Looking for private lenders

Paying for College
1

<p>I am 22, and looking to enroll in school beginning in the fall 2009 term. I will be going for four years as an undergraduate and three years as a graduate.</p>

<p>I am fully aware of the costs and the potential pitfalls. I just came out of the real estate business, so my understanding of finance is very in-depth.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that without private loans, I will have to most of my expenses for the next 7 years on credit cards, paying one with another, until loans are available. This is not something I want to do, for obvious reasons.</p>

<p>I cannot file the fafsa due to total parental estrangement. This can't be documented, so there is little hope of trying to file as an independent. The only thing to support that is my word, which isn't enough. I have already spoken with several financial aid officers, and all of them substantiated my research to that effect. A solid history of bill payments and independent tax filings is not enough. My only hope of filing a fafsa is to find an unmarried, zero income female with similar circumstances and getting married on paper (with an ironclad prenup) to force the application through as an independent student. I can't rely on that happening.</p>

<p>My 2008 income was effectively zero. I've been living off savings since mid 2007 thanks to the economy, and that will be almost completely depleted by the time I enter school.</p>

<p>So, in knowing full well the realities and risks, I need to find private lenders to finance my education. I have already contacted most of the bigger names, and some of them are helpful - most aren't, as they are looking for employment or a cosigner. My credit is a 794, so the credit portion of the loan application will not be a problem.</p>

<p>Scholarships are not a viable solution for the first few years. I have already put much time into researching this.</p>

<p>Can anyone here recommend private lenders to contact? I would be mostly interested in the smaller banks, finance companies, and credit unions that can't be effectively found in Google.</p>

2

<p>how much do you want to borrow per year?</p>

<p>Can you just get your parents to do the FAFSA even if they won't pay their EFC, that would get you at least a stafford loan and maybe more.</p>

<p>Financing 7 years of school is not a good thing. Will you be working during breaks, summers, etc????</p>

<p>How will you pay for non school expenses? You will be considered independent at age 24</p>

<p>Dependent</a> VS. Independent Status | FAFSA Form & Financial Aid Form Blog</p>

3

<p>Can't help you with the private lenders at all. But the first thing that struck me was your age. When do you turn 24? The year you turn 24 you will be eligible to file FAFSA as an independent student. My son is also 22 and has 1 more year (2009-2010 school year) where he will be considered a dependent as he turns 23 in 2009. He turns 24 in 2010 so come 2010-2011 school year he will be considered independent for FAFSA purposes. This will be that case for you also so if you find it impossible to find a private lender for 2009-2010 it may be worth waiting a year so you will be independent for financial aid purposes. A better option than marrying some random zero income female anyway.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>The amount I want to borrow is going to be constrained by what is available privately right now. School selection for me is a function of what is available.</p>

<p>As my post indicated I am completely estranged from my parents, and other than a history of bill payments and tax filings, I cannot document it in the ways needed for an override of dependent status. My parents were very conservative, blue collar, religious people, and my lack of faith and choice to earn what they called fast money in the world of real estate really offended their personal beliefs concerning long hours of hard work. There is absolutely no way of going back to even get them to fill out a piece of paper. I haven't spoken to them in years, and couldn't even tell you their phone number. If they were no longer alive I wouldn't know it.</p>

<p>Non school expenses are not a problem if I can finance most of a reasonable cost of attendance.</p>

<p>I won't be working because I must concentrate on my studies primarily for the sake of graduate school admission. Secondly, everything I am qualified for is dead. As for summers, I would be enrolled and taking the maximum course load available.</p>

5

<p>I will turn 24 in November of 2010. At that point, the fafsa will be an option. Until then, my only hope of filing will be to construct a paper marriage.</p>

6

<p>Well if you cannot find private loans then waiting one more year may be something to consider as a back up plan. You will be independent for the 2010-2011 FAFSA which you can file in January 2010 so would be starting school fall 2010 instead of fall 2009.</p>

7

<p>Go to the financial aid office and try to get an override as a dependent. Are you self sufficient? You should have no problem getting it.</p>

8

<p>^^ it is actually quite difficult to get a dependency override for FAFSA purposes. Being self sufficient is specifically mentioned in the rules as not being a reason for a dependency override.</p>

<p>From FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Dependency Overrides</p>

<p>
[quote]
In particular, the following circumstances do *not *merit a dependency override, either alone or in combination:</p>

<pre><code>* Parents refuse to contribute to the student's education;
* Parents are unwilling to provide information on the application or for verification;
* Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
* Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.

[/quote]

</code></pre>

9

<p>I have already been to several financial aid offices, and all of them have said that multiple sources of independent documentation of estrangement are required, and must come from sources such as social workers, guidance counselors, clergy, relatives, etc. None of those are options. I offered full banking records, tax returns, and the 37 house deeds that have had my personal name on them at one point or another, and their answer has still been that I am beholden to my parents and must file the fafsa with them.</p>

<p>This is why I am looking for private loans as an alternative to funding education on credit cards, which seems especially unsavory in the current climate.</p>

10

<p>go to the bank you have dealt with the most and ask them how much you can borrow and interest rates. What amounts do you think you will need at the minimum for the next year. And fall 2009 is 9+ months away. What are you going to do between now and then?</p>

11

<p>Hmmm...that sucks. And the government wonders why only 50% of people complete college. Part of the reason is funding!!! They make it so hard.</p>

<p>Well, I suggest you wait another year when you turn 23. Can you afford to go to community college in the mean time? Private loans are tough to get now.</p>

<p>I wouldn't suggest it anyway. I'm having hell right now with Sallie Mae and my interest rate. They are overcharging me. I am contacting the feds (they probably won't do anything) and then a breach of contract lawsuit.</p>

12

<p>The only bank I have long, substantial dealings with doesn't make student loans, and even if they did, they're a couple months away from failure or buyout over all the bad mortgages they made.</p>

<p>I was hoping that some people here could turn me on to less well known banks, credit unions, and finance companies that might not have turned up in a simple Internet search. I have to believe that there are still good institutions with money to lend that haven't been wiped out from the mainstream mess.</p>

<p>As for the 9 month interval, I'm going to get a head start on my studies, once this loan issue has been worked out.</p>

13

<p>Not too many banks make private loans anymore besides the big ones...Citibank, Sallie Mae, Chase, US Bank, Wells Fargo.</p>

14

<p>Community college is an option, although not the preferred one. Waiting isn't. The past year and the upcoming nine months of inactivity are driving me crazy enough as it is; adding another year on top of that just isn't an option. I would end up hammering credit cards before it got that far, but I have to believe that a very resourceful poster here knows of a smaller institution that still makes good loans to aggressive, qualified applicants.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae is one of the lenders I have already spoken with. Do you have a private loan through them, and if so, what was the index and margin, and what were the qualifying criteria (credit, employment, cosigner, etc), if you don't mind me asking?</p>

<p>Sallie Mae is currently my leading option, and would provide all the money I need, but I have my suspicions about what the final margin would be, considering I have no employment or cosigner. The rep wasn't very forthcoming about how low of a margin can be had on credit, university, and course of study alone, which makes me suspect that both employment and a cosigner are required to achieve margins that are even remotely palatable.</p>

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<p>Discover</a> Student Loans - Private Education Loans for College Students</p>

<p>I have my son's stafford loan with them. You could check them out. Not sure if anyone will lend to you w/o a cosigner, but since you have an established credit history and a good credit score, it's worth a shot. No upfront fees with discover, you get what you borrow</p>

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<p>What's so bad about community college? Take your GEs and transfer...less money spent.</p>

<p>I would not go with Sallie Mae. They are crooks. My interest rate is 6.5% at the moment but should be 6.0% as the prime rate dropped right before November 1, but they act as if it didn't. They are breaching their contract with me and I WILL take them to court. I spent three hours on the phone with them today. Most of them are foreigners anyway and have no idea what I'm talking about. I seriously regret taking out a private loan with them. I will end up paying more than what I actually owe them IF I don't win my lawsuit.</p>

<p>If you do decide to go with Sallie Mae...I've warned you. But I qualified easy enough without any proof of employment or anything. My credit was great (it's shot now) and I got it when I was only 21 without a cosigner. They defer payments for four years. The rate is variable and is based on the prime rate + whatever margin they wanna give you (who knows what it is based on). You can review everything before you accept the loan (unlike credit cards).</p>

<p>Only big banks lend private loans now. The government shut down most of the private lenders because they are ripping people off.</p>

17

<p>The problem with a CC is that I suspect having attended one will make it nearly impossible to get into an Ivy law program. I might be wrong, but that is still one hell of a gamble to take with the costs of a 4 year undergrad program. Fail the admission, and tens of thousands of dollars and four years of not working are all down the drain. A change of scenery from SoCal would be nice.</p>

<p>As for Sallie Mae, I've heard plenty of horror stories, which is why I didn't mention their name in the first post. I suspected that would have derailed the thread. Although I'd very much like to avoid them, as their customer service is extremely poor, and their reputation for contract chicanery hardened, if my choice is between Sallie Mae, credit cards, and no school at all, I am going to choose Sallie Mae. P+1 is a good rate, and it appears as if my concerns about high margins in the absence of employment or cosigners may be unfounded.</p>

<p>The big banks are not as well positioned as one might think. Their losses from bad loans are staggering, and their massive workforces are costing them tons of money now that the market has contracted. I was holding out hope for loans from smaller lenders that never entered the high risk mortgage market, and still have profitable balance sheets and money to lend.</p>

18

<p>No attending a CC will not affect going to an Ivy league law school. Plenty of UC/CSU transfers once went to a community college and now are at t14 law schools (since you mentioned you are in Cali). It's pretty much a known fact that most people go to CC first then transfer in California.</p>

<p>Only other thing I can think of is a personal loan from a credit union. But you probably won't be able to take out enough to pay for a full four years.</p>

<p>I suggest going to a CC for one to two years and getting a guaranteed transfer to a CSU/UC/Private. Next year you will be 23 and everything will be fine. And all your credits will definitely transfer.</p>