Student loan debt is different from other types of consumer debt because of the high balances involved.
And many student loans require a co-signer in order for the loan to be approved, which means if something happens to the primary borrower, the co-signer may suddenly be pursued for the student loan by a debt collector.
Getting a co-signer released from a student loan can be tricky, but in many situations there is a way out.
Student loan debt is skyrocketing—the latest figures put student loan debt at $1.2 trillion dollars. As the cost of education continues to rise, more and more consumers are dealing with higher amounts of student loan debt.
The good news is that there are options for dealing with student loans. Even if a student loan is in default (and with a debt collector), borrowers with federal student loans can rehabilitate the loan.
[Read more…] about Student Loan Options, Default, and Dealing with Debt Collectors
One of the major issues facing consumers today is errors on credit reports.
Sometimes the errors are because items reported by debt collectors.
In other cases, the errors persist after a consumer sent a dispute letter to the credit reporting agencies.
In a recent case, a federal jury awarded a woman over $18 million dollars because of errors on her credit report. The woman testified that she contacted Equifax eight times over a two-year span to correct alleged inaccurate information on her credit report.
She alleged that her report had the wrong social security number, wrong birthday, incorrect accounts in collection, and erroneous accounts. However, it should be noted that Equifax will likely appeal the decision, so it may be years before there is a final decision.
If you believe there is inaccurate information on your credit report, you can use this dispute letter to request an investigation. If you believe you need additional assistance, feel free to contact me.
(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickwebb/3016498475/)