Hello!
Thanks for reading.
I got my MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, which is going out of business due to Covid-19. The school has a massive debt of its own.
My original loans were with Citibank, who sold them (or transfer) to SallieMae and Great Lakes. The private loans then got sold from SallieMae to Navient, my current lender.
My understanding is that buyers get my debt for a few cents to the dollar of the original amount. Also, for what I understand, the transfer paperwork from one to another is messy because they buy bundles of debt, and they may not be able to prove they own it.
So, I would like to dig into this mess and see if I can cancel my debt. At least that of my private loans, or find out how much they paid for it, and pay that amount only.
I am not sure if this information matters, but my loans are on an income sensitive repayment plan, and have never been late.
I was reading through the posts, and people mentioned that the schools they attended didn’t exist anymore, which is helping them because now there is no record of their transcripts.
My questions are:
Does the process help with private loans?
If they prove that they own them, can I still find the amount they paid for it and reduce my debt?
If I am going through the trouble of canceling one, should I do it with both of my lenders, Great Lakes, and Navient, and try to cancel both debts?
Should I wait for the school to be completely closed?
Thanks for reading. Any information, encouragement, or success stories will be helpful.
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I’m in such a similar boat. I started at SF AI and finished school at Seattle AI which closed down a few years back. Also very similar debt sales… I’m super interested to hear any recommendations folks have. I borrowed 63K and after being laid off multiple times from my project based field and having to forebear my loans the capitalized interest and 11.6% interest rate have resulted in my owing 124K.
I’ve also paid 32K, almost none of which has applied to principle.
So… Yes, would dearly love advice! 