<p>My girlfriend finished her bachelors of arts degree and is over 30k in debt and doesn’t have a job. She is doing her best to look for a job, but being in Michigan and not willing to live further from her family she’s had a tough go of things. I must say that I am truly stunned at how incredibly unethical and parasitic that the collection agencies are. I’ve generally thought I had a pretty good grasp of the world, but harassing people to the point of depression doesn’t seem like an effective way to run a collection agency. She was on the phone with them today for over 4 hours. I was just wondering what free services were available for people in this situation.</p>
<p>Is it federal student loans? There are programs for deferring the loans or having the payments based on income. However you generally need to apply for these programs before the loan is late or in default.</p>
<p>Has she given these folks a call?
[A</a> non-profit organization offering confidential and immediate debt solutions and counseling | GreenPath Debt Solutions](<a href=“http://www.greenpath.com/]A”>http://www.greenpath.com/)</p>
<p>She needs to get a handle on this. She should not allow herself to be harassed for four hours by bill collectors. She does need to get a handle on things, though. GreenPath is a good suggestion. What she does not want to do is ignore the situation.</p>
<p>She also needs to consider her future. If there are no jobs in her area, she may need to seriously consider looking farther from home.</p>
<p>Part of the problem has been she hasn’t been very open about the problem, and it’s really hurt the relationship. My guess is that they aren’t government loans.</p>