To all of you out there…please think first before you take out “private” student loans. These people are loan sharks. The only thing they don’t do is break your legs or kill you if you don’t repay the loan. Otherwise, they will kill your credit score…harass you and anyone else that you know until you pay back the loan…Oh and did I fail to mention that I was just a Co-signer? These loans were not for me but for my brother.
In fact, I have a Master’s of Science degree that I paid for myself as well as working my way through college without any loans (but that was years ago there’s no way I could have done that now). Yes, I made my way through college and worked the entire way so I didn’t have to take out loans.
Then my brother asked me to co-sign a loan and not knowing anything about “private” student loans I did so. And when he was in law school he asked me to co-sign again. I didn’t realize that if he got out of law school and even given he has passed the bar in several states that there would be no jobs available. Many people wanted to hire him but there was no money. We made our minimum payments. Then these private loan companies wanted more. When my brother tried to get extensions the government backed student loan agencies gave them to him but the private ones wouldn’t. He tried to keep up but without a real job he couldn’t and then they went into default. He tried many times to make it up and stop the process but these people were ruthless.
So at the stupid age of 22, I co-signed private student loans for my brother and now I’m responsible to pay it all back now. My credit is now ruined…credit cards lowering my credit from 17,000 to 500. They have upped my APR to ridiculous amounts. If you took away this debt I have perfect credit but no one will ever see that. I tried to refinance my house because I bought it back in 1995 and got it for a good price but because of the meltdown I couldn’t even do that in order to pay back the debt. I can’t sell my house given the current economy. I’m now stuck and why? Because I co-signed private student loans.
If I could go back in time I would have said no but the truth is that these companies preyed on students and their families and like a thief in the night then took away all the credit that they had built up.
Right now, I have given up. I should have perfect credit but due to these loans I don’t. Making payments will do nothing to help my credit so why should I even try? The crazy part is that I didn’t even benefit from these loans…I’m just a co-signer. The point of me writing this is to make people aware that government backed student loans are fine but do not EVER take out a “private” student loan…EVER. If you can’t pay it back when they want it they will break your legs…ruin your credit.
I have creditors calling me every day and harassing me but I just don’t answer the phone anymore. Where is the help for us? I work every single day and I pay everything on time but yet now I’m responsible for this. My brother is doing his best to survive but given that these people wouldn’t even allow him to defer the payments until he was making real money…it’s all just been a travesty.
We want to pay it back but with my damaged credit, I just can’t. I’m in a catch 22. So now I live with this thing over my head all the time that I never got a benefit from but yet I’m still expected to pay somehow. And even when I try to pay it all back, given what they’ve done to my credit I can’t. They won’t let me pay them back.
This is an honest portrayal of what students and co-signers are going through every single day and no one can help us it seems. Please, never take out a “private” student loan and never co-sign a “private” student loan.