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mpan · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan

I am paying back large student loans and my minimum payments are about 18000 nt/month (about 600$ but when the exchange is crazy and my bank taking money for recieving the wire transfer it usually works if i send 18k and i have about 20 $ left in my account after the vultures swoop in)... i have been here for a couple of years and i cna never get ahead .... i have had a lot of really bad work experiences and been screwed over more than once ... when ever i get back on my feet and catch up on the loans something else happens ... blah blah blah ... I would like to know what is going to happen to me if i stop paying them. Does anyone out there know? I do plan on going back to Canada one day but not soon ... i will also probably go teach in hong kong for the NET program where it is a solid steady paycheque. I need to get on my feet and get some savings .. I have been living a very meager lifestyle for the last couple of years ..... i live paycheque to paycheque and i am always broke and never have any emergency money.... if something happens to me i don't even have the money to fly to HK ... i have not bought anything other than a motorcycle for transportation and it is my enterainment on the weekends riding in the mountains ... i have done absolutely no traveling ... one time around the island at chinese new year but that is literally "it". the last few months have been particularly frustrating and i have had it .... i got screwwed by the banks in Canada ( i owed 44000 CND when igot here ...after keeping up with my payments for two years i have payed about 2000$ canadian) i ahve four students one federal and one provincial with the RBC and one federal and one provincial with the student loans centre of ontario because in the middle of my degree the banks decided that it was not worth their time to administrate the loans .... even though they kept the 100 million $ the gov gave them to do it ... hence four loans ... i am paying nothig but interest because each loan is already at the minimum allowable payment... if i don't pay at least 30-40k NT a month all i am doing is prolonging this for the rest of my life ... i want to go back to school and do a masters but lately i can barely feed myslef ... and i seem to be working all the time .... I have looked for websites that i can get some legal advice in ontario but legal aid doesn't give advice in email ... i can't get interest relief if ia m not in the country .... and if i go back there is nothign i can do to take care of theese payments ... anyone who has dealt with this or has a link to a site that tell me what my options are I would greatly appreciate it .... because i am done with living like this ... for now i have decided to just stop sending money until i can get some savings behind me and go from there

mpan · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan

soory one more thing ... i have also tried to never work kindy here ... i don't like working in a place that can get me deported ... and it is always a possiblity ... just in case people start talking about all the money they are making and how great their life is .... i work hard and have never been fired froma job but i don't get to make all the money a lot of other do here because i have never wanted to risk getting the boot .... i know everyone does it but i felt i could not take that chance ....

BigWally · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:54 pm Post subject:

your risk would be the same as if you default on any loans...i would strongly advise against not paying, because if you every go back to Canada, you will never be able to get a mortgage, car loan, credit card, line of credit, etc., etc.

one idea that you could try, would be to consolidate your debt into a line of credit....rather than having 4 loans, open a line of credit with your bank, and pay off all the loans at once...then you only have one monthly payment to make (the line of credit) and typically, a line of credit has a nice interest rate, usually something like prime + 1%....i've paid off about $2750 on my line of credit this year because I consolidated my student loans...and banked another $500 or so into my RRSP...

debt consolidation is one of the number one tips given by any financial advisor, especially if you have a number of loans/credit cards....

mpan · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan

thanks for the thought wally ... as far as i know you can not consolidate student loans in Canada. Are you from the states? i know you can do it there .... but because student loans in canada follow you for the rest of your life i don't think it is an option for me. My father has asked his accountant in Canada about that and i was told it was not posssible. Even if bankrupcy is declared student loans never go away. I know a few people that declared after they graduated and got it wiped and i think too many were doing so. They made it law in my first year of university that student loans will never be wiped.

thewileycoyote · Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 31

I am not an expert but I think I read somewhere that you can default on student loans after 10 years.

I just did a quick google search, this page looks very helpful:

http://sfas.mcmaster.ca/gradosap.html#loanforgive

Even though this site is for McMaster the general information should be the same for all university students. I hope it helps.

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

You have to make a realistic assessment of your financial situation. Sorry to counter Wally but, given your current debt load-- and future prospects of continued weighty debt loads, I'd say you have very little use for the kinds of credit services that may be lost if you discontinue paying student loans. Loss of potential future credit (that can easily be rebuilt) is little disincentive to getting yourself out of an unworkable situation.

As far as going away, student loans have something called "stats barred" limitations. After a period of non communication and non payment, they are not legally able to pursue the debts anymore, not that there is much that can be done when someone simply has no ability to pay. As such, student loans cannot pursue you forever. I believe there's a very good site called www.canadastudentdebt.ca or something similar with info very useful to people in your situation.

Make decisions that will allow you to get on your feet.

BigWally · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject:

thanks for proving me wrong...if it helps someone out then no harm is done Wink

mpan · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan

thanks a lot for your replies .... hey Taoyuan steve ... i loooked at that website and it is exactly what i need ... has a bunch of links and advice and itis all about what i am going through right now .... i can't beleive i never found it when i was searching for stuff ... the banks can kiss my butt .... i know i signed on the dotted line because i wanted to go to school .... but 8.5 % is criminal and i am not paying just so shareholders can be appeased ... there should be a reasonable solution to this but i am not putting myself in peril anymore so others can get rich off my struggle ... thanks again all

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

You're very welcome for the link. There are loads of people in your situation: decent people who tried to get an education only to be crippled by the debt load. You are a responsible person and tried to pay back your loans, but it just wasn't sustainable and created hardship for you. You need to look after yourself and get on your feet. It looks like you considered all angles and tried to make a go of it before reaching your decision. Good luck to you.

Psst-Rolex? · Joined: 24 May 2007 Posts: 12

mpan.. here is additional Food For Thought. This assumes you don't own real estate, although, this would still be possible but much more difficult. I'm going to say the ''B''- Word..Bankruptcy. Here's some details for you. This isn't the huge tragedy the Banks and lenders want you to believe it is, especially in Canada,(and we are conditioned to fear this). Simply put, You could find a B- lawyer in Canada. They will charge you no fee and take care of filing all paperwork and notifying the lenders to get off your back. It is then illegal for a lender or collection agency to call you. You would need to file an expense report and income proof. The law requires you to make a Token payment for nine months and file poof of income for each of the nine months. The amount is determined by the B-lawyer. There is room to negotiate with the B-lawyer. Remember, during the nine months if you can't make the agreed payment amount, inform the B-lawyer you can't pay the full amount and why. If they try to pressure you don't be intimidate, you are already bankrupt!!. After nine months you are free and clear. 2 years after being freed from the Big 'B' you need to file with Trans Union and Equifax to have it removed from your Credit record. Then if you do go back to Canada, your ability to get credit would be identical to getting credit for a first time borrower. Also, keep in mind that during the 9 months of the 'B', you legally can not apply for credit. BUT, as you don't live in Canada right now, other countries will rarely (almost never) look into your credit history in Canada if you apply for a loan in their country. Also, you are allowed to keep approx. 10000 CDN in assets eg, laptop, stereo, TV etc. and you need to have 2 credit 'Learning Lessons'' in the nine month period with your chosen B-lawyer.

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

Psst-Rolex? · Joined: 24 May 2007 Posts: 12

Excellent info Steve..as with all things though, this situation presents many ways to work it. Right now it is, correctly stated, 7 years after graduation to use the Big-B for student loans. And if a person filed for the -B- before this period was up, the student loan 'Technically'' would not count as a part of the Discharge. However, 7 years after graduating and having previously filed for the -B- a person can then file to have the student loan discharged under the original -B- filing. Also, here's some interesting info; 5 years after graduation a student can apply to have it erased by filing an Undue Hardship claim with the courts. Note, Bill C-228 has passed the first reading in the House of Commons which aims to reduce this time to 2 years but likely won't pass all the way. I guess the question now is, how long ago did mpan graduate?

Psst-Rolex? · Joined: 24 May 2007 Posts: 12

Correction Bill C-55, Embarassed

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

mpan · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan

wow that is a lot to think about .... i was told there would be no math Shocked

... sorry i have to laugh or i'll lose it ..... I graduated in december '04 .... your last reply TS is what i really want to know .... i don't care about the credit thing ... i am happy to live a simple life ... i have B.mus in classical guitar/minor in theory and composition ... I have no hopes of making the money in canada that i "could" or should have been able to make here ... that is being chalked up, unfortunately, to circumstance .... well i could go work on the oil rigs in Alberta but i grew up there and know exactly what i would be in for .... i digress ... if i were to go back to canada ... which at this point would only be for school .... and i think it would be more likely that i would study in the US or Europe .... would they be able to stop me from going to school if i was paying for it with money i had in bank account in taiwan or HK .... i assume that if i went back to Canada and worked at whatever job they would garnish my wages ... and from the little i have read about that it is nuts and something like an average of 50% of your cheque ....

i chose to teach in asia because it was the industry that held the most promise of getting me out of debt and back into school as fast as possible ... and it also held a lot appeal becaues i would get to get my hands dirty with some teaching and that can only help with something like music and more school but it is starting to feel like i have two choices .... stay in exile or go back and have no chance of getting into school while being totally poor and miserable ... i also have another Q that i forgot to ask ... lets say that i just drop all payments and contact and say screw it like others i have met here ... can they mess with my passport? I don't advocate not paying back my loans but it is something i would like to know .