What should I do about my what seems like a way overpaid stafford student loan?
I took out a $7500 stafford student loan at 7% interest from sallie mae in 1995. When I left college in 1996, I was not able to start paying. I put it in for a forberance on the loan and also hardships. As the years past, the loan has been sold a few times to other banks or corporations and has occured lots of interest. I am now under Nelnet Corporation and I didn’t start paying until I landed a decent job in 2004. The amount was now up to an outrageous $13,000.00. I’ve been paying $150 a month since 2004 and am current and all on time since then. I have chiseled it down to $5,500, the current balance now. I recently have been checking the status and was wondering if I have gotten screwed over the years for paying all this back. Is their any way to settle this amount? I have already paid the amount I have borrowed, its just this loan never goes away. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
This is what happens when you don’t pay on a loan for several years. The interest is added to the principal and then the next time the interest is amortized, you pay interest on the principal and the added interest. This makes it add up quickly.
This is how borrowing money works and how banks make money. You weren’t “&%*)*& over”. You would be in a lot worse shape with a different loan… like a car or a mortgage… not paying for all those years!!!!
No way to settle this. Trust me it WILL eventually go away. My advise is to pay as much as you can every month so more goes towards the principal. You are JUST now getting to a point to where the balance will start dropping more quickly.
Think of this as a life lesson. And the next time you want to borrow a car or mortgage a house, look more closely at the “truth in lending” statement you will sign. It will tell you EXACTLY how much you end up paying over the life of the loan because you chose to finance it.
Good luck!!
