CapDec

Craig - thanks for making yourself available for an AMA. I have private student loan debt, which is now in the 40,000 range thanks to interest and my inability to pay during and after the recession (I defaulted during the recession). I have spoken with the collections agencies now attached to the debt. One offered a settlement which was half the loan amount (very generous) the other is more typical in terms of how folks report that collections agencies act.

Obviously my credit is not in good shape because of these defaults. I have tried to get a loan to pay off at least the settlement, but again due to my credit - it's always a no go. My wife and I rent an apartment and paid for our cars with cash and family help - so we really have no assets. We recently started working by a very stringent budget (not that we were big spenders anyway) and there is simply no extra money to put towards these debts - we pretty much break even every month.

It's killing me to have this hanging over my head and feeling like it will never go away, and that our future will be forever impacted. It's not like I haven't explored every option to pay that I could. I am anticipating a lawsuit at some point. What should I do/expect?

Right on. Thank you. I'll keep working on improving things financially - it's a better place to focus energy than on anxiety I suppose.

Thanks. Now that we have everything written down and outlined, I'm going to call consumer credit counseling. Is that what you are referring to?