AG’s office finds student debt woes know no age

The attorney general’s office reports young and old are struggling to pay off college debt. Here are three cases they’ve recently handled:

• One borrower’s parents were helping him make payments until his mother was diagnosed with a severe illness and money was needed for her medical treatments. The borrower defaulted on five nonco-signed, private student loans. Three of them had 9.5 percent interest rates, and two had 13.25 percent interest rates. The outstanding balance of the loans was $65,000, requiring $820 in monthly payments. With the AG’s assistance, the student was able to extend the terms of the loan and reduce his monthly payments to $250. But the default notations will remain on his credit report for years to come.

• A 70-year-old couple is unable to retire due to outstanding debt from $57,000 in loans they took out to finance their son’s education. The approximate payoff date is in 2025, if they remain current. The mother works two part-time jobs and took early Social Security payments to pay it down, while the father, who works for the state, has no pension due to insufficient time in the system. Neither has any retirement savings.

• One borrower obtained private loans in a quest to become an X-ray technician, but was permanently disabled after she was hit in a rear-end car crash. She won a civil judgment against the at-fault driver, but reports the money has gone to loans. She continues to live with her parents due to reduced income, medical bills and student loan debt. The AG’s office helped her enroll in a reduced interest rate program with a private lender, which brought her monthly payments down from $1,300 to $555.