Death no deterrent to collecting student loans
- Thread starter Praxius
- Start date
Walter, most students don't have estates or assets. Going after the parents who did not co-sign said loans is just vindictive.
Well, I am not dead yet. Maybe I will pay it back. But I doubt it. I had tried to negotiate with these loan officers upon completion of graduation. Right away I was harrassed and threatened...so I went to see a credit counsellor. I wanted to discuss my options. The counsellor advised me not to pay a penny back due to my financial position at the time. He explained that the interest would forever keep me in debt. I can understand why the government would still be after me, I am still alive and in debt to the government. But why is this faceless bureacracy after the dead? Funny how it becomes faceless after you borrow the money.
In that respect, you should strive to pay the bills back, so that your loved ones aren't stuck paying for your bills. The obligation is on the person applying for credit to read and understand the arrangement before signing the agreement.
Those taxes pay for many things, common shared responsibility of all who use public infrastructure. Roads, health care, policing, education. Post-secondary education is not yet a universal. Until that time, you, and I as recipients of those loans must pay them back.
Well, first of all, the article doesn't say the parents didn't co-sign. It discusses letters written to request money from the estates if there is any. That seems pretty reasonable. It also discusses the fact that the government changed the way they do loans (since 2000 if I read correctly) so that they no longer try to collect from an estate for a loan.
It doesn't really come off as big bad government to me. More as impractical borrowers.
I agree with your post about shared responsibility. But, there are many programs that are not universal--that is, programs set up for "minorities". For example, if you have Indian Status you are eligible for free post- secondary education. Another example is The Status of
Women, not universal, also have helped women receive bursaries not provided to men. So you see, there are non universal programs funded to help others. Again, I am not saying that defaulting on my loan is right. But I am saying that I am not paying it back. That is all.
Karrie, I am aware of "co-signers" not being mentioned in the article but with the way the government has been treating these families, you would almost think they were. The article seems to indicate that the government money collectors are going a little farther then trying to collect on an estate
""We don't believe the government should be harassing the parents and families and friends of dead student-loan borrowers for cash,""
"Parents approached to pay debts"
The article doesn't really grab any reader interest without that one quote, which for all I know, since the article doesn't give any evidence of harassment beyond saying letters are sent asking if there are any estate funds (that counts as approaching parents), it could just be a personal interpretation on what these families are dealing with.
When my cousin died, his father got the same sorts of letters from creditors. The ones he co-signed for, he paid back. The ones he didn't, he didn't. It's pretty simple, and it's the way all loans are treated.
The fact that the government has changed the way they run these loans so that they won't need to do this anymore, speaks volumes, and it really comes across to me more as impractical borrowers than it does an evil or vindictive government.
Acctually much of the tax dollars are handed over to the private sector, the biggest payment being the interest owed on the national debt, much of the rest is siphoned off in subsidys deferred and preferential taxes, grants and loans directly to industry to entice thier business under the con of job creation, private education funded by the public purse and countless other forms of corporate welfare. All those uses for tax dollars you sited are valid public works used by corporations free of charge where they are not actually subject to tolls or P3 arrangements which again are funded with public taxes otr public credit, the national debt is 90% interest payments made to bankers, who logically know the debt will never be paid off.
What about the corporate welfare bums who,ve bilked this country for thousands of times the money lent to students? And if you look at the books refuse to pay on time and in full consistantly.
Corporations pay taxes too DB. Some might say not enough, some might say too much, but they still pay taxes.
Getting back to the article, they've collected $14,000 or thereabouts from these types of loans? That's a pittance. That's somewhere around the maximum you can get from the Federal portion of Student loans in two years, for a single student.
Getting back to the article, they've collected $14,000 or thereabouts from these types of loans? That's a pittance. That's somewhere around the maximum you can get from the Federal portion of Student loans in two years, for a single student.
Here in N.B., the politicians in government were thinking about relieving the student loan debts of doctors who agreed to reside here for a certain number of years. I am not sure if this went through or not; but I still haven't had a doctor for over 10 years. I am on a waiting list. So you see, the government is able to forgive some loans. Just not the dead, apparently.
Hiring bonuses aren't uncommon, and they're a far cry from paying off debt for no reason (although, as the article states, the gov has changed to a system where the debt is forgotten upon death). I know when hiring was competetive in the petroleum field, there were guys who were getting hiring bonuses to relieve them of school debt. That's the business of whoever hires them.
True enough. I guess I am not understanding the article....are these loan officers calling the parents of dead "loanees " by accident? I suppose it would be difficult to know who is dead and who is alive until they are actually told.
According to the article, they are sent letters asking if there are nay funds in the estate to pay back the loan. Seems pretty basic to me. Someone goes further to state they're harassed, which, to me would indicate someone is phoning to collect on co-signed loans. Considering the tiny sum they've collected, they're obviously not trying very hard.
"A hundred accounts belonging to dead borrowers have been sent to the Canada Revenue Agency for collection since 2002, according to documents obtained by the coalition under Access to Information legislation."....but did the government realize these people were already dead. The article really didn't say, or did it?
No, it didn't really clarify. But, even if they were, I don't see anything wrong with a letter sent asking if there are funds there for that. People should know when they take out loans that they're there (unless insured) even after they pass away.
I'm thrilled that the gov is doing it a different way now though.
Even if the people who take out these loans do know, the question is, does their next of kin know. I am sure there are people who apply for loans and do not notify their relatives.