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What are the repercussions for not paying my federal student loans when I don't live

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Cookie18

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... in the US. Sorry for the title being too long.

Copied from Reddit to get some advice here because Gaf>Reddit. I'm posting on behalf of my wife who has the loans.

Basically I have about $11,000 in federal student loans, federal loans are the only school related loans that I have. I graduated in May and my first payment was supposed to be at the start of December. Long story short we can't afford to pay it right now and don't think we can defer payment for a year because I do start work next month.
I know the US government can garnish wages and take tax returns if a person doesn't pay their loans but what can they do to somebody outside of the US? I am never returning to the US so credit score and the like don't matter. I of course plan on paying it off but I need a year or two breathing room and then I will be able to pay it all off in a couple of months because it is just $11,000.

Any advice on what the US government can do?
 
You can't afford to pay anything now, and you think you'll be able to pay it off easily in a couple months after interest accumulates for 2 years?

This is a bad idea. Pay as much as you can as soon as you can and get rid of the debt. If you aren't working yet, I understand that you can't pay right now. But in 2 months, you can pay. Do so.
 
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
 
Immediately skipping out on your debt, how mature. Thanks for leaving the rest of us with the bill. You don't know that you'll never come back so it's best to not close the door at such a young age.
 
Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Come up with a better plan.
 
Cookie18 said:
... in the US. Sorry for the title being too long.

Copied from Reddit to get some advice here because Gaf>Reddit. I'm posting on behalf of my wife who has the loans.

Basically I have about $11,000 in federal student loans, federal loans are the only school related loans that I have. I graduated in May and my first payment was supposed to be at the start of December. Long story short we can't afford to pay it right now and don't think we can defer payment for a year because I do start work next month.
I know the US government can garnish wages and take tax returns if a person doesn't pay their loans but what can they do to somebody outside of the US? I am never returning to the US so credit score and the like don't matter. I of course plan on paying it off but I need a year or two breathing room and then I will be able to pay it all off in a couple of months because it is just $11,000.

Any advice on what the US government can do?
Click to expand...

Cookie18 I could have sworn that I've seen you say y'all were going to invest in real estate after school or something and essentially not work. Are you planning to do that abroad

Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Forever though? That's like an awful idea and as someone else mentioned you're burning one hell of a bridge.
 
Give it to us straight OP, you have no intention of paying off your debt if you absolutely don't have to.
 
Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Do you have citizenship somewhere in Asia? This sounds like a horrible plan.


To OP : this is an immoral plan in my opinion but if you are really never coming back to the US there isn't too much they can do. Keep in mind your career might take you back to the states 10-15 years from now any you'd be screwed.
 
jayhawker said:
You can't afford to pay anything now, and you think you'll be able to pay it off easily in a couple months after interest accumulates for 2 years?

This is a bad idea. Pay as much as you can as soon as you can and get rid of the debt. If you aren't working yet, I understand that you can't pay right now. But in 2 months, you can pay. Do so.
Click to expand...

I just started work and my wife starts next month. We can afford to pay it all off in 3 months when we have paid our credit card off and have some money behind us. But we can't afford it right now.
 
The United States is going to tax all your income anyway unless you completely renounce your citizenship, then when you do that you'll have to pay an exit fee of all taxes up to that point or something.

Just FYI.
 
Sotha_Sil said:
Come up with a better plan.
Click to expand...

There are none due to the realities of the modern US economy and the non-dischargable status of student loans. Someone with tremendous student loan debt who can't find a real job has no future in the country. The only other alternatives to fleeing are joining the clergy or killing yourself.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan on bailing immediately. I'll spend a few years searching for a job, but if I don't find one I'm gone.
 
Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Haha we are teaching English in South Korea right now. Thank you for the insight.
 
Cookie18 said:
My husband just started work and I start next month. We can afford to pay it all off in 3 months when we have paid our credit card off and have some money behind us. But we can't afford it right now.
Click to expand...
Tbh, call and explain. Worse that can happen is that nothing changes.
 
Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Your constant negativity concerning your education and job prospects has me wondering if you'll even bother trying to find work. You seem dead set on being a failure in this regard. What makes you think you'll follow through on your plan B, either?

Grow up, kid. But at the same time, be confident. As I recall from your prior threads, you are actually doing quite well in school in a reasonably useful degree, to boot. It's time to stop being so negative, because your negative outlook can certainly work against you when everything else should be going your way.
 
Cookie18 said:
My husband just started work and I start next month. We can afford to pay it all off in 3 months when we have paid our credit card off and have some money behind us. But we can't afford it right now.
Click to expand...
Your story doesn't add up. You are broke right now but will have an extra 11k in 3 months?
 
Income Based Repayment plans. Depending on income your monthly bill can be as low as $0 with the interest paid by the government.

You have to renew ever year, but as long as the payment they give you is lower than the standard minimum you can stay on it. After 25 years the balance is forgiven I believe.

So wait for that or for some real legislation to forgive student loan debt.
 
Coriolanus said:
In what country are you residing? Do you still have assets in the US?
Click to expand...

We live in South Korea right now. I am English and my wife is American. She has no assets in the US.

Pastry said:
Cookie18 I could have sworn that I've seen you say your wife and you were going to invest in real estate after school or something and essentially not work. Are you planning to do that abroad

Forever though? That's like an awful idea and as someone else mentioned you're burning one hell of a bridge.
Click to expand...

That is our plan. The houses are in England though since I am English and she is American.

We will never live there. Even with the debt we can still visit the US on vacation but our permanent home after teaching will be England/Japan.
 
Cookie18 said:
We live in South Korea right now. I am English and my wife is American. She has no assets in the US.



That is our plan. The houses are in England though since I am English and she is American.

We will never live there. Even with the debt we can still visit the US on vacation but our permanent home after teaching will be England/Japan.
Click to expand...

Yeah but if y'all can afford to buy real estate in England why can't you pay 11k in loans.
 
Team Alucard said:
There are none due to the realities of the modern US economy and the non-dischargable status of student loans. Someone with tremendous student loan debt who can't find a real job has no future in the country. The only other alternatives to fleeing are joining the clergy or killing yourself.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan on bailing immediately. I'll spend a few years searching for a job, but if I don't find one I'm gone.
Click to expand...

Maybe you'll have to start out with an entry level job out of college like most people and work your way up? You're right, it's hard to get the perfect job just out of college. Always has been, it's even harder now.
 
Pastry said:
Yeah but if y'all can afford to buy real estate in England why can't you pay 11k in loans.
Click to expand...

We can't afford it, yet. In 6 months to a year we will be able to pay off the loans and save for houses in England. One year of savings for us is 2 house deposits in England but that is no good to us now when I am just over a month into my job, my wife hasn't started hers and we have credit card debts from moving to Korea to pay off first.
 
andycapps said:
Maybe you'll have to start out with an entry level job out of college like most people and work your way up? You're right, it's hard to get the perfect job just out of college. Always has been, it's even harder now.
Click to expand...

I've been failing to find even an entry level job for over a year now. I get excited when people bother to tell me no.

As to the OP, It's possible you wouldn't be able to visit if you failed to pay it off for long enough. I'd contact them and work out a deferred payment plan or something. They'll generally try to be accommodating.
 
Team Alucard said:
They cant do anything. They cant garnish wages and like you said your US credit score is irrelevant overseas. It would only affect you if you ever chose to return to live in the US.

This is my plan after i graduate and fail to find a job.

Ditch the debt and go teach english in asia.
Click to expand...

Don't listen to this.
 
Cookie18 said:
We can't afford it, yet. In 6 months to a year we will be able to pay off the loans and save for houses in England. One year of savings for us is 2 house deposits in England but that is no good to us now when I am just over a month into my job, my wife hasn't started hers and we have credit card debts from moving to Korea to pay off first.
Click to expand...

Pay the loans. Otherwise you're a shitty drain on the economy.
 
Zona said:
I've been failing to find even an entry level job for over a year now. I get excited when people bother to tell me no.

As to the OP, It's possible you wouldn't be able to visit if you failed to pay it off for long enough. I'd contact them and work out a deferred payment plan or something. They'll generally try to be accommodating.
Click to expand...

SG-17 said:
Income Based Repayment plans. Depending on income your monthly bill can be as low as $0 with the interest paid by the government.

You have to renew ever year, but as long as the payment they give you is lower than the standard minimum you can stay on it. After 25 years the balance is forgiven I believe.

So wait for that or for some real legislation to forgive student loan debt.
Click to expand...
Seriously, it's not hard to get on economic hardship programs.
 
Zona said:
I've been failing to find even an entry level job for over a year now. I get excited when people bother to tell me no.

As to the OP, It's possible you wouldn't be able to visit if you failed to pay it off for long enough. I'd contact them and work out a deferred payment plan or something. They'll generally try to be accommodating.
Click to expand...

We tried to do the graduated payment plan but it was refused for some reason. It will be paid off, just not right now.
 
Zona said:
I've been failing to find even an entry level job for over a year now. I get excited when people bother to tell me no.

As to the OP, It's possible you wouldn't be able to visit if you failed to pay it off for long enough. I'd contact them and work out a deferred payment plan or something. They'll generally try to be accommodating.
Click to expand...

What is your educational background?
 
Cookie18 said:
My husband just started work and I start next month. We can afford to pay it all off in 3 months when we have paid our credit card off and have some money behind us. But we can't afford it right now.
Click to expand...
So just put into forbearance until you have enough wiggle room to pay it.
 
There are multiple options you can choose besides just ditching...

Put the loan in deferment, ask for a financial deferment if you're that hard up on cash, or get on an easy to pay income based program, there are multiple: PAYE, REPAYE, IBR, etc.

Your payments could be as low as 10% of your discretionary income. Don't burn the bridge over what's really a small loan in the long run when you have options to defer or keep very minimal payments. The fed government is pretty flexible with student loans and their offerings to help you pay them.

Not worth wasting any possible future US opportunities over 11k.


https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans

Go to here and plug in your data to see how low you can get your payments under the various plans. And don't forget about deferment and forbearance.
 
Cookie18 said:
I just started work and my wife starts next month. We can't afford to pay it right now. We have credit card debt from moving to Korea that we need to prioritise.
Click to expand...

It was a mistake to move to Korea using credit when you knew about these bills. What you need to do now is call whoever holds your loans and explain what you can/can't do and work out a plan with them. You are correct that the credit card should probably be paid down first otherwise you'll never get out from under debts.

I don't know your whole situation but just general advice: sometimes you can't do what you want to do because of decisions you've made in the past.
 
Can you take me with you? Out of the cesspit and into a less filthy pit, please!

As for you paying them back, can you simply inform them of your financial situation, whatever it is? The opening post didn't specify if you left the country for vocational reasons, which I would respect. Leaving out of fury and disgust works too, but the former is a far more sociable sell to pitch to others.
 
You can defer payments I think for up to a year citing financial hardship or other reasons. You can also restructure the suggested payment to a lower monthly payment, though you'd pay more in interest over the long run.
 
Foffy said:
Can you take me with you? Out of the cesspit and into a less filthy pit, please!

As for you paying them back, can you simply inform them of your financial situation, whatever it is? The opening post didn't specify if you left the country for vocational reasons, which I would respect. Leaving out of fury and disgust works too, but the former is a far more sociable sell to pitch to others.
Click to expand...

We left to teach in Korea.
 
Sho_Nuff82 said:
You can defer payments I think for up to a year citing financial hardship or other reasons. You can also restructure the suggested payment to a lower monthly payment, though you'd pay more in interest over the long run.
Click to expand...

And afterwards you can use an income contingent repayment plan. So if you make nothing, you pay nothing. If you make a little, you pay a little.

Simple.
 
Cookie18 said:
We left to teach in Korea.
Click to expand...

Then why not talk to someone affiliated with your loans and be blunt about it?

- They were expecting payments as of this month
- This could not be done due to vocational preparation, which involved leaving the United States; this is a big move and understandable as a blockage
- You intend on paying it off when you are rooted in another country for the vocation I presume you were educated in

Maybe I am a man of reason to a fault, but shouldn't the people behind your loans at least understand this and plan something with you? Unless there's a missing piece here.
 
Terribly immature and irresponsible to be honest. There are always plans and deferrals if you call and talk to someone. Even if you get sent to a collection agency, talk to them. MAKE AN EFFORT. If you calmly and maturely talk to your creditors or collections, you have a very strong chance of them working with you. The hospital has sent my wife and I to collections numerous times since we couldn't pay the outrageous bills when the hospital wanted. We spoke to collection agents that were very helpful and willing to work with us as long as we made a payment each month.

Don't just bail- reach out and talk to them.
 
I don't understand why you can't make payments on both the credit cards and the student loans. It sounds like you want to quickly pay off all the credit cards while ignoring the student loans and then switch focus to the student loans, but that doesn't make any sense. Just make the minimum payments on the student loans to avoid any problems.

Edit: Reread the OP and the situation doesn't make any sense. You're so broke that you can't afford to make any payments, but then after some date a year or so in the future some magical switch gets flipped and $11,000 is chump change? I don't get it.
 
Hollywood Duo said:
So pay the minimum until you can pay it off in full. Doesn't seem very difficult.
Click to expand...

Yup.

You act as if you can only pay one bill at a time. What's stopping you from actively working to pay off the credit cards, but also making your minimum payments for the loans? Yes, it may take a little longer to pay of the credit cards, but you're the one that put yourself in that situation to begin with.
 
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