Yes I know, the amount is insane and I was an uneducated 18 year old who knew the concept of loans, but had zero idea of the hell of monthly payments I’d have to figure out.
After I graduated college, my original loans were through three or four separate loans that I had gotten refinanced through MEFA (which I have now been informed is a very odd lender to take over my loan as I live in California and have never went to school or step foot in Massachusetts). I have a low rate which I’m not mad about, but my monthly payments are insane coming in at $1700 a month. I’ve officially blown through the last of my repayment options with AES that have kept me afloat for the past 4ish years with this refi loan, and no AES does NOT have a forbearance plan or anything else to attempt to help. Once you use a repayment plan you cannot use it again. To make matters worse I have a cosigner who I would hate to get in any sort of trouble trying to sort out what I’m supposed to do with this loan.
I’ve tried applying for other lenders such as Ernest and Sofi, but nobody will take, and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. I’m a full time employee but I’m genuinely scared with this, having to choose between paying rent or paying this stupid loan, this isn’t a way to live. Anyone have any ideas or at least have shared experiences with MEFA??
At the end of my rope with almost 174,000 in debt that no one can help me with.
byu/Icy_Meringue4892 inStudentLoans
Posted by Icy_Meringue4892
2 Comments
You could look into filing for bankruptcy and hope that you could prove that paying the loans would create an “undue hardship”… the problem with that is that even if the loans are discharged, your cosigner is still on the hook for them. They would *also* have to successfully declare bankruptcy… and having student loans forgiven through that method is incredibly difficult to begin with.
Other options are to call the lender and explain that you are looking at the defaulting on the loan because you genuinely cannot pay it. See if you can negotiate with MEFA for things like a modified repayment arrangement or extended loan term. No guarantees, but it’s not impossible. This is probably your strongest option.
If you and the cosigner both start defaulting on the loan you *might* be able to get them to negotiate for a lower payoff amount, but generally that has to be a lump sum payment, so may not be viable unless the cosigner is willing to take the credit hit, pay out-of-pocket, and allow you to repay them the lower negotiated amount over time.
And from what I can see on Google MEFA can loan anywhere in the country, not just Mass, so while it’s unusual, there’s nothing about it that would let you off the hook.
What are your schools, degrees, job, income?
Are your loans federal or private?
If you attended scam schools, you can get your loans forgiven.