Tuesday, July 5, 2016

New Jersey agency: Being murdered is no reason to forgive student loan

Miami Herald:   “Please accept our condolences on your loss,” a letter from that agency, the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, said. “After careful consideration of the information you provided, the authority has determined that your request does not meet the threshold for loan forgiveness. Monthly bill statements will continue to be sent to you.”

DeOliveira-Longinetti, who co-signed on the loans, was shocked and confused. But her experience with the authority, which runs by far the largest state-based student loan program in the country, is hardly an isolated one, an investigation by ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times, found.

16 comments:

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Never cosign a student loan.

Some Seppo said...

Never cosign a loan.

Leland said...

Agree with both above.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

OK, I'm going to be my usual hard hearted and practical self here. Yes. It is horrible to lose a child. The worst nightmare of any parent......BUT.

She signed a loan and is equally obligated. If her son had turned out to be a homeless dope addict, should we forgive the loan? If her son has an accident and can't work in his chosen field of study...she gets off free? Her son was murdered and we should forget about the money they BOTH borrowed? If the loan was for a car or house and her son was killed, she could sell the collateral and repay the loan. This is the danger of signing on ANY un-collateralized loan. She signed a legal document. Too bad.

I might also add that when you borrow money from a bank, it isn't the bank's money you are using. The money is that of the depositors in the bank. Banks can only lend up to a percentage of the "demand deposits". So, if you default on the bank loan, you are defaulting on all the depositors in the bank. IF the bank were to just forgive loans based on hard luck stories, the depositor's money would be lost and the bank goes out of business.

Same thing for a government loan or State loan. The money comes from the tax payers, who unwillingly in many cases are paying the taxes (unlike depositing money in a bank which is voluntary). Unlike a bank, though, a government can just rake in MORE money from the taxpayers. She is stiffing the taxpayers of the State that lent HER and her son the money.

It is sad. Life is sad. Think carefully before you chose.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

DBQ: Which is why you should never cosign a loan.

ndspinelli said...

Someone here understands tough love.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ Evi

True....never cosign a loan unless you are fully prepared to pay it back all by yourself. Not EVEN for family.

A loan with some collateral provides you, the cosigner, with some protection. You can sell the collateral and get some of the money to pay the loan back that way.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

By forgiving the loan, it just means we all have to pay it back. Is that right? I am sorry for her loss, but never cosign a loan.

Leland said...

My wife and I don't even co-sign on our loans (exception is our second home after 15 years of marriage). Then again, that's the only debt we have, but we had debt in the past.

ndspinelli said...

There are few debts that cannot be discharged by either Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy. Student loans are one of those that cannot be discharged. I have worked many cases on another debt not eligible to be discharged. That is a civil judgement resulting from a criminal act. So, if someone injures or kills another person via a DUI, rape, assault, etc. and the victim sues and wins a judgement, that remains in place no matter what. Of course, back taxes owed to the govt. cannot be discharged. The govt. always takes care of themselves.

I cosigned on our daughters first car loan. I had no trepidation and it was paid timely, which I knew would happen. Could something bad happened and I be on the hook. Of course, something bad can always happen. There is risk in everything we do. But, one analyzes and assesses the risk. Cosigning a car loan for a very responsible child just starting her credit history is a slight risk I was more than willing and happy to do. Never say never.

Methadras said...

There has to be very serious circumstances for a student loan to be forgiven or set aside. Once of the chief complaints about the student loan system is that it doesn't carry the same rights as does regular monetary law with respect to bankruptcy or death. But you see, this was the same argument that homosexuals were making about their lack of certain rights because they were homosexuals, but where there is pliability in terms of letting homosexuals get extra rights through judicial activism, there is very little political movement to see student loan debt move under the auspices of regular monetary law and oh is there going to be a fight about that if the special snowflakes try it.

The Dude said...

Since we are no longer a nation of laws, then let me be snarktastic and suggest that both mother and dead son are still qualified and willing democrat voters.

Am I pissed? Yes I am. So sue me.

Synova said...

You get forgiven your OWN loans if you die. The loans your parents foolishly took out in their own name are their own loans. They don't belong to the student.

The lesson there is... don't take out "parent" student loans. Just don't.

ndspinelli said...

Are Julie Pascal and Synova sisters, cousins?

Synova said...

It's just me. Same person. I'm not sure why I get logged in as one or another.

ndspinelli said...

Thanks. I think your Julie photo is better, but the camera doesn't have much to work w/!!!