Attorney General Student Loan Collections Fees
I have paid $3,000 so far. I now owe $4000 in certified balance and interest to the university, but still owe $3,000 in collections fees. Has anyone heard of this rate before? From my research, most collection fees seem to be 15-25%.
I am willing (and now able) to pay the $4000 balance, but I cannot pay the entire balance + these collection fees. Is it possible to settle with the OAG? Should I just mail them a check for the total amount outstanding and ignore the collections fees? I was accepted into medical school on scholarship, but cannot attend unless I can provide a copy of my official transcript, and the school has been unwilling to work with me on this.
Obviously you were not a math
Obviously you were not a math major. Your collection fees are around 43% which is totally in line for what I used to see when I was collecting insititional loans.
Nobody is required to calculate your monthly percentages going to principal and interest. It will vary each month, depending on the balance X the daily interest. As your balance goes down, so will your interest.
Actually they CAN tack on whatever charge the CA is charging them. Institutional debt is generally a higher rate since they would be placing a lower volumn of accounts than say the DOE. I used to collect Loyola University in house loan and tuition accounts and that one was a 50% collection fee.
If you really want an amortization, create one online or in excel.
For starters, you agreed to
For starters, you agreed to pay all collection fees which can run from 20-50% when you signed your prom note. These fees are standard....collection agencies are not cheap..Federal student loan default fees are up to 24%. Was this a private school or state college?
UCB is collecting this debt under contract meaning the schoo/OAG and finally prinipal You cannot "just ignore" the collection fees....you will not get your transcript. The school is under no obligation to work with you.
When you did your FA exit interview from the school, you should have paid attention to which loans were which plus am sure the school would have sent you numerous dunning letters before defaulting you. .
Yes, I know that I agreed to
Yes, I know that I agreed to pay collections fees, and 25% would be reasonable. Even 50% would be better than what I am being charged, which I calculated to be 68%. I called to ask about the collections fees and no one could tell me what the percent was or where they came from. They also won't tell me what percentage of each month's payment is going to the principal, and how much is going toward these fees. I am just trying to make informed decisions as I try to clean this up, and as you would with any other debt, would like documentation on what exactly I am paying. Are they required to give you this information or can they just tack on any amount that they want to your balance?
I know that this is my fault and the reason for defaulting does not matter. I know that I should have paid attention to what loans I was paying. The bills were being sent to my mother and were not being forwarded to me. The minute I found out about this, I started to pay them and have not missed a payment.