Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

[twg]

[Corporal]

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=48777&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=default+student+loans&start=0

[grainger]

Student Loans are hell.

I got out of teacher's college and couldn't find a job in the required 6 months. So my loans went into default. Even though I had tried to send in the forms for interest relief. (Apparently they didnt' recieve one.) I've heard of this sort of thing happening often. Anyway, once you're in default you can't apply for any kind of forgiveness or assistance (because your loans are in default - makes sense right )

Anyway, working as a teacher in Canada sucks (financially). As a new teacher you don't get paid well and I could only find long term occasional contracts (taking over for maternity leaves and that sort of thing.) So every six months you're moving to a new job (no car) Your income after taxes is about what I make in Korea but you have to pay rent, utilities, etc. Not to mention the expense of constantly moving and being unemployed over the summer months.

So I do the only thing I can do I ignore them until I can get myself settled and gain the ability to pay them. No fire rained down, only phone calls and nasty letters, but whatever, they can't get blood from a stone.

I finally decided to come to Korea just to pay off these stupid loans. These people will try to bleed you dry though. After I got here I spent about five months worth of savings to pay off one of my smaller loans (My loans got separated into four parts because of the loan system being restructered while I was in university) I'm paying $400.00 a month to pay off the other small provincial loan in a year. I'm paying $709.09 a month on one of the federal portions of my loan (minimum payment) and I'm trying to negotiate the other federal portion of my loan right now. They want $613.00 a month (minimum payment) I may have to keep ignoring them for the year until I'm done paying the $400.00.

I know you all probably don't need this much detail but I'm just angry. How can they expect anyone to pay off this much money on a monthly bases. When they're new to their profession, have to pay rent, and eat.

As it is I'm sending home over half my income every month. I went to university to have a better life then my parents (a waitress and a truck driver) not to live in poverty and/or exile during what should be the formative years of my career and end up with a ruined credit rating all because of my student loans.

I'm sure there are similar stories out there. Anyone have any helpful advice?

[Siscoe]

Advice? You make 2 million won (I'm assuming, that's the rate these days at a minimum) a month with virtually no expenses after food, and you can't afford to pay off your loans?

It staggers me that people bitch and moan so damn much about this. You took out a loan - they want you to repay it. You had the oppotunity to work as an Occasional at home, but got an even better gig in Korea. You owe money. Pay it off.

People will go thousands into hock for a car, hundreds of thousands into hock for a house, but na education is to expensive? Quit whining.

[dog_disco]

...Speaking as someone who A) has had a portion of his student loan go to collections + B) recently paid off his entire loan, I feel qualified to talk about this.

...First of all, stay on top of your paperwork + nothing will get sent to collections. If you're broke, prove it (should be easy). It is possible to get nearly indefinite "interest relief" from the government.

...Next, if something does get sent to collections, it behooves you to beg, borrow or steal + get it squared with them ASAP. If you work out some "payment scheme" with them you are screwed because they will charge you an arm + a leg for interest + you won't get anywhere ahead on the principle. There is also the extremely severe damage to your credit rating- good luck getting a car, mortgage, credit card, loan or cell phone plan for the next forseeable future. But even this pales in comparison to the personal aggrivation: these people work in a barely regulated industry where all manner of psychological harassment + intimidation are the norm... they will call your grandmother looking for you. It isn't worth it.

...Re: bankruptcy- In Canada it is impossible to declare bankruptcy on a student loan for a minimum of ten years after graduation. + then again, there is the massive + long term damage to your credit rating to consider.

...Finally, if you are making 2.0 mill teaching English in Korea + can't make headway on your loan you must A) have at least one child to feed or B) be a complete drunk.

...My two cents.

BTW I came to Korea in June 2006 owing no less than fifteen grand Canadian. Debt free since February 2007. Good times.

[Adventurer]

[fruitcake]

had $40,000 in debt when I arrived here 5 years ago. Got a few privates and religiously paid $1000 a month. Was a pain in the butt for first while, but when you start hitting the principal, the pressure eases off. Had it all paid in 3 1/2 years. And still managed to travel and get things i wanted. Shouldn't be an excuses not paying your loans while you're here. Bite the bullet, get it paid, then you can move on with your life...my ENTIRE paycheck is now MINE!

[Homer]

Dude...in Canadas student loans are exempt from a bankruptcy so even if you do declare...the loans are not wiped out.

Also, your credit will be shot....so...no car financing for you, no morgage, no personal loans, no line of credit or if you get any of these you will pay top interest for it and will have all sorts of deposits to fork over...smart choice.

You know....no one forces anyone to take out a student loan. It is a choice and even if it can suck to owe money...pay it back for Petes sake. You are not only screwing yourself but also other students who come after you because the more people default, the stricted banks and loan offices get....

If you contract a student loan and then get a job in Korea as a teacher, you got such a job because of your degree. You got your degree because the loan allowed you to study. You are now in a position of high disposable income and in your early to mid 20s (usually). Stop whining that the system screwed you and act like an adult: pay back your loan because you can sure afford to.

[Adventurer]

[TECO]

I had about $45,000 in student loan debt. About $19,000 of that was paid off, then it went to collections.

Yes, the woman called and told me that they would prevent me from international travel, saying that I would have problems using my passport. They phoned often and sent letters.

I ended up defaulting. I graduated in 1995.

I haven't heard much from them since 2000 - 2001. I think they've finally given up.

I've been out of the country nearly 10 years now.

In 1994, the Student Union people at universities across Canada were handing out bankruptcy application forms at graduation ceremonies. At that time, a student could atutomatically declare bankruptcy.

Then, it came to a halt sometime around 1996, I believe. I had friends who declared bankruptcy immediately upon graduating and their applications went through.

One friend told me that when he went to court that the judge admonished the lawyer for the bank, saying that they make it too easy for students to get loans and don't educate them enough about the consequences.

The judge wiped his loand 100% clean.

My buddy told me he was pretty surprised that the judge was so sympathetic with his situation.

Anyways, it looks like a lot of Canadian judges have been sympathetic with graduates and were discharging their loans and granting them insolvency.

So much was this occuring in Canada in the 1990s that the Federal government in Canada decided to put a stop to it.

A bill was passed requiring graduates to wait a period of 10 years before they could file for bankruptcy - unless they had extenuatiing personal circumstances.

Many thousands of Canadian university students every year were declaring bankruptcy and I guess they decided that it had to stop.

Anyways, depending on your province and the laws there, you may be able to get back on track financially with your credit rating after several years.

Frankly, depending on your personal situation of where you live and work and your ties to Canada, declaring bankruptcy or avoiding the student loan bandits can be a good business decision.

I'm glad I did it.

[grainger]

Allow me to clarify. I came to Korea to pay off my student loans. Here I can pay all the money that would have gone into rent and transportation onto my student loans. About 1.2 million won. My point was that to try to pay that same amount in Canada and avoid living in a box would have been impossible, but that's what they want.

[Adventurer]

My Ontario part of my student loans is in collections. I was just about to try to get it current when my boss went bankrupt and wouldn't pay me. I am almost current on my federal portion. The collection agency asked me if I could get a loan to pay it. They must be joking. The lady even asked me if I could get a loan in Korea to pay it off. I was calling good faith to try to make payments. The lady said to call back in a week and she will check my credit. That is asinine. I told them I'm in Korea. Even if I had good credit I can't take a loan from all the way here. They should have saved my time and theirs gave me some sane plan. Anyway, I am closer and closer to the 10 year mark, but I want to pay this off not declare bankruptcy. Anyone deal with these collection agencies? I am not trying to shirk my responsibilities here.

[dog_disco]

...Adventurer: I was in a similar position as you a few years back. What I would recommend in your case is to arrange a payment plan. They will charge you an arm + a leg for interest, but in the short term it will stop your credit rating from hemmoraging red ink... send them as little as you can get away with until you can borrow/save enough to reach a settlement.

...Keep in mind they want whatever money they can get from you. Any way they can. They will settle the debt for less than it is worth just to get it off the books. I had ten thousand go to them. After over a year of sending them $200 each month + seeing nearly all of that disappear as "interest" I was able to beg/ cajole my significant other + immediate family to lend me six thousand dollars. I had another two saved from my job. After some negotiation, the collections jackals settled with me for $8,000... which basically knocked out what I was overcharged in interest.

...Within a year I had paid off my family + had two new credit cards. It was all good.

[Adventurer]