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What You Should Know About Student Loan Debt Collection

Most people who graduate from college or who undertake postgraduate work wind up with a mounting burden of student loans

. When you're fresh out of college, it's difficult to get a job that pays well and even more difficult to repay your student loans. Years after you've graduated, you may find yourself in default and on the receiving end of calls from debt collection agencies.

This is because the federal government outsources its debt collection to private collection agencies. These are the same companies that routinely harass consumers when trying to collect on other types of debt, such as cell phone bills, medical bills, and credit card bills. It's not surprising, then, that these debt collection agencies can cross the line into illegal or unethical collection practices.

It's important to note that debt collection agencies that collect on government student loans are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This means that they are prohibited from engaging in certain behaviors, such as:

* Calling you at unreasonable hours of the day or night (usually before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.), unless you've asked them to

* Calling your friends, colleagues, or family members and disclosing that you owe a debt

* Sending you postcards that indicate that you owe a debt

* Tacking on service charges or collection charges that aren't part of the original debt or interest

* Calling you to the point of harassment (generally more than twice a week)

* Threatening to take legal action when they're not intending to do so

If you're behind in your student loan payments and a debt collection agency is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have every right to sue the debt collector. The FDCPA is in place to protect you from abusive collection practices, and suing the collector is one way to keep them in line. A fair debt attorney should take your case for free, as the FDCPA says that the debt collection agency must pay your attorney fees if it is at fault.

The federal government does try and minimize debt collector abuse through the way that they award contracts to debt collectors. The Department of Education awards contracts on a quarterly basis, according to a scoring matrix that takes into account successful collections as well as the behavior of debt collectors. Nevertheless, collectors often use any means necessary to collect a debt.

A final bit of advice: The Department of Education's debt collection manual says that collection agencies may accept 90% of the amount owed as payment in full. In other words, if you're in a position to repay your delinquent student loan, be aware that you can pay 90 cents on the dollar and the debt collection agency will take it. You have negotiating power, so remember to use it!

by: Sergei Lemberg
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What You Should Know About Student Loan Debt Collection