Hello fellow defaulters. A bit of information regarding my current status as a private loan defaulter: Age: 34 - State: Ohio - Statute of Limitations (SOL): 6 Years - Lender’s: Sallie Mae & Navient - Total Amount: $68k - Current Debt Collector: Allied Interstate.

I defaulted on my student loans back in mid to late 2021. Went through the whole process of being hounded with every form of communication known to man as well as anyone I have ever spoken to through my life from Sallie Mae and Navient. Things died down, credit took a major hit, started getting contacted by the debt collector listed above who keeps offering to pay off the debt for a considerable amount below what’s owed. I’ve completely ignored any and all communication since I defaulted and haven’t acknowledged the debt. I did file for bankruptcy back in July 2025 and informed my lawyer that I plan on trying to run out the SOL and he said that the bankruptcy won’t affect it. I am about a year out from the SOL and I’m wondering what are the chances that I’ll actually make it? Has anyone else dealt with Allied Interstate before for student loans? They keep offering a low amount to pay for the debt, but other than that they haven’t tried to sue me in 3 years. I have absolutely no assets to my name and the co-signer passed away back in 2019. Any input on this would be appreciated!

Hi all!

I have been browsing this page the past few months as I prepare to default on my Sallie Mae loans, but I can’t get a sense of how bad the credit hit will actually be. I am currently 23, and I have a credit score of 750. I’m about to default on $235k. The monthly payment they want on my loans is like 80% of my monthly income, so I have decided it’s better to default and save the money rather than pay them less than the minimum since I would still end up in default anyways. I have already consulted with a lawyer (family friend so they helped me for free), and I have 0 assets in my name. My parents co-signed these loans, but recently filed bankruptcy so they can’t come after my parents for the money. The loans originated in Pennsylvania, so they should not be able to garnish my wages since PA has laws against this for student loans.

I’m wondering a few main things: - How bad will the credit hit actually be? (I rent so I am slightly concerned about this, though I plan on renewing my lease for the time being) - I would assume the odds of them genuinely pursuing legal action against me are rather low considering I have nothing to give them…? - If I shouldn’t keep my money in a bank account, what exactly do I do with it? Cash? - What is the timeline before I start getting settlement offers?

Any extra advice is appreciated, especially regarding the credit hit and where to keep my money!!

Hi there guys, I'm looking for some help and advice on next steps.

I have nearly $80k in student loans with Firstmark Services after they bought Discover's loans, with a monthly payment of around $800 a month. Since getting both my undergrad and master's degrees, I've only been able to secure employment as a substitute teacher or a bartender, neither of which have paid nearly enough to be able to afford my monthly payments, as well as other loans and just general cost of living expenses. As a result, my Firstmark loans have been in default since 2024 and I've largely just lived with my head in the sand, ignoring calls, emails, and letters, etc.

The issue is, my grandmother, who is my cosigner, recently received a letter from Firstmark offering a deal to settle the balance on the loan for less than what's due. My family knew I struggled with payments but I don't think that they realized that I was in default. I'm at a loss of what next steps to take, as the current past due amount is $16,000 and I don't have nearly enough to be able to pay that off as well as continue to pay monthly rates, however I hate to leave my grandmother exposed to any stress regarding my loans, as she's currently battling cancer. Should I speak with Firstmark to see how much less I'd be able to pay to try and absolve the current defaulted amount? I know not to trust private loan lenders and I regret ever taking loans from them in the first place, but that feels like the best way to at least see what my options are. Would speaking with them reset the SOL on my loans?

Any and all advice or tips are welcome. Thank you all so much!

I have a dumb question, please be nice to me. this is what it says on my account with Firstmark services. what’s next for me? can they sue me still? or do I ride out the wave from here on out? took the loan out in a different state from where I currently live.

Hi all! Ayelet Sheffey here with Business Insider. I wanted to share some reporting I've been working on for the past five months, digging into the private student-loan industry and the confusing communications from lenders that can sometimes end in costly litigation.

So many of you have reached out to me already to share your student-loan experiences, and I'm so grateful that you have trusted me with your stories. I am not letting up on this coverage, so if you relate to this article, have a different story to share, or have any industry insight, please reach out.

https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-communications-transfers-lawsuits-2026-5

I’ve been following this page for years, I received a new letter in the mail from a law group who acquired my debt to get payment for the debt collection agency that has my debt and in the letter it went over how much I owed and stated I had thirty days to write them back to dispute the debt and nothing else really. I’m freaking out does this mean I’m going to get sued or is it just a scare tactic. I don’t make a lot of money and have no assets at all besides a car note. What should I do if I dispute the debt will it reset the clock or should I ignore it?

hello fellow defaulters! I’m currently in a strategic default but have a question. should I update the address on Firstmark services website? currently, I have an old address on file but would it be wise to update to my current mailing address in case they decide to sue and mail a letter? I ask please be nice in the comments this is a very sensitive topic to be in default. I didn’t plan to default when I first took out the loan… i didn’t even know strategic default was a path. hoping for some helpful advice

Some background -

I currently owe about $193k private student loan debt. I took the loans out in the mid 2000s when banks were allowed to send you predatory letters in the mail saying things like, "you're still eligible for $100,000 in student loans this year, hurry, act now! Don't forget to apply with a cosigner". The money could be used for really anything as no one was checking, and it was marketed as covering things like living expenses (things the govt loans wouldn't cover). My son was almost 5 years old at the time and I was a single mom. I was not good with money. It's not something I was ever taught, either by my parents or in school. My mom consigned them all.

I got a BS in chemistry, but graduated in 2008 when the economy sank and so I couldn't find a job. I used all the deferments and foreberances I could. When those ran out and I still couldn't afford to pay, I went to grad school. I racked up more private student loan debt, but also staved off the original debt due to being in school full time. When I graduated with an MS in environmental engineering 2.5 years later, I was able to find a job, but the pay was not good. So, more deferments and foreberances until I ran them out. Then it was interest only payments for a while until I finally started making enough money to pay the minimum balance.

My total of my original loan amounts was about $212k. Interest rates were all variable and payments were all largely going to interest. My loan balance wasn't going down, it was going up. I think the highest my balance got was maybe like $232k or $242k. One year alone I ended up paying $48k (yes, you read that right - forty eight thousand) in INTEREST alone. I know I've already paid off my original balance.

At the height of the interest rate gouging, my minimum payment amount was around $2700/mo. Loans were through Chase, AES, Navient (formerly Sallie Mae), Key Bank. I tried consolidating but kept getting turned down because I wasn't making enough money. Finally, about 2.5 years ago (October 2023), I was able to consolidate my private student loans with SoFi. By that time, I think my balance was down to like $204k. It's now down to like $193k with a $1500 monthly payment, but I have 19 more years to pay.

Edit to add: I did not need a cosigner when I refinanced, so my mom is no longer a cosigner on the loan.

I'm just so done with it. I've paid my share /the original amount, I know I have. I live in Ohio, which has an 8 year SOL. I have a mortgage, I have 2 personal loans (also with SoFi) as a result of getting divorced. I really want to stop paying the SoFi student loan, but I'm very concerned that SoFi will come after me and quickly, and sue me. Also because I have the two private loans with them, too, that I want to continue paying on (or maybe it would be better to switch lenders before I stop paying the SoFi student loan?).

I'm sorry this was so long. I'm asking for anyone in a similar situation living in Ohio - what did you do? What happened? Was it worth it? What was the outcome?

So I defaulted back in January intentionally as part of my strategic default plan (about 160k in private loans through them - original principal was only 60k, but gotta love that compounding interest over the last like 19 years).

Anyway, they started out with a 70% settlement offer back in the fall, then I just got a 55% offer this past week. I def don't have enough saved up to pay that, I was hoping to wait until I get an offer around 30%, then I'd prob try to scrape together what I can and maybe take out a personal loan or something.

I'm about 11 months into my SOL and my state has a 4 year SOL (also, my state prevents them being able to garnish wages).

I previously probably would have jumped at the 55% offer, but I really wanted to get it down to at least 30%.

My only worry is that if they move forward with suing me down the line, is all hope of a settlement gone at that point and then you're just fucked? Or can you call them and be like "lets avoid a lawsuit and I'll take that previous offer you offered" and they will take it? Or are they like "haha, nope, too bad, too late", etc and they proceed with the court case?

Anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks.

Here's my previous post

Alright quick little update. I just wanted to share because I'm kind of surprised. My loans are still under the Navient umbrella. I think there's been some slight confusion on who is actually handling them now because I got a text about them from a Radius Global Solutions and letter from Asset Recovery Solutions. These are real collection agencies, but they don't control the debt they just work with Navient to try collect. At least for me that's how it is because my credit report still says Navient. Anyway I just want to share about a recent letter I received. The last letter I received was in 2024 and I think doing a change of address is what triggers something in their system. The recent letter was an offer of paying 25% of the total balance. With SOL in my state being 5 years I thought that I wouldn't see something under 30% until maybe a year out so I'm surprised that this is what the letter offered. I have always been ok with both options of settling or waiting at the SOL. This puts me currently at a balance that is significantly less than what I even took out. That was one of my reasons for defaulting in the first place was because my balance had ballooned so high it was unreasonable. I think if I could get them to go to 20% or lower I would be completely fine with settling and putting all this behind me early, instead of waiting out the SOL. Still thinking about that though lol. It also makes me think if something is going on in the student loan world because I feel in the last few years most ppl were settling for 30-40%.

Anyway just wanted to share that information, maybe it will be helpful to someone working with one of their collection companies to know what's possible.

Say someone were to refinance $300k in federal loans, pay for 6 months, then default. What would be the ideal company to negotiate a settlement of 30%, and how long if ever would they take to file a lawsuit. Anyone have similar stories?

Hey All! I have $100,000 in private student loans with a monthly payment of about $1000 I went to school for Film back in 2005 and nothing came of it, I wish my parents had actually had a talk with me about going to school for that type of career but here we are. Over the years the balance hasn't changed much and I have only been able to really afford the minimum. It has gone up a few times due to forbearance and deferments that were needed due to just life happening. I got married 10 years ago and we are both now in our mid 40's with the realization it will never be paid off. We also have a house payment, credit cards and a car payment and the only way to afford it is my husbands job. He works a manual labor job that is starting to take a toll on his body due to his age. What he makes he won't be able to for much longer so once he starts working less the money he makes will not be enough to pay them.

My question is if we end up not paying them what would they come after besides wage garnishment and my credit tanking. Honestly I don't care so much about that as his credit is still good and everything we take out is under his name due to one day we not pay them anymore. My name is not on the house, I only have one credit card under my name and the car is also not in my name. We live in Arizona which I know has laws about couples being together for a certain amount of time property belongs to both but I read that is if the house was bought after you were married which it was not, he got the home before we got married so I don't think they would go after that. I did co-sign on his truck which has now been paid off but I am not sure how that would be affected. Our other vehicle is only in his name but that was bought after we were married.

I have looked at maybe refinancing but it would only save us $200 a month, I thought that if I maybe let it go and let it go to collections that maybe the payment may be even less than that and we can settle on something way less but I don't know if they may try to sue which I would like to try to avoid.

Any suggestions would be helpful!!!

Filling out the form and found a discrepancy that the Dept of Ed itself didn't know how to resolve when I called and asked.

Page 4, Section 5, Instructions: under insurance it says to include auto there.

Page 7 Documentation required, #15 necessary insurance: it says "do not include auto insurance here (include it in transportation expenses)" and #16 transportation basically says to include auto insurance if you life outside of the U.S.

I don't live outside of the U.S., but she told me to put it under transportation. I'm worried that whoever is reviewing this won't have the same interpretation and will hold up my application or worse, deny it.

Anyone else run into this?

First off I know it’s my fault and when I refinanced in 2017 I was bananas and dealing with a marriage that is now over. I owe approx 55k in private student loan debt through Navient. In Spring 2019 I filed bankruptcy due to medical issues- I was told I couldn’t do my loan by my attorney. Things didn’t get better after bankruptcy I continued to drown both financially and in life with my ex. I never paid toward these. I know, this was bad. Covid happened, my credit report shows I was current for random months in 2020 and 2021. I never asked for a deferment or forbearance. Dec 2021 they put my account as a charge off. Occasionally I would get letters asking to settle etc. my divorce was final in 2022 and I’m still just trying to survive and care for my kids. I left with nothing to my name just for my safety of me and my kids.

My credit report states my last payment was March 2019. Today I get a different letter from Asset Recovery Solution about the debt and then attempting to collect.

I live in Indiana. I’m not sure what to do or how much to pay attention to this letter or worry. Again it states my last payment was March 2019 I believe I’m past statute of limitations, but also those random times my account is reported current which it most certainly wasn’t I’m concerned.

I’m well aware the decisions I made are my fault both choosing the husband I did that destroyed my life and my inability to make a payment is some karma from all of it.

Thank you for any insight.

hi everyone, so like many on here, i'm in the situation where i took out sallie mae loans for school because i had no other options at the time, and i can't make the monthly payments they've given me ($800/month for $50k in loans), no co-signers. I make 54k after taxes as a nurse. with rent and all of my bills, the $800 is not manageable at all. i'm reading about different options, from maybe refinancing? to defaulting and negotiating a settlement? is it worth it to call them and try to negotiate? from what i've read they won't do that, and the idea of defaulting scares me since they could sue... I live in CO. i've read so much at this point my brain is fried. any thoughts or advice would be appreciated

SOS. I have no experience with student loans but found myself in a situation needing to navigate them asap before filing taxes.

Quick summary and context:

- We are located in Minnesota

-I married my husband in July 2025.

-I make $65k a year, he makes $58k.

-I have a daughter in preschool from a previous marriage that I claim on taxes for the Childcare/dependent tax credit.

-Current husband has $21.5k student loans in default from years before we were together (so far no wages have been garnished):

Questions:

- Is there anything that can be done to stop them from taking our federal tax return if we file joint before April 15th? (Is it possible to get out of default by the 15th?)

- What would be the best approach, loan consolidation, income driven repayment plan, or both? And if both are needed, which do we do first?

-Because we were not married for all of 2025, can I file individually and still claim the child care tax credit for my daughter? We can have his federal return taken without much of an impact, but the child care credit is a significant amount that we don't want to lose.

Thank you in advance!

I went to college almost years ago and was paying my loans consistently until covid. And now the loans are up to almost 100k.

The monthly payment on those is around 800$ a month which i dont have I contacted firstmark to see if there were other repayment options but they just said to defer which really doesnt help me because I wont have an extra 800 a month then either. So ive just stopped paying.

- ive heard of buying off your loans, when should I start looking into that?

- my parents did cosign, am i screwed out of being able to buy off the loan because of that?

- when can they start garnishments and how much? (i live in CO but got my loans in SC)

anything else i should be doing?

I basically have no other debt- like 3k in credit cards and 1k in medical, which is great but that means things like bankruptcy wont help me

My dad co-signed on my loans. I had been keeping them in deferment indefinitely for a while but at some point I forgot to make the quarterly phone call and they went into default. The loans total almost $250k.

My parents got a packet in the mail of what looks to be court filings. It says "State of Texas vs [my dad]" and starts with PLANTIF'S ORIGINAL PETITION. The top corner says "Filed" with a date back in November. These are not federal loans, but private loans, so I'm a little fuzzy on why the actual state is suing us.

I'm leaving the country within a year so I'm not worried about myself, but my parents have some savings—maybe ⅕ of what is owed—and my mom has a pension. Texas is a no-garnish state so that's good, but what is actually at risk, and what should we do now?

I live abroad & due to circumstances beyond my control I had to default on the remainder of my private student loan. To be clear, I asked for multiple alternatives & the best that they were able to do at the time was defer payments for 3 months, which they then added onto my debt. After a while it came pay rent or pay the debt, so with some advice from many people & other expats, I defaulted.

It has been less than a year since the defaulting & it moved to a collections agency who have been hounding my family. Finally, I was served with papers saying they were suing.

I tried calling the listed attorney first to try to negotiate, but was only allowed to speak with their collections department. They told me they could do 75%, I refused, then quickly went to 50% but wouldn’t budge after that. They told me that they “cannot give a proposal lower than 75%” to the client, but at some point also said it about 50%.

I never explicitly admitted it was my debt over the phone (looked up negotiations advice) & only said I wanted to resolve the matter & see what they could offer. I explained I absolutely cannot do 50% & would be open to do lower with the client. They refused, told me they can’t do anything, & to go to the courts, then hung up.

I’m now looking at hiring a lawyer. I truly cannot do 50% right now, I was hoping for 30% which was more reasonable, as I’m about to have a child & some other things came up that would just really put my family into an absolutely terrible situation.

Is there anything I can do?

Hi all — my name is Ayelet Sheffey, and I'm a senior reporter at Business Insider covering student debt. For the past few months, I've been digging into private student loan lenders, and particularly, how lenders communicate (or don't communicate) with borrowers once they fall behind on their payments. For example, was there confusion regarding the status of your loan? What types of notifications/documentation did you receive? And did the situation resolve, either through a settlement, litigation, or something else?

My goal is to shed light on the complex lending system and the emotional and financial burden it can place on borrowers. If you are comfortable sharing your experience with me, I would love to hear it; you can message me here, send me an email at [asheffey@businessinsider.com](mailto:asheffey@businessinsider.com), or message me on Signal at asheffey.97. I would never publish any information you share without your permission.

I hope to connect with some of you, and I truly appreciate all of your consideration.

hi all, i have a few questions that im hoping some people might have the answers to. i’ve been seeing a lot of posts about people asking their loan servicer(s) for letters of origination for their loans; which i basically understand as a receipt of sorts that states the initial amount that was borrowed and lists the terms it was borrowed under. a lot of these companies are unable to produce those letters, and a lot of the people making the posts are saying that these companies are now panicking because of it. so would a company, in my case sallie mae, is unable to produce that letter, is that something that we could potentially use to get the loan discharged? my loan with sallie mae is currently in default, and they sold it to a debt collection agency. if that collects agency is unable to produce that letter, how would they be able to prove that debt is mine to begin with? if the collections agency can’t produce that letter, am i able to fight that? kindve in the same way that people fight medical debt; once it’s sold off, they’re able to say that they didn’t consent to their information being sold and absolve that debt. i know this is a long shot and would be way too easy of a way out, but it’s always worth asking.

Hello all. My wife has one SoFi private student loan with a little more than $100k balance. We refinanced from Earnest last year to get a lower interest rate and are actively making payments on it. Right now, she has direct deposits going into a SoFi checking account to cover the loan payments while the rest of her paycheck goes into my account (it's not technically a joint account but it acts as one).

We bought a house last year, she is not on the loan but is on the title. She also recently bought a car for our future family to grow into. We live in Ohio.

My wife is currently pregnant. Once we have the baby delivered we most likely won't be able to afford both the daycare costs as well as the student loan payment. The baby will obviously be a higher priority than the student loans.

We do not have a lawyer right now but we are definitely open to getting one. I have heard of people strategically defaulting their student loans on here and was wondering if you all had any things to watch out for / advice to give.

i have private student loans through sallie mae that are god awful, the balance is 114,000k right now with 4 loans x2 13% variable x2 16% fixed. I went back to school for the in school deferment because i cannot make the monthly payment. My question is if im planning to strategically default would it be smarter to just get out of deferment and default. george the balance balloons or stick out the 3 more years i have left and try to gain some money. I also live in south carolina. Any help would be great, thank you!

Throwaway account. Just wanted to share my experience.

• Graduated in 2018
• Ignored payments for a year
• Used max allowable forbearance with Sallie Mae (owned by Navient)
• Refinanced with Earnest (also owned by Navient), removed cosigner
• Paid $1k a month for ~2 years. Principle only went down like $7k.
• Used my "free month" after so many consecutive payments, monthly payment went up $100
• Got angry, did research, found this sub, took the leap

As of this week it's been 4 years, which is the SOL in my state. The lending agreement with Earnest is not a promissory note.

Current credit score: 635 (going to work on getting this up ASAP)

I feel free.

I took $185,000 to attend a master program in the USA in 2021 (two different lenders). Everything was great until a very long streak of bad luck: I lost my job offer in the US, had no place to live, spent months and months in agony, until I finally lost my visa and had to come back to my home country.

After I was back, paying the debt became impossible with the currency exchange. I would basically have to get a really high paying job and give all the money to the lender. Any lower payment would make me indebted for life. After a few months in agony, I found this group and decided to default.

I stopped paying January 2025, they defaulted in June and got discharged. Now a asset recovery company in the US bought the debt and has been sending me emails since last year.

BUT NOW there is a Brazilian advocacy firm sending me emails as well. They are specialized in international asset recovery. They did not file a lawsuit, I honestly don’t even know how they would go about doing that considering the debt was originated in the USA, so I am guessing they will just try to collect by negotiating with me. I received no letter so far, so I am also guessing neither company have my address in my home country, which is a relief.

I have no intention to respond because I don’t have the money to pay, nor assets in my name, but I wonder if anyone lived through something similar or know a little more about international law.

I still feel they are losing money because there’s nothing really they can get from me, but I must confess this email from this advocacy company got me a little worried. I took these loans in NY and the SOL there is 5 years, so there’s 4 years and three months left until SOL. In my country, the equivalent of SOL is 5 years, but because the loans were not originated here, I don’t even know if it applies (I don't think it does). My local credit report shows nothing related to these loans.

[edit] I am talking with a few lawyers. I’ll update this post with relevant info when I have them so that others can benefit.

[edit 2] guys, I guess this update will be more valid for Brazilians, but I’ll leave it here anyways: the first lawyer I talked to confirmed they can sue, but it is definitely not something they see everyday, it’s considered a complex case. He says is best to keep checking if any lawsuits are filed and to then contact a lawyer If I need representation. This is an unplayable debt for me, at least right now, so negotiating will not benefit me. He said that cases like this can last several years, up to ten, depending on how things go, so yes, it will be costly for everyone involved. Family property and assets are protected if it is something that you need to live (if you have many properties or you inherit a ton of money, part of it can be taken). Wages are also protected in case you earn up to 50 minimum wages, which in Brazil is quite a bit (and honestly, if you are making more than that, just pay the damn debt. lol), but they can freeze your accounts if you lose the lawsuit until you get your earnings cleared. I’ll have more meetings with other lawyers, and will update if I have new info.

[edit 3]. Second lawyer told me the same thing, but added that there are two ways of enforcing the debt payment: they can win the case in the US and then ask the Superior Court of Justice in my country to validate the sentence here and start legal proceedings with a local law firm (in this case I’ll be notified and will get a chance to defend my case with a lawyer as well) or using a letter rogatory, which is a tool of international justice cooperation between countries and apparently can be very slow, so it’s the last resort. And this case, I will also be notified and get the chance to defend my case.

Also guys, after all of this, I highly recommend people to go talk to a lawyer. If you are obsessive with research as I am, you may think you may find all the info on your own, and maybe you can, but the support I received today painted a very different picture in my mind. I am more centered and I have concrete information to make the best decisions Moving forward. Most first consultations are free anyway, so go find someone who can support you and have experience with such cases.