Have you started 2016 drowning in student debt? Are your loan totals more than you’ve made in a year? Are your loans interfering with career growth by making you stick with a sure thing rather than seek a better position or career advancement? Have you put off moving, buying a car, or even getting married? It’s no different for you than it is for millions of other students who took out loans that would bring them a better lifestyle, but have instead ended up holding the bag. There are a lot of different paths for you to start getting out from under your loans, and you can take more than one at a time!

IS CONSOLIDATION STUDENTS LOANS FOR YOU?

It’s a complex question; it can be. That might not be what you want to hear, but I’m not in the business of telling fairy tales, or selling loans for that matter. I am in the business of providing legal advice for people who need it, and even offer free consultations, but no advice is going to work unless it’s listened to and followed. Consolidating student loans is very straightforward, you are taking out a new loan, paying off the existing loans, and then paying down the loan used to eliminate your old loans. You have two ways to consolidate your loans, depending on whether your loans are federal loans and what type they are, or loans from private lenders. Let’s have a look at some of the pros and cons.

• Con: Consolidating your loans means that you are forgoing any loan forgiveness opportunities associated with Perkins loans.
• Pro: Consolidating your loans can help get you out of default and the potential for garnishments, law suits, and even revocation of professional licensures.
• Con: You have to start paying immediately, lose your grace period, and lose the ability to defer your loansor have the payment adjusted to your income level.
• Pro: You just have one payment and one payment date to keep track of instead of multiple dates and amounts to different lenders.
• Con: Consolidation loans are not free, and some lenders count on inexperience, desperation, and financial naiveté to tack on questionable up-front fees, monthly service charges, and can even fool you into taking a low initial rate that later soars to extortionate heights.
• Pro: If you have good credit, you may get a favorable fixed rate from a private lender that’s better than consolidating with the government.
• Con: If you have poor credit, you can’t get the best rate and may be stuck with either consolidating with a government loan, or sticking with your current payments to a private lender.

There are other options to consolidation that are open to you, and if you’d like to come in and discuss them, your first consultation is free. If you’re having trouble repaying, in default, or even facing garnishment, we have the knowledge and experience to help you get back on the path to the life you’ve worked so hard to have.