2017
Can They Garnish My Wages for Private Student Loans?
Student Loan Lawyer / 0 Comments /
If you’ve missed payments on your student loans, you may be worrying about what happens next. Will the collection agency keep calling me? Will it affect my credit? And perhaps, most concerning, will they garnish my wages? If you’ve defaulted on your private student loans and worry that your wages may be garnished, it’s important to know your rights.
Fortunately for Pennsylvanians, our state is one of four that protects its residents from wage garnishment for private student loans. While defaulting on federal student loans can still result in garnishment (more about that here), private loan companies have to utilize other methods to try to recoup unpaid loans.
What Happens When You Default on a Private Student Loan?
Once you miss three consecutive payments, your loan is considered in default. At this point, your private student loan lender has several actions it can take to attempt to elicit payment. Your lender may do some or all of the following:
- Request immediate payment of the full balance of your loan
- Reach out to your cosigner to request repayments from them
- Report your late payments to credit reporting agencies, which may damage the credit scores of both you and your cosigner
- Refer your account to a debt collector, resulting in frequent calls and letters requesting payment
- Add collection fees to your already existing debt, which can increase your total amount owed by 25% to 40%, according to Edvisors Network
- File a lawsuit against you to compel payment
As you can see, your private student loan lender still has many tools at their disposal even though wage garnishment is not permitted in Pennsylvania. If you’ve defaulted on your private student loans or if your loans are becoming unmanageable, our attorneys may be able to help. We’re experienced in negotiating loan consolidation, ensuring your loan holder follows federal and PA debt collection laws, and defending clients in court.
If you’d like to see how we might be able to help you with your private student loans, call (215) 307-3939 or contact us here to speak with one of our attorneys today.
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