MOm wants dead son's student loans forgiven

[CharityLynn]

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blog...0019277--abc-news-savings-and-investment.html

Three years after her son's death, a 61-year-old Michigan woman is still on the hook for his student loans - and a Change.org petition she started now has nearly 200,000 signatures demanding the companies forgive the loans and change their policies.

Jermaine Edwards went to college to study music production, and his mother, Ella, agreed to cosign his student loans to help him attend school. However, Jermaine died of natural causes in 2009 at age 24, leaving his mother responsible for the loans.

"That's when American Education Services (AES) and National Collegiate Trust (NCT) turned my son's dream into a nightmare for me and the two year old son he left behind," Edwards wrote in the petition.

Edwards had three student loans when he died, two federal and one private. The two federal government loans were forgiven within a month of his death. However, the private loan company is refusing to forgive the loan.

"He was paying the loan bills when he died, but the balance is still over $10,000, and if I'm ever a couple days late on a payment, the calls keep coming until I pay," Edwards told ABC News.

Edwards wrote in the petition that she was so depressed after her son's death that she could barely get out of bed, and has since been under doctors' care. She requested an early retirement, but is now back working. The money is still not enough to cover the bills.

"I am 61 years old and I have been trying to work to make Jermaine's loan payments…but I simply don't have the money," Edwards wrote. "To make matters worse, Jermaine left behind a young son whose mother doesn't have many resources. Therefore, she relies on me to help support Jermaine's son."

The petition directed to the institutions includes a letter calling for forgiveness of the loan.

"I'm horrified at your institution's practice of hounding a dead student's family for repayment of student loans he'll never get a chance to use," to letter reads. "I'm calling on you to do the only humane thing - let this still-grieving mother mourn the loss of her only son in peace. I stand with the Ella Edwards family and decent people everywhere in demanding that you discharge Jermaine Edwards' student loan debt today."

Edwards told ABC she decided to start the petition to demand a change in the laws surrounding student loans, and to warn other parents what they might be getting into if they take out a private loan.

"I suffer every day, and I started the petition because I don't want any other mom to suffer like I am," Edwards said, through tears. "People need to be aware these private loan people will come after you like a shark. I would advise people never to get a private loan until the law changes."

The loan companies have not returned calls for comment from ABC News.




Would love to hear everyone's opinion.

My thoughts are, it's very unfortunate to lose your child at any age and I'm not sure how natural causes are a cause for a 24 year old man. I say she got lucky that the 2 federal loans dissolved her after his death and she needs to pay this private loan. Co-signing a loan is a big deal its a huge responsibility that you need to come to grips with when signing.

I know many people who have co-signed and later regretted it for whatever reason.

I do find it sad that she is struggling so much, like many in Michigan and around the country. But the fact is many people pass away and leave their family with debt. You deal with it the best you can.

 

[rigs32]

If the student took out the loan, then mom should not be on the hook. If MOM took out the loan, like a PLUS loan, she is responsible for the debt regardless of the students status.

If mom financed a car for her son would she be arguing she shouldn't have to pay after his death? Granted she would have the car for her use whereas she cannot use his education, but I think the analogy is still apt.

 

[CharityLynn]

If the student took out the loan, then mom should not be on the hook. If MOM took out the loan, like a PLUS loan, she is responsible for the debt regardless of the students status.

If mom financed a car for her son would she be arguing she shouldn't have to pay after his death? Granted she would have the car for her use whereas she cannot use his education, but I think the analogy is still apt.

Mom co-signed on the loan

 

[JoiseyMom]

I think the bigger issue is the fact that it was a 10k loan, and I think that part had been paid back plus some, but with late fees and penalties it is now probably an astronomical amount. If they paid off the org loan and the int then drop the rest. The system is crazy...

 

[jlewisinsyr]

In my opinion, despite the tragic loss, she co-signed on the loan and the obligation belongs to her now that her son has passed. Co-signing for a loan should never be taken lightly, when you do co-sign you are making an agreement, per the loan documents and what your signature attests to that you are just as liable as the primary borrower.

 

[disney junky]

If she co-signed, she is liable for the balance, no matter how unfortunate that may be. I think what people sometimes forget is that if the loan company, any loan company, forgives a loan, that balance gets absorbed by all other debtors or in fees attached to new loans. I think that's something we have failed to learn as a society. Nothing if free. The cost will be borne by someone.

I would expect since the national media has picked up the story, some generous individuals will pay the balance, as these things usually seem to go.

 

[luvmy3]

She should have asked for donations in the obit to pay for the loan.


He spent the money, she co-signed, there is no reason the loans should be forgiven. That is a chance you take when you make yourself responsible for paying in the event the person taking the loan out can't, no matter the reason.

 

[Jennasis]

She should refi the balance to get the monthly payment more manageable if she can't get them to expunge the loan amount. a 10K loan isn't much.

 

[sam_gordon]

If everyone who signed the petition would have sent in a nickel, that pays off the loan. Problem solved!

The fact is she co-signed the loan which puts her on the hook. Would it be nice if the loan was forgiven? Sure. It would also be nice if my mortgage company forgave my loan.

 

[sissy_ib]

A very sad situation for sure. The problem is they are not the sons loans. Since she co-signed they are her's as well. I think people who co-sign do not always understand that. I do feel for her but she made herself responsible when she signed for them. I wonder if the other loans were only in the sons name.

 

[Anjelica]

She should have asked for donations in the obit to pay for the loan.


He spent the money, she co-signed, there is no reason the loans should be forgiven. That is a chance you take when you make yourself responsible for paying in the event the person taking the loan out can't, no matter the reason.

You're bad.....

And for the record I agreed with your other comments on the donations in the obituary thread.

Mom needs to pay back the loan - it sucks and its sad her son died at such a young age but it doesn't preclude her from the responsibility.

 

[disney junky]

If everyone who signed the petition would have sent in a nickel, that pays off the loan. Problem solved!

The fact is she co-signed the loan which puts her on the hook. Would it be nice if the loan was forgiven? Sure. It would also be nice if my mortgage company forgave my loan.

Thanks for that response. I laughed.

I get frustrated some times when the media latches on to something like this. I'll bet that this is a whole lot more common than we know. Pretty much everyone dies with debt, even if it's last month's credit card balance. But the media creates these human interest stories for the ratings. In many ways, I think they, the media exploit these for ratings. Imagine how much it would effect their bottom line if they said, ma'am, this is awful. We'll pay this for you. No need for the story now.....

 

[Andtototoo]

Ugh. Never co-sign for a loan.

A former pastor of mine co-signed for a student loan for one of his parishioners. A few years later, he was sent to collections for failure to pay back the loan. The parishioner was long gone, but his debt was still alive and well, growing like Hydra.

 

[disykat]

When you cosign a loan it's not really HIS loan, you've agreed to make it YOUR loan. People seem to have a really hard time understanding this. Very sad situation and it seems like there are ways people could help, including the lender, but she really doesn't have a leg to stand on claiming that what is actually now HER loan should stop simply because HE died.

 

[shortbun]

Wow, it seems like someone somewhere could work something out in this extreme situation. The woman doesn't have the money. She is supporting her son's child. The OP's statement that the death of her son was 'very unfortunate' made me cough on my coffee. Yeah, I would say it's 'very unfortunate' and I'm sure I wouldn't use those words if my son died when he was 24.

I'd like to know what private institution has refused to help and if they benefited as a part of the bail out of 2008. Banks are heartless. Perhaps they could renegotiate this loan making it only the principle to be paid back and the payments more manageable.

 

[sissy_ib]

Wow, it seems like someone somewhere could work something out in this extreme situation. The woman doesn't have the money. She is supporting her son's child. The OP's statement that the death of her son was 'very unfortunate' made me cough on my coffee. Yeah, I would say it's 'very unfortunate' and I'm sure I wouldn't use those words if my son died when he was 24.

I'd like to know what private institution has refused to help and if they benefited as a part of the bail out of 2008. Banks are heartless. Perhaps they could renegotiate this loan making it only the principle to be paid back and the payments more manageable.

I don't see it as extreme. People with loans die everyday. Many have a co-signer. How is this different from a husband and wife who have a mortgage and the husband dies? The wife still has to pay even if her income is now considerably less because her name is on the loan. This is not the first time a situation like this has happened and it wont be the last. And how do we know they have not worked with her? Did the woman ask for anything beyond loan forgiveness? Did she try to re-negotiate the terms or did she just ask to have it wiped out? And for that matter why should they not charge interest and fees? They are in business to make money not be nice. If they aren't making money how can they loan it out? The bottom line is she should not have signed for a loan she could not afford.

 

[CharityLynn]

Wow, it seems like someone somewhere could work something out in this extreme situation. The woman doesn't have the money. She is supporting her son's child. The OP's statement that the death of her son was 'very unfortunate' made me cough on my coffee. Yeah, I would say it's 'very unfortunate' and I'm sure I wouldn't use those words if my son died when he was 24.

I'd like to know what private institution has refused to help and if they benefited as a part of the bail out of 2008. Banks are heartless. Perhaps they could renegotiate this loan making it only the principle to be paid back and the payments more manageable.

SO just because she "doesn't" have the money she should be forgiven the loan? Wish that worked for everyone. I'm not sure what she has tried, I think she expected the private loan company to dissolve the loan because the federal ones did. Another poster said something about getting it refinanced which is a great idea, we don't know if she tried that or didn't try that. I hate to think ill of someone but I'm guessing that maybe when the company declined she took it to petition and the media.

Not sure what more you'd want me to say about the loss of her son, it is very unfortunate. I lost my father in a freak accident on the job, and it was very unfortunate we had bills to pay and paid them we didn't get any special treatment. Should I have said devastating? Not sure why you chose to pick on that phrasing.

 

[Sanchez]

Wow, it seems like someone somewhere could work something out in this extreme situation. The woman doesn't have the money. She is supporting her son's child. The OP's statement that the death of her son was 'very unfortunate' made me cough on my coffee. Yeah, I would say it's 'very unfortunate' and I'm sure I wouldn't use those words if my son died when he was 24.

I'd like to know what private institution has refused to help and if they benefited as a part of the bail out of 2008. Banks are heartless. Perhaps they could renegotiate this loan making it only the principle to be paid back and the payments more manageable.

What troubles me is that apparently more than 200,000 people signed a petition requesting banks to simply forgive loans. The comment above that "banks are heartless" just smacks of entitlement. This is not an extreme situation and bailouts have nothing to do with the situation. I know many people who have difficult loan situations - should the fact that a bank received bailout money create an empathy standard requiring them to forgive loans in difficult situations?

If this lady truly has no money I would advise her to just walk away. If she has no assets then any judgment against her is worthless and she has nothing to fear. She can put what little money she has towards necessities. Of course, that would make her the bad guy (for walking away from an obligation) when this petition serves to make the bank the bad guy (and heartless at that.)

Just walk away lady.

 

[mamamary]

My mil learned a lesson the hard way about co-signing a loan. Her granddaughter asked her to co-sign student loans and she did. MIL was in her late 70s at the time. Well sure enough don't the letters and calls from collection agencies come in non-stop. MIL was diagnosed with dementia around the same time so she was very upset about everything. We did go so far as to contact a lawyer. He thought it was really crappy about her granddaughter not paying but said there was basically nothing we could do. As of about a year ago the loans were prob. close to $80,000 so I can only imagine what they are up to now.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Unfortunately, student loans are the only loans I know that you cannot get out of even in death. People should watch the CNBC investigative report "The High price of Admission". The is an in depth look at what it takes to get a loan and what happens in the case of a child dying.

One of the spots in the show was of parents that had lost their son 2 weeks after he graduated. Guess what, they were on the hook to pay back the loan and it was for $85,000.

My daughter - who is 24 and on her own and working cannot get a student loan without me co-signing. I will not co-sign. She is not my dependant anymore. They are insisting on a co-signer regardless. This is basically to ensure they will get their money one way or another.

And yes, she is credit worthy - has had car loan, credit card, etc.