College students may be falling for student loan scams

Many recent graduates of Texas universities have student loan debt. Even if a person is able to get a job right out of school, which is not a guarantee for many, it may be a struggle for years to get out of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

As a result of the desire to get out from under, some people end up paying less than reputable companies for help. One shady practice that some services use is to charge people hundreds of dollars to handle the paperwork for federal loan consolidation, but this is something that individuals can do on their own for free.

Another trick that many of these less than reputable services use is to make promises that they can’t keep, such as that the organization can ensure that student loan debt is reduced or forgiven. This is something that only the U.S. Department of Education has the power to do. Several government agencies that are available to provide free assistance for individuals struggling with student loan debt. Therefore, students should start with government agencies, rather than paid organizations, when looking for debt relief.

One of the benefits of bankruptcy under Chapter 7 is a fairly quick discharge of most types of unsecured debt after the filer’s non-exempt assets have been liquidated with the proceeds going to creditors. However, student loans are not subject to discharge, although there are some exceptions. A bankruptcy attorney might be a good source of information on other methods of dealing with these obligations.