This week, two New York Times reporters and Geoffry Walsh, an expert on student debt and bankruptcy at the National Consumer Law Center, are answering questions about ways to avoid default, pay off student loans or try to expunge student loans through bankruptcy court. Along with questions, some readers proposed their own answers. The first set of answers is here, the second is here, and the third set is below.

The reporters, Ron Lieber and Andrew Martin, recently wrote articles about the difficulties of paying back student loans as part of The New York Times’s series Degrees of Debt, which examines the implications of soaring college costs and the indebtedness of students and their families.

I have a few different loans under both my name and my mom’s name and one under both of ours with Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority. The rest are federal direct loans and Parent Plus. How can I consolidate them all under my name? What would you recommend me do to lower my monthly payments? I’m paying about $1,500 a month. – Bruno Elqker

: Bruno, first of all, my condolences on your monthly payment. $1,500? Ouch. That’s a mortgage payment on a nice home in many parts of the country, though unfortunately not in suburban New Jersey. But I digress. According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of finaid.org, a Web site devoted to college financial aid, you cannot consolidate federal loans that have different borrowers, even if one of them is your mom. (It may be possible, however, with private loans depending on the credit scores of you and your mom). To get a lower monthly payment, you might consider income-based repayment for your federal loans and obtaining a longer repayment term on your private loans.

My federal loan is now in the hands of a private company, Aspire. Will Aspire raise my rates? Can they raise my rates? And how is it possible that the liberty could be taken to transfer a loan to a private company without my knowledge or consent? – Amanda Jones

The federal government employs private firms and nonprofits like Aspire to manage student loans day to day, and it is perfectly legal for them to do so. Those firms, however, cannot change the terms of the loan after it has been transferred to them unless it has a variable rate, which is highly unlikely for a federal loan.

I have two consolidated loans, both at high interests. One from 20 years ago and another from 11 years ago. Is there any way to get the interest lower and more in line with today’s rates? Or is there ever a window when the life of the loans will expire? I’ve paid back my education several times over at this point. – Laurie Matthews

Laurie, I hope you got a killer education considering how long you have been paying on those loans. Having said that, you can try to consolidate your loans again, though that will not bring down the interest rates since it is a weighted average of your current loans. You may want to consider trying to obtain a home equity loan at a lower rate and then paying off your student loans. Or, if they are federally guaranteed loans, you may be eligible for income-based repayment, which will reduce your monthly payments.

After multiple deferments, I can no longer delay on repayment — I cannot afford even the income-based reduced payment. I’ve fallen behind on payments and each month incur more and higher late fees. A Sallie Mae representative’s suggestion was to basically bite the bullet and make a huge payment (which I don’t have the funds to do). Any suggestions on getting Sallie Mae to work with people who are actively trying to repay? Are these inflated late fees really legal? No doubt they are, but man — Sallie Mae is not shy about applying them! – Rebecca Smallman Ellis

Since you refer to income-based repayment, it sounds like you are referring to federal student loans. If that’s the case, income-based repayment is set up so that you pay just 15 percent of your discretionary income, which tends to be a relatively small amount. If the problem isn’t so much your student loans but other bills, you may want to consider credit counseling. The Department of Education also has an ombudsman who may be able to provide some guidance.

What happens to your student loans if you are diagnosed with a terminal condition? My job prospects are slim to none with my current state of health. Thank you. – Angela Bekzadian-Avila

There is a disability discharge for federal loans, so it will require a doctor to certify that you are permanently disabled and with a condition that prevents you from working or is expected to result in death. Some private lenders offer disability discharges as well.

If your private student loans were taken over by a collection agency, is it possible to declare bankruptcy on them? Also, what are the options for reducing federal student loans? The cost of education in our country has become absurd. – Nicole Kt

As I stated previously, you cannot discharge student loans in bankruptcy without submitting a separate petition to the court, whether they are private or federal loans. It doesn’t make a difference that a debt collection agency is involved. If you have enough money to make a lump-sum payment, you may be able to get a reduction on the balance of your federal loans, Mr. Kantrowitz said.

I consolidated all of my student loans with the government and am now enrolled in income-based repayment. Every month I accumulate twice as much interest as the monthly payment I make. However, I have been told that if I pay on time each month while I work for full time for a nonprofit organization for 10 years, all will be forgiven at that 10-year point through the public service loan forgiveness program. My question: How can I ensure that my loans will be forgiven after 10 years of paying on time? I currently work full time for a nonprofit org, and pay my income-based payments on time. I plan to do both of these for 10 years, but am concerned that there are no guarantees my loans will be forgiven and the interest will have doubled my balance at that point. – Carrie Hott

Carrie, I would suggest you check to make sure your employer qualifies for the public service loan forgiveness program. You can do so by going on studentaid.gov/publicservice and filling out an employment certification form.

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/answers-to-your-questions-about-student-loans-part-three/?partner=rss&emc=rss