OCCUPY STUDENT DEBT

Student debtor stories submitted by the 99%

American Education Services: Stop the usury charges & work with us!

My name is Cassandra Coey and the lack of consumer protection currently in existence for the private student lending industry has had a terribly profound, lasting, and all encompassing effect on my life. Like so many of my peers, I was forced to take out both federal and private student loans in order to pay for college. Since I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2010 I have been unable to find gainful employment, forcing me to place my federal student loans into forbearance. Unfortunately, I am unable to do the same with my private student loans which are now held by AES. Originally my loans were through GMAC, but this company, which was a part of GMC, went bankrupt and my loans were sold to AES (where the terms of my loans were changed, and I could do nothing about it).

These changes added an additional $15,320.82 in interest because of a little thing called capitalized interest. My interest rate hovers around 5% of the principal & IS CAPITALIZED EVERY FISCAL QUARTER and then ADDED TO THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT. Meaning, 5% of both of my loans (no they will NOT combine them) is added to the principal amount every 3 months of the year, starting January 1st. After another 3 months, in June, the higher amount where a previous 5% interest rate was tacked on, gets another 5% interest added onto that amount and compounded to become the new principal amount. So every 3 months my original loan becomes a much larger black hole encompassing more and more of my life.

I am stunned & appalled by this and to add insult to injury I receive countless calls every single day demanding money and threatening legal action. If I had the payment, I would pay it, but AES refuses to work with me and is now telling me that they will sue me for the entire $42,000 borrowed. I incessantly look for full-time work, and although, I do understand what I borrowed, I just want the ability to place my private student loans in forbearance as is allowed with federal student loans.

The Big Picture here is the amount I owe AES with late fees and capitalized interest has now increased to an insane amount, originating at $42,000 and is currently $60,240.60. My credit is destroyed from my inability to make payments. And today with so many employers checking credit scores, it makes it even harder to find full-time work. However, most significantly, within the next few years I would like to marry my boyfriend and start a family but we cannot, as he would inherit my abominable credit. And if we did go ahead it would be like a fish out of water, dying with no foreseeable way out.

Please take a stand with me, asking AES to allow me to place my private student loans in forbearance so I can focus on getting full-time employment, work on rebuilding my credit, and marry the one I love. All borrowers with private student loans must have the same protection awarded to those with federal loans, have the ability to place them in forbearance and in deferment, and have access to interest based repayment.

Source change.org

Associates degree from Art Institute cost me $40K. My dad co-signed for me, & I took out $20K my first year & another $20K my 2nd year. Being a 1st generation college student I had no idea to check out other schools b/c of cost or how interest & especially how fast hidden fees would add up. October 2005, just months before my graduation, I remember there being news all over how the federal bankruptcy laws were changing - to no longer include even private student loan debt. I never had any intentions of filing bankruptcy in my life, so I paid all of this no mind In November my father died from cancer on the vocal cords, probably b/c he was stationed on Hawaii’s Johnston Atol 61-62 during the US Military’s nucular tests (Operation Dominic). After my graduation, I was left to pay all my loans off on my own w/o any help from anyone for anything. Summer of 2006, before the hike in interests on student loans, I filled out all the forms my local credit union required to consolidate “ALL” of my student loans, only to be given trouble by Sallie May, saying I didn’t complete 1 form or another. My local credit union was already aware of the big student loan companies pulling these tricks, but was pretty helpful. At 6 months after graduation I was employed, but come to find out Sallie May still owned most of my loan. Originally there were only 2 loans that I was aware of, but guess it’s legal for them to sell off portions of your loans in order to hang onto them. How this is legal??? Between the two companies who now held the largest portions of my multiple loans (not sure, but looks like I now have over 20 student loans according to the major credit bureaus), one of them alone was requiring me to pay them $2K/month. Yes, I had a decent job, but if I even took care of that 1 payment, I couldn’t afford to live, so I immediately started my own research - online & lots of local lawyers. No one seemed to know a whole lot about these issues at that time, but I gathered all I could. From there, in my situation, it looked like it was in my best interest not to have any contact w/any of these companies & instead of paying them what I could, to pay them nothing. These companies have hounded my family & friends for years… calling many of them multiple times a day, 8am - 8pm, some how even getting their cell phone numbers, threatening my friends & family for having any knowledge of my where abouts, even lying by misrepresenting themselves as possible friends & even job offers requesting info about me. Also, in 2006 I have found out Sallie May has been reporting my social security number as deceased to all the major credit bureaus. I have checked w/& worked w/my local city, county, & state governments, the Federal Social Security office, the Federal Trade Commission & the Federal Bureau of Consumer Protection. I have disputed this w/all the 3 major credit bureaus, had it reversed a total of 3 times gathering & submitting all the required paper work, only to have it once again, reversed by Sallie May. I cannot open a new bank account. I cannot apply for any new credit cards. I can apply for any type of auto loan, but in house w/SUPER high interest. I cannot get a cell phone in my name, unless it’s prepaid. I cannot just apply for ANY apartment or home loan. I have to hope, pray & beg landlords to work w/me & my situation, almost always paying them more cash up front just to get the place. After just 1 year after my graduation, I know I was to have owed around $124K. I collect but do not open any mail from student loan companies & haven’t for years… so this figure is way off Each year, I spend months, at another attempt at having my “deceased” status reversed, but each year it is always reversed again. Thanks to Sallie May. Let the laws be w/you.

Associates degree from Art Institute cost me $40K. My dad co-signed for me, & I took out $20K my first year & another $20K my 2nd year. Being a 1st generation college student I had no idea to check out other schools b/c of cost or how interest & especially how fast hidden fees would add up.

October 2005, just months before my graduation, I remember there being news all over how the federal bankruptcy laws were changing - to no longer include even private student loan debt. I never had any intentions of filing bankruptcy in my life, so I paid all of this no mind

In November my father died from cancer on the vocal cords, probably b/c he was stationed on Hawaii’s Johnston Atol 61-62 during the US Military’s nucular tests (Operation Dominic). After my graduation, I was left to pay all my loans off on my own w/o any help from anyone for anything.

Summer of 2006, before the hike in interests on student loans, I filled out all the forms my local credit union required to consolidate “ALL” of my student loans, only to be given trouble by Sallie May, saying I didn’t complete 1 form or another. My local credit union was already aware of the big student loan companies pulling these tricks, but was pretty helpful.

At 6 months after graduation I was employed, but come to find out Sallie May still owned most of my loan. Originally there were only 2 loans that I was aware of, but guess it’s legal for them to sell off portions of your loans in order to hang onto them. How this is legal???

Between the two companies who now held the largest portions of my multiple loans (not sure, but looks like I now have over 20 student loans according to the major credit bureaus), one of them alone was requiring me to pay them $2K/month. Yes, I had a decent job, but if I even took care of that 1 payment, I couldn’t afford to live, so I immediately started my own research - online & lots of local lawyers. No one seemed to know a whole lot about these issues at that time, but I gathered all I could. From there, in my situation, it looked like it was in my best interest not to have any contact w/any of these companies & instead of paying them what I could, to pay them nothing.

These companies have hounded my family & friends for years… calling many of them multiple times a day, 8am - 8pm, some how even getting their cell phone numbers, threatening my friends & family for having any knowledge of my where abouts, even lying by misrepresenting themselves as possible friends & even job offers requesting info about me.

Also, in 2006 I have found out Sallie May has been reporting my social security number as deceased to all the major credit bureaus. I have checked w/& worked w/my local city, county, & state governments, the Federal Social Security office, the Federal Trade Commission & the Federal Bureau of Consumer Protection.

I have disputed this w/all the 3 major credit bureaus, had it reversed a total of 3 times gathering & submitting all the required paper work, only to have it once again, reversed by Sallie May.

I cannot open a new bank account. I cannot apply for any new credit cards. I can apply for any type of auto loan, but in house w/SUPER high interest. I cannot get a cell phone in my name, unless it’s prepaid. I cannot just apply for ANY apartment or home loan. I have to hope, pray & beg landlords to work w/me & my situation, almost always paying them more cash up front just to get the place.

After just 1 year after my graduation, I know I was to have owed around $124K. I collect but do not open any mail from student loan companies & haven’t for years… so this figure is way off

Each year, I spend months, at another attempt at having my “deceased” status reversed, but each year it is always reversed again. Thanks to Sallie May. Let the laws be w/you.