Business Consumer Alliance urges caution before agreeing to or paying for student loan consolidation services. Look out for the following red flags:
- Pressure to pay high up-front fees. Avoid companies that require payment before they actually do anything. Never give your credit card or banking information to anyone unless you have thoroughly researched them. Be especially cautious when companies ask for this sensitive information online or over the phone before they have even explained how they will help you the fees involved as well as the terms of the agreement. Keep in mind that many times taking payment for debt relief services before providing help is illegal. Also beware of companies that charge high enrollment or subscription fees. Some companies even try to charge monthly maintenance fees a service that is paid for through the monthly interest on your loans.
- Promises of immediate loan forgiveness or debt cancellation. Stay away from companies that claim to be able to negotiate any special deals under federal student loan programs. It is untrue. Payment levels under income driven payment plans are set by federal law and for most borrowers loan forgiveness is only available through programs that require many years of qualifying payments.
- Asking for your Federal Student Aid PIN. Your PIN is the equivalent of your signature on any documents related to your student loan. If you give that number away you are giving a company the power to perform actions on your student loan on your behalf. Honest companies will work with you to come up with a plan and will never use your PIN to access your student loan information.
Those seeking the assistance of a student loan debt relief company should be wary if a company asks you to sign a “third party authorization” or a “power of attorney.” These are written agreements giving them legal permission to talk directly to your student loan servicer and make decisions on your behalf. In some cases they may even step in and ask you to pay them directly promising to pay your servicer each month when your bill comes due.
If you are having trouble with federal student loan debt you can apply for loan consolidation through Studentloans.gov. The application is free and there are no extra fees. On that site you’ll find information on loan consolidation requirements for loan forgiveness repayment estimators to help you pick the right repayment plan to fit your income loan servicer contacts and other important information to help you manage your loan repayment.
If you have a private loan contacts your loan servicer for debt relief options and assistance.