Student loans are one of the most hairy issues throughout the United States. This is true up to the point where people may lose their homes because of it. In this case we find that an 85 year old woman, Rebecca Finch, may soon be homeless because of one of these loans.
It was her daughter Sabrina, 20 years ago now, who took out a student loan so she could finish her nursing degree. As a result, Rebecca could now lose her home and find herself in a very unpleasant and disadvantaged situation at 85 years of age. There is no doubt that no one wants to find themselves in such a situation, let alone at such an advanced age.
Why might Rebecca Finch lose her home due to the student loan?
In the past year 2004 Rebecca’s daughter started her nursing studies, but soon after she realized that Sabrina had financial problems. The daughter could not pay all the expenses related to her studies without problems, so in the end the solution they came up with was to apply for the student loan.
The goal was none other than to put aside all the precarious jobs and to be able to forget, at least until she started working, about all the expenses of her studies. But that ideal situation turned out to be the opposite years later. The $17,600 Sabrina applied for as a student loan could mean the loss of Rebecca’s home today.
The main problem with the situation is that several years later, as she turns 53, Sabrina has mental health issues that affect her ability to both work and repay her student loan. Navient, the company that provided the loan, has written off the debt to Sabrina because of her disability, but Rebecca also signed the contract and therefore still has to pay the debt today.
Rebecca, who is now 85 years old, is unable to cope with the situation. She currently collects a pensioner’s benefit of around $1,650, but has expenses related to her day-to-day life and her mortgage. Therefore, the debt of around $31,000 that she has due to the student loan may cause her to end up losing the house.
The biggest problem in this situation is that Rebecca co-signed the student loan contract. In the event that the primary borrower cannot afford to pay the debt, the co-signer has to pay. If she does not pay, Rebecca may end up losing her home as payment for the entire debt.
