....you need to ask Van Ru for a rehab and "reasonable and affordable" payment. Quote those words. They do not have to offer you this program...you have to ask for it. According to the Higher Educaction Act, they must allow you to make 9 reasonable and affordable payments to get your loan out of default. If they refuse, then you can contact the student loan ombudsman for assistance.

Rehab is not that complicated. There is some paperwork but not that much.

I have a loan through the dept of Ed that I am in defualt on. The Loan is being handled by GC Services. Before the garnishment they called with a settlement offer of 269.00/mo for 9 Months. I told them at this point in time I was unbable to pay them that amount but I could pay them 200.00. They said they would take that as me refusing to pay and that garnisment would commence. I filed a hearing with the Dept of Ed and was turned down. I called the dept of ed and they said I needed to work with GC Services. I called GC services again and this time there offer was 325.00/mo for 9 months on top of the 350.00/mo I am being garnished. They say that is the guidlines of the dept of ed. When I called the dept of ed back they just keep telling me to contact GC Services. It is a circle I can't break free from. Does anyone have any ideas.

How much do you owe??

Once you have been assigned to a CA, Ed will not work with you so there is no sense continually calling ED. Ed's hearing to avoid garnishment are pretty reasonable on expenses so if they denied you, you are pretty well stuck unless you complete the rehab payments over and above the garnishment.

$269/month for 9 months doesnt sound like a settlement offer...is sounds like a rehab payment.

SOAPLADY,
My loand throug ED was for 20 grand but of course with collection costs it is now 38 grand. You are right the 269.00 was a rehab but by the time I was able to get an additional job to help suppliment it had already gone to garnishment. The only good news is that ED sent me more paperwork yesterday to re-file for another hearing request. It just stinks because ECMC was also garnishing me but they worked out a deal for 110.00/mo for rehab. The are going stop their percentage while I make payments.

My husband and I have had our wages garnished at 15 percent for several years without a statement. We have no idea of our total debt, how much we have paid, or when the end is in site. We are distraught, our marriage of 14 years and our son is the only joy in life we have. We both work hard and tell everyone we know . .do not go to school! We looked into rehab on our loans . . way too expensive for six months . .we did it for four months and almost lost everything trying to keep up . .we love our son too much for that. So we stopped killing ourselves. Garnishment is more affordable. We will rent forever, and have high interest auto loans. We have resolved ourselves in this fact. Will our default affect our sons ability to receive a student loan if he is nieve enough to go to college? This does not seem fair if true, but we don't put it past the govt . .who by the way gave a bail out to a failing auto industry and not to working families . .we could have payed off our debt and bought a home. Any advice?

You have been garnished for several years and dont know what your balance is?? Sounds like you need to become a little proactive and maybe call and ask? Being in default, you are not entitled to statements but you should be calling a couple of times a year for a verbal balance or at even a balance letter.
Think it is time to change your attitude....telling people not to go to school is doing your friends and your son a total disservice. You need to be telling people and your son that if they are going to pursue post secondary education, they need to borrow wisely and not get themselves into the same mess you did. Your screen name....Nurse, I am assuming that you are a nurse, thus you needed an education, right? Without that education,what would you be doing? Slinging hash at the local diner??

How much do you both owe now?? Find out exactly from the CA. The CA might have been assigning you too high a payments to qualify for rehab. Plus with additional payments, and I would assume tax seizures, you might be able qualify for a rehab that is a little bit more affordable now.

My student loans went into default and they placed a offset on my tax refund. I recently consolidated the loans and they still have not removed the offset. My question is how long will it be before the IRS gets the notification that the loans have been consolidated and remove the offset.

Call your guarantor.

I just got off the phone with the EdFund. I have 2 student loans in default and have just recently set up payment plans with them. I called wanting to know if I was set for offest of my taxes for this year or not and the first persont that I talked to was hatefule as all get out. But I went right back at him. So eventually he got tired of dealing with me and sent me to the post default people. I got a hold of the nicest lady. She told me that my taxes were beeing held, but when I told her that I was out of work cause of medical reasons and my husband is not able to find work right now either and we were under extream hardship she gave me information about filing for them to give me a refund of part, possibly all of my taxes back since I am in such a pickle. I know that alot of people have said that EDFund is hard to work with, but the second lady that I talked to was so nice. I did this to myself not paying my studentloans when I was suppose to years ago. Would have been paid off by now. But I am not going to let this ruin the rest of my life. I am going to do everything I can and with the help of EDFund I think I will be able to. I noticed that alot of people on here have really high payments on thier student loans. I have about 6,000 in loans (thats what I will have paid by the time I have made all my payments anyway) and mine are only 57.00 and some change. I hope that you all can get with EDFUND and get thier help too. I know that when I go back to school after I get this all strait I will be paying my student loans on time. lol. Thanks everyone that gave me advice.

If my payroll is being garnished, am I entitled to my tax returns or is the government going to keep my tax returns?

Nope....they will keep them since you are not paying voluntarily

My payroll is being garnished and I want to receive my tax refund. What should I do?

My payroll is being garnished and I want to receive my tax refund. What should I do?

You wont get 2008's taxes back. However for 2009, you could attempt rehab by making payments over and above the garnishment.

I WAS NOTIFIED BY ACS THAT MY LOAN IS IN DEFAULT AND I HAVE TO PAY $200 A MONTH. I WAS TOLD THAT THE PROGRAM THEY USED TO HAVE THAT IF YOU PAID ON TIME FOR 6 MONTHS, THEY WOULD TAKE YOU OUT OF DEFAULT STATUS, IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. I TOLD THE GUY AT ACS THAT I HAD CARED FOR MY MOTHER FOR 3 YEARS AND I WAS BEHIND FINANCIALLY. HE SAID IT WASN'T UP FOR DISCUSSION. I HAD TO PAY $200 OR ELSE. I GOT A LETTER SATURDAY AND IT SAID ATANY TIME THEY COULD REQUEST THE FULL AMOUNT OF $24,000 AND THEY ARE ASKING FOR IT . I HAVE ONLY HAD A CHANCE TO SEND IN 2 PAYMENTS. WHAT DO I DO? I WANT TO PAY BUT I CAN'T AFFORED $200 A MONTH.

Actually they are referring to rehab and that was 9 payments. A lot of lenders are not able to offer it at this time.

Did you forebear or defer your loans while you where looking after your mom??

It is true...when you signed your prom note you agreed to balance in full on demand.

Post deleted...WTF????....Solicitation is a violation of the TOS and your grammar is atrocious. Go away Gollum....ND

LMAO!!! :lol:

First off, this forum is extremely informative, thank you for your knowledge and advice.

I am in default of my student loan, totally bad management on my part, have had tax offsets for a number of years, so now I'm used to not getting a tax refund. That being said, this CA based out of Houston, Tx, has called my work and demanded the whole amout of 13K, which I replied, if i had it I would gladly pay. (Might I add that this particular CA used intimidation, and borderline verbal abuse... (Sticks & stones)) Telling me to borrow it from friends and family...yeah right..

They stated that they are going to garnish my wages if I don't pay the whole amount, I in turn asked if there were other alternatives, they said , yes, you can pay by credit card.

After reading all the other posts here, I can see that there is no alternative. Will the garnishment exclude FLEX deductions on pre tax dollars, it garnishes take home pay only?

Thank you