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I need some advice about my student loan situation. I graduated last May (2014) with about $115K student loan debt from my undergraduate institution. Like so many other graduates, I have not been able to find a job in my field. I have applied to over 200 jobs with no luck. So I am pretty much at this point resigned to the fact that I am not going to find a job any time soon because the economy is awful for recent graduates. Many of my friends are in the same situation with even bigger student loan debt, and I refuse to go back to school to take out even more debt and be in the same situation as I am now.
So I am currently working at a restaurant living at home with my parents. I barely make squat, but the student loan agencies are starting to call me all the time to get me to start paying my loans back. I can't afford to and I have told them this repeatedly, but they don't seem to care and keep calling and harassing me for payment. I haven't paid anything towards the loans, and I don't plan on paying anything for them either because I can't afford it. Some of my friends who are in almost the exact same situation said the loan companies have started to go after their wages.
In order to avoid this happening to me, my family owns and business and my parents have suggested I start just working at the business and getting paid under the table. If I go about doing this right, what can the loan companies really do to me? Can they go after my parent's house or business, or what would be some other ramifications? Thank you for your advice.
This would be my suggestion. You have 3 years worth of deferment to use. However, I believe interest still accrues during the deferment period.
As for your questions, I doubt they'd go after your parents. But if you fail to pay, I'm sure the loan companies will report you to the credit unions. Then a bad domino affect starts. Your credit is affected for years as negative entries take years to drop from your report. Then you finally get interviews. During the hiring process, you'll find that more and more employers in addition to the background check will also do credit checks. They see you have bad credit and may think you are more prone to bribes, theft, etc. No job for you.
Don't start off your post college time on a bad note.
Be a big boy and solve your own problems, mommy and daddy aren't going to be around forever to provide the hammock for you.
Personally, I'd rather work a few crappy jobs and pay my bills than cling on to mommy and daddy but this seems to be a different generation.
If you are making squat, I would definitely recommend working at your parents business. This is not uncommon at all with family businesses and it could at least give you a little bit of money for some breathing room. In the mean time, keep looking for more serious jobs. 115k is a substantial amount of loans. If you have any government loans, put them on the Income Based repayment plan (where you payments could be close to, if not $0). With private student loans, the situation is trickier. See if you can put those loans on hold. If not, maybe try making some measly payment every month, like $2.
Don't listen to the people on the forum who simply rehash their conservative ideology. Your parents gave you good advice when they suggested working under the table.
I was going to suggest Income Based Repayment (IBR), which actually does not require a monthly payment at incomes below ~$15K per year but it's not available for private student loans.
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