Student Loan Law

Society regards a college education as a ticket to success. Unfortunately, the cost of pursuing that dream has never been higher. There are big differences between private and federal student loans. Exhaust your eligibility for federal student loans before considering any private student loans. We recognize the financial pressure student loans place on many people. When something has to give, contact us to discuss your options.

(1) First we’ll need to figure out what type of student loan debt you have — federal, private, or state. Just knowing your loans are with Sallie Mae won’t answer that question.  Sallie Mae owns and services both federal and private loans. Rights vary among Stafford loans, Perkins loans, Parents Plus loans and the like. There is an online database at the National Student Loan Data System that will help answer what type of federal loans you have.  If you don’t see your loans there, they are most likely private or state student loans. Sometimes your credit report or a debt collector can provide background information on the type of loan you have.

(2) It is best to take control of student loan debt before it degenerates to a wage garnishment, tax intercept, lawsuit or other legal action. You have far more rights with federal loans than private loans. If you can’t afford the payments on federal loans, we can provide a comprehensive analysis of your options regarding repayment plans like the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan, Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, Income Sensitive Repayment (ISR) plan, Pay as You Earn (PAYE) plan and the benefits and downside of each. We can also assess the options for qualifying for a discharge of your student loan debt. It is preferable to look at these options before your loans go into default. Once a default occurs, it is necessary to remove the default before payment plans like IBR can be made available to you. We can assist you in getting out and staying out of default on federal loans.

(3) Private student loan debt collectors can be very aggressive. We can discuss options for responding to abusive collection practices including a lawsuit under the fair debt collection practices act. While federal loans have no statute of limitations, one of the few advantages of private loans is that there is a statute of limitations, meaning how long the private lender can pursue action against a borrower. Whether the limitations period has run out is not a simple answer.

To learn more about how Attorney Richard Gaudreau can help with your student loan debt or student loan default issues, call (603) 893-4300 or email office@attorneygaudreau.com.