Student Debt, Agressive Collectors

Remember when you signed up for the student loans (which your parents didn't need to do ...by the way ... ) just to go to college? They told that the interest would be reasonable ... that you had rights ... that student loan agents were flexible and that you could work out acheivable payment plans with them ... even if you fell on hard luck.

Well, times have changed and now the government has turned to more agressive tactics and private debt collection services are making big money off many impoverished working-class graduates all across this country. They don't care if you go homeless and lose touch with prospective employers ... they are hell bent on collecting as much as they can as soon as they can. They demand to tap directly into bank accounts ... they seize tax refunds ... and they garnish wages. When you respond to their threatening letters they try to get big payments out of you just so they can get you into some type of repayment program. They often encourage the impoverished worker (who has been having trouble making their payments) to take out other high-interest loans. This is irresponsible and the collection agents don't seem to really represent the U.S. government and they don't have the long term health and viability of the graduates in mind. They are acting like agressive debt collection sharks ... they are threatening and they often get impoverished workers to send in balloon payments that they cannot afford or to agree to let them take large payments out of their bank accounts each month. Ofen times, this imperils the worker. They are forced to move, they lose their job, and go back into default. So, the government, by not acting more responsibly in the collection of these debts is actually collecting less in the long run and a handfull of private collection vampires are getting rich off the poor.

Question is ... is anyone doing anything about this? Is their any good website that informs people of their rights. Is there any good organizing going on about this?

At a minimum, I suggest that people start doing investigative work into these agressive private collectors. Where is their actual street address? What are their real names? How much of a bonus do they get when they push someone into forking over money they cannot afford? What is their incentive structure like? There could be a well publicized website designed to out the really bad ones and swap horror stories ... and, to suggest ways of dealing with this.

I have been lied to several times by collectors and, they have dipped right in and taken huge (sometimes all) of my earnings. They have hassled my employers to the point where I have lost jobs. And, they have done all of this while I was calling them and offering to pay them monthly payments. I have pain thousands into my student loans, only to see the balance shoot back up due to huge collection fees attached after I fell into hard times. Two companies that have been particularly haneous, duplicitous and deceitful were DC Credit Services (who were sued big time in recent years and so shouldn't even still be collecting under a government contract) ... and Pioneer Credit Recovery. Both of these companies should lose their government contracts and be the subject of intense investigations for their misconduct.

So, I'd love to know of more information and organizing about this. Anyone know where to look first.

email me at:
jessejamesisreal [at] yahoo.com

and, even better, post some good info and links here!