The US Department of Education Garnished me for over $5,000 last year on top of that because I forgot about another loan that wasn’t consolidated in into the garnished they took my tax refund too which was $2800. So basically over $7,000 of my income went to the US Department of education. most of it for a loan that’s over 13 years old. FFEL loans mind you that do not even exist anymore. I’m afraid to strike at this time because I already went on strike and now I’m struggling to take care of my daughter because of last year’s loss! Mind you, not one bit of the education that I received contributed to my current income today. Also, Ive worked for a non-profit agency for about 19 years and did not know that I would have qualified and completed the Public Loan Forgiveness program years ago!
That’s a shame. I feel bad for you. The federal government strikes fear into our hearts. My wife is in a state of anxiety over my decision to pay or not pay back my loan. Even if you had applied for and ‘qualified’ for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, recent investigations into this program have revealed that less than 2% of debtors who fully met the conditions had their loans forgiven. It’s a scam and a scandal that the current people in charge seem to care not a whit about.
Hi @scpalmer99,
We are not encouraging people to default. We are encouraging people to protect themselves and reduce their payments as much as possible. You can learn more here: Protecting Yourself from Creditors and Collectors While on Strike
Based on your brief description above, it sounds like at least some of your loans were recently in default. Is that still the case?
In terms of PSLF you can still enroll, but it requires you to be in the right kind of repayment plan. Depending on what repayment plan you have been on, it might be possible for some of those payments to be counted as qualifying payments towards PSLF if you file an employer certification form.