Despite all of the stories to the contrary, there are probably numerous honest people selling used cars. The same can’t be said about people who claim to be able to help families, for a fee, increase the amount of college financial aid they will receive.

If you’d guess that such scammers bilk families out of $100 million a year or more, you would be correct.

Because college costs scare nearly all of us, and because many people do not realize that there is money available to help them send their children to college, these scammers have found it very easy to find and exploit their victims.

First, families receive a letter from an organization with a name designed to sound like it was founded to help the families of college-bound students.

The letter doesn’t look like typical junk mail. The logo often looks like that of an Ivy League college, and the letterhead and paper are generally on fairly high quality paper. Like the con men behind them, the promotional materials look credible.

The letters generally start by appealing to fearby talking about the high cost of college.

Once they have stated the problem…paying for college…they assure you they can provide the solution. They may offer to “teach you the secrets of financial aid”, “locate millions of dollars in unused scholarships”, or otherwise help you take advantage of their special expertise.

The letters are not always the same, but one element is. They invite you to come to a hotel function room or other reasonably large venue to learn more about financial aid and scholarships, at no cost. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? If you think so, think again.

The gathering, whatever it is called, is a well rehearsed sales pitch. The gist…you need money, we can help you get it. And, nowhere do you get the one piece of information you need most…everything of value these people can offer you is available elsewhere, for free.

The group pitch is followed by individual meetings during which families are pressured to immediately pay for the services offered. Many yield to the pressure, writing checks in excess of $1,000 for a worthless set of services.

Every year, a new set of potential victims come along. But, you and your family can avoid these masters-of-rip-off by turning to the people who really do have your best interests at heart…school counselors and college financial aid professionals.

Most important of all, never pay anyone for financial aid advice or services. Never.

Most individuals or couples either currently have a mortgage on their home or will at some time in the future. One of the most important things you look at when getting a mortgage is the interest rate that will be charged on your mortgage loan. You’ll be making payments on your mortgage for many years, some as low as 10 years or up to 30 years. The interest rate you’re paying on the principal balance of your mortgage can really add up in dollars. In many cases, by time you’ve finished paying off your mortgage, you’ll have paid back twice the amount you originally borrowed. Scary thought, isn’t it? It’s sad but true and this is due to the interest you pay on your mortgage. There’s no way you can get around paying interest on a mortgage, which is why it’s imperative to get the best possible interest rate you can when you borrow money for your home.

When a bank borrows money for the purchase of a home, for their own protection, they usually will only borrow up to 80% of the value of the home. They’re not as concerned with the price of the home as they are the value of the home. In case of a foreclosure, it’s the value of the home that will concern them. If you are buying a home that’s valued at $100,000, they’ll borrow up to $80,000 towards the purchase. As the years go by, the balance of the loan decreases while the value of your home increases. If you’re considering refinancing your mortgage loan for extra cash, they’ll do an appraisal on your home. If your home is now valued at $120,000, they’ll borrow up to 80% of this amount, which is $96,000. If the balance of your mortgage is down to $70,000, you have $26,000 of extra equity on your home to borrow against or use as collateral. This is why many people choose refinancing mortgage loans as a way to pay off extra debts or get money for other expenses.

Refinancing mortgage loans is also used as a way to improve their credit scores and pay off other debts. By again using the equity in their home, they can redo their current mortgage and pay off debts at the same time, giving them less monthly payments. With less monthly payments, they are able to make the payments on time, thus improving their credit rating. Refinancing mortgage loans is used for debt consolidation more than any other reason.

There is one factor to keep in mind when you decide to refinance mortgage loans. When you get your original mortgage loan, the bank charges fees for required services such as appraisal of your home, title insurance and sometimes legal fees. These are usually one-time fees that are either added to your loan or paid at the closing of the loan. When you refinance mortgage loans with the same bank, you will not have to pay these costs again. However, a new bank will be starting from scratch and you’ll have to pay these costs again. So before you refinance your mortgage, consider all the options.

Another reason for a mortgage refinance loan is to consolidate their other debts with their mortgage loan. When the equity of your home is much higher than your current balance on your loan, you’re eligible for a debt consolidation or cash out with a mortgage refinance loan. Still another reason many choose a mortgage refinance loan is just to take advantage of lower interest rates. Many couples or individuals that have excellent credit rating do mortgage refinance loans every couple of years whenever they see the opportunity to get lower interest rates.

Most student loans that are given by governments and cannot be easily paid back may not always be paid off even if an individual files bankruptcy student loans. The only option open to such a defaulting student is proving considerable financial hardship, which is often quite difficult to prove. If you still want to file bankruptcy student loans, you need to prove that you are unable to pay off your student loan either according to repayment schedule, or in the coming years. Under these dire circumstances, you need to make what is called “good faith effort,” which means you will not lie to creditors regarding your financial situation, and that in spite of your best efforts, you still do not have enough funds to pay off your student loan.

The Ruling

Getting your bankruptcy student loans to be written off through such means basically depends on how the bankruptcy judge views your case, and if you are in luck, then you may get a judgment that will pave the way for these discharges either entirely or in part, though you still need to wait till the judgment before you try and get a new loan.

Most student loans are quite flexible and come with a number of options and this may be the reason why students take loans indiscreetly and then realize that they do not have the funds to pay back the loans. Since one of the options open to such students is bankruptcy student loans, it requires that they learn about what such a course of action means for them and they should realize that it is not possible to discharge federal loans through bankruptcy.

It is important to not that following some changes in the laws pertaining to bankruptcy student loans that came into effect in October 1994, it is now almost futile in choosing bankruptcy student loans as a way out of paying off student loans.

Applying for New Loans

The fact is that according to some estimates, it is believed that only ten percent of a borrowers pay can be used to pay off his or her student loan, which means that you should also discuss with the person or company that lent you the money to come up with a means that will help you out of your predicament. It is common to state certain reasons when filing bankruptcy student loans and these include the school or institution being closed, and also death of the borrower. Nevertheless, filing for bankruptcy student loans does not mean that financial aid administrators can refuse you a new loan because of a previous bankruptcy; though, your history of credit following your bankruptcy can decide whether you get a fresh loan or not.

The best option open to you when you are planning on filing bankruptcy student loans is to consult either the lender or the administrator in your school that handles student loans. There are also several websites of concerned authorities that can also help to find a workable solution for your financial woes.