Student debt protests planned after armed marshals arrest man for old loans

[kscarbel2]

The Guardian / February 16, 2016

The US marshals’ office plans to serve more than 1,200 warrants for unpaid student loans as for-profit college students demand action in Washington

Seven US marshals armed with automatic weapons turned up at Paul Aker’s home in Houston, Texas, last week to arrest him over a $1,500 student loan debt dating back to 1987.

“It was totally mind-boggling,” Aker said. “I was wondering, why are you here? I am home, I haven’t done anything ... Why are the marshals knocking on my door? It’s amazing.”

Aker said he was arrested, shackled and taken to federal court. “I was told: ‘You owe $1,500.’ I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I was taken before a judge surrounded by seven marshals.”

Texas representative Gene Green, a Democrat, said it was unacceptable that US marshals are being used to collect decades old student loans. “There’s bound to be a better way to collect on a student loan debt that is so old,” he told the station.

Aker is unlikely to be the only person to be surprised by marshals collecting on student loans. A source at the marshal’s office told Fox 26 that it is planning to serve warrants on 1,200 to 1,500 people over student loan debts.

Student debts are at a record high, with 2015 graduates saddled with an average debt of $35,000. That level of debt is more than twice the amount US graduates had just two decades earlier, even adjusted for inflation.

About 40 million Americans have outstanding student loans.

The reports come as students and graduates are preparing for a series of meetings on the Capitol demanding action over escalating student debt. Students from Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit college company that went bankrupt last year, will on Wednesday be joined by students from other for-profit colleges including the Art Institutes, ITT Tech, and the University of Phoenix in a “fight back against educational debt” protest.

Last year, 15 former Corinthian students launched the nation’s first student debt strike, refusing to pay back loans incurred to attend for-profit Corinthian Colleges.

Arne Duncan, the former secretary of education, had said he would work to write off the students’ Corinthian loans and vowed to fight back against unethical businesses moving in higher education.

“You’d have to be made of stone not to feel for these students,” Duncan said last summer. “Some of these schools have brought the ethics of payday lending into higher education. This is our first major action on this but obviously it won’t be the last.”

The Corinthian students have accused the Department of Education of not working fast enough to fulfill Duncan’s pledge. “Eight months later, that promise remains unfulfilled,” the students said. “Instead of doing what is legally and morally right the Department of Education has engaged in bureaucratic delaying tactics to deny former students justice.”

Federal student loans often make up the vast majority of for-profit colleges’ revenue. They have been criticized for spending more of that money on marketing and recruitment than they do on education.

Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/42627-students-across-us-to-march-over-debt-free-public-college/page-2

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[kscarbel2]

What IS "totally mind-boggling" is that Mr. Akers took out a student loan in 1987 at the expense of fellow American taxpayers and doesn’t feel the need to meet his obligation to his countrymen of paying the money back.

It's all about traditional, generally-accepted ethics, morals and values........or rather the lack of them with these people.

[41chevy]

Countless students have gotten loans with absolutely no intentions of repaying them...ever. Can't see the fire power and the number of agents, but I agree with the actions.

[carlotpilot]

for a lousy 1500.00` it cost more than that for the marshalls to go pick him up. he must be a republican activist other wise he would never hear anything about it

[41chevy]

for a lousy 1500.00` it cost more than that for the marshalls to go pick him up. he must be a republican activist other wise he would never hear anything about it

http://www.fox26houston.com/news/local-news/92232732-story

[HeavyGunner]

Only in America can you be afforded the Privelege of borrowing money from our government to better yourself, not pay it back and be spun as the victim.

[grayhair]

for a lousy 1500.00` it cost more than that for the marshalls to go pick him up. he must be a republican activist other wise he would never hear anything about it

It's the principle of the thing, The government let him slide for 29 years and the guy just plain didn't pay his debt.

I pay my debts, my kids pay their debts. This guy is just a deadbeat. His parents are probably deadbeats too. Bad genes.

[m16ty]

If you ask me, this stinks to high heaven.

While people should be forced to repay their debt, kicking in doors does seem a little extreme. I can't go kick the door in of people that owe me money (as much as I'd like to).

I wouldn't doubt if this is a underhanded way for Obama to make the public cry about student loans so they can make college "free". If so, these protest are going just the way he wants.

He's been doing the same thing for illegals for some time now. Deportations are up just to make them cry for legal status.

[41chevy]

If you ask me, this stinks to high heaven.

While people should be forced to repay their debt, kicking in doors does seem a little extreme. I can't go kick the door in of people that owe me money (as much as I'd like to).

I wouldn't doubt if this is a underhanded way for Obama to make the public cry about student loans so they can make college "free". If so, these protest are going just the way he wants.

Since there is only a piddly $1.3 trillion of unpaid student loans (less interest) owed to the U.S. taxpayers, I'm not willing to forget it. ( the yearly amount collected of Federal taxes is $1,47 Trillion)

[m16ty]

I don't know why the government is in the business of loaning money anyway. I know they don't actually loan the money but they back the loan.

This is just the symptom of the big problem and the reason Bernie is doing so well in the polls. I think we may have passed a point we can't recover from. It's partly our fault for ever letting it get this far and raising kids that think everything should be "free". Notice I put "free" in quotes because my teachers taught me that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[Keith Pommerening]

There is a lot more to this story then meets the eye. Much more then someone, probably Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), collecting a long overdue student loan. Kscalbel2 talks about collecting money from PRIVATE school students with outstanding student loan debt. He mentions Corinthian College Inc. schools. They had several branches including WyoTech. More then half of the Corinthian schools, including WyoTech, are now owned by ECMC. ECMC claims to have collected over 4 billion and returned it to the U.S. Treasury. ECMC has also been accused of over aggressive collection tactics and paying themselves excessive bonuses.

The gooberment already has a program to forgive many student loans from those schools. They will even repay the money if the students actually paid on the loans.

Notice how there always seems to be a concerned democrat politician at the ready...

Does it appear to you that we are getting set-up for another government program to fix this disaster? Looks like they are using the same "road map" that was used to enact Obamma Care scam.

[kscarbel2]

There is a lot more to this story then meets the eye. Much more then someone, probably Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), collecting a long overdue student loan. Kscalbel2 talks about collecting money from PRIVATE school students with outstanding student loan debt. He mentions Corinthian College Inc. schools. They had several branches including WyoTech. More then half of the Corinthian schools, including WyoTech, are now owned by ECMC. ECMC claims to have collected over 4 billion and returned it to the U.S. Treasury. ECMC has also been accused of over aggressive collection tactics and paying themselves excessive bonuses.

The gooberment already has a program to forgive many student loans from those schools. They will even repay the money if the students actually paid on the loans.

Notice how there always seems to be a concerned democrat politician at the ready...

Does it appear to you that we are getting set-up for another government program to fix this disaster? Looks like they are using the same "road map" that was used to enact Obamma Care scam.

Keith, I didn't talk (write) about that, rather the news article did.

But I think it is a generally known fact that there is an ocean of individuals with overdue student loans. Paul mentioned the figure $1.3 trillion. Like any loan, they need to be paid back. There's a generally accepted principle here......pay your debts.

[Keith Pommerening]

http://www.fox26houston.com/news/local-news/92232732-story

Still don't know if this guy man-upped and repaid the money he borrowed and spent. Poor reporting, I think they are trying to lead one to form an opinion of their choosing.

[gicknordon]

Like someone else mentioned, I don't really see the need to send marshals out for $1500, but the guy definitely needs to pay his loan back. Can't they just take it from his wages? I feel like that would be a cheaper way to do it, without causing the raucous that sending armed marshals causes.

As far as people not paying their loans back, I think the problem is that so many don't have the means to pay them back. I can't say that I feel that bad for the people that got huge loans to take liberal arts degrees, but at the same time, we are told from from day one that college is the only way to succeed in life. It's still their fault for choosing a major that won't make them any money, but I feel that this situation would be different if college wouldn't be pushed as hard as it has been for the last decade or two. There are many better choices for a career path rather than college.

I myself, along with my Fiance, will have a combined debt of about $50,000 once I graduate in the spring. The difference between us and many other kids, is that we picked majors that will allow us to make enough money to pay the loans back in a few years. I haven't even graduated yet, and got an offer for a job that I will make probably more than someone my age should be making.

[MHfred]

I saw the "rest of the story" someplace on the news. The scum bag had ignored summons or something similar to appear in court about the debt. They showed him sitting in a nice kitchen playing on an Apple laptop. He could have paid off most of that debt with what the laptop cost. He got what he deserved. I do not understand why reporters report only half of a story. Oh yes, I do.

[HeavyGunner]

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As far as people not paying their loans back, I think the problem is that so many don't have the means to pay them back. I can't say that I feel that bad for the people that got huge loans to take liberal arts degrees, but at the same time, we are told from from day one that college is the only way to succeed in life. .

Like the old saying goes, if everyone told you to jump off a bridge would you? I adimently disagree with your point. If you can't afford to pay it back don't borrow it. Sounds like the same excuse i heard when the housing market tanked. People didn't want to pay back the huge mortgage that was way beyond their means because at that moment in time they were upside down in it. Once again not my problem. You borrow it you pay it back.

[gicknordon]

Like the old saying goes, if everyone told you to jump off a bridge would you? I adimently disagree with your point. If you can't afford to pay it back don't borrow it. Sounds like the same excuse i heard when the housing market tanked. People didn't want to pay back the huge mortgage that was way beyond their means because at that moment in time they were upside down in it. Once again not my problem. You borrow it you pay it back.

I'm not saying they shouldn't pay it back, or that its not their fault for taking a loan they couldn't pay back. Even if they don't have the means, its still their responsibility to pay the loans back. I just think that with better information, and a different mind set in high school, we wouldn't be in the situation that we are in now. If from the time that you were in kindergarten you were told over and over again that college is the only way to success, to the point of guidance counselors actively steering people away from vo-tech, don't you think that at least a few of these kids were brainwashed? The culture has become so negative towards any kind of skilled labor that nobody wants to go into those fields anymore. I really admire people like Mike Rowe, because he is pushing something different than college, which is a better path for many people than a useless college degree.

All I'm saying is that if college wasn't pushed so hard, there wouldn't be as many kids with loans they never should have taken.

[HeavyGunner]

I agree college isn't necessarily the best path for everyone and vocational skills shouldn't be dismissed. in the end though, everyone has a choice to make and have to weigh out the pros and cons and that's where parenting comes in. It seems to me that everyone has their hand out in some way shape or form and always wants someone else to pay for it since the world is t fair. This is coming from an uneducated truck driver in his mid 30's with no loans other than my mortgage which is nearly paid off, no vehicle loans and about $6k in a student loan through WF (my wife just started her first year teaching this year) which will be paid off this year. I'm not trying to toot my own horn but I want to make the point clear I live with in my means. I drive older used vehicles instead of new ones like most my friends, I don't go on trips or vacations unless I have cash to do so. I'm not looking for pity in fact I'm proud that I'm not in debt up to my eyeballs like most people I know. More people need to live within their means and see how freeing it is not working to just scrape by, to see how much more fulfilling life is when have to wait and save up to buy something. Just my two cents. Have a good one.

[41chevy]

One problem is the high schools push college and degrade a vocational path. Saw it with my son and my grandsons.

[gicknordon]

I agree college isn't necessarily the best path for everyone and vocational skills shouldn't be dismissed. in the end though, everyone has a choice to make and have to weigh out the pros and cons and that's where parenting comes in. It seems to me that everyone has their hand out in some way shape or form and always wants someone else to pay for it since the world is t fair. This is coming from an uneducated truck driver in his mid 30's with no loans other than my mortgage which is nearly paid off, no vehicle loans and about $6k in a student loan through WF (my wife just started her first year teaching this year) which will be paid off this year. I'm not trying to toot my own horn but I want to make the point clear I live with in my means. I drive older used vehicles instead of new ones like most my friends, I don't go on trips or vacations unless I have cash to do so. I'm not looking for pity in fact I'm proud that I'm not in debt up to my eyeballs like most people I know. More people need to live within their means and see how freeing it is not working to just scrape by, to see how much more fulfilling life is when have to wait and save up to buy something. Just my two cents. Have a good one.

I completely agree with everything in your post. I'm going to have a good chunk of change to pay off starting this summer, and I plan on living scarcely until it is paid off. I hope to stay in a similar situation as you after that; little to no debt.

[Jarhead Enterprises]

I was able to achieve a Bachelors of Science and a Master of Science in Business and Finance at SUNY Institute of Technology. I work and slaved and paid for it 100% by MYSELF. I drove dump truck and dump trailer 40 hours a week DURING school and 70-90 hours a week when I was not in school. I also worked as a bartender in the college pub, had my own snow plowing business with 2 trucks and did odd jobs for cash whenever I could. In short I hustled and saved every dollar I made and left college owing $0.00. When everyone else was laying in bed or goofing off I was working. There was no payment plan "B" and I took 16-20 hours every semester so I could get done as soon as possible and still made the dean's list.

You are entitled to NOTHING! The world owes you NOTHING! The U S Government owes you NOTHING!

When people ask me how I decided on the college I attended I told them simply it was the one I could afford. If you are so stupid that you take out huge loans and spend $200,000+ on an Ivy League education with some bullshit degree at the end that qualifies you to make $25,000 per year why is that the tax payers problem. If you are that stupid you shouldn't be in college anyway.

Despite what the Democrats are telling the growing number of misguided low information looters and moochers there is NO SUCH THING AS FREE! The government cannot give anything to anybody without first taking it from the taxpayer.

The only road to real success is paved and EARNED with hard work.

[kscarbel2]

One of the factors is that the younger generations of people today have never known hardship. Those in their 80s and 90s recall the depression when you were glad to have a potato, and World War 2 which brought rationing, food stamps, scrap metal drives and letters from the War Department notifying next-of-kin.

While Korea was somewhat ignored by an America enjoying the roaring 50s, when most homes became equipped with TVs and refrigerators, Vietnam again brought "reality" into the minds of many Americans.

But the kids born, shall we say post-1980?, have no clue or interest in how challenging life can be. These individuals, from all income levels, not only take life and our country's good fortune for granted, but many either don't want to work, or expect to start half-way up the ladder.

Look at the condition of America today. It leaves me speechless.

[m16ty]

When the housing bubble busted, I never understood all the people just walking away from their houses. Most had jobs and could afford the payment but they owed more than their house was worth so they just walked away. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I wish somebody would give me a rational explanation on why this would be a good idea.

I don't know what my place is worth right now or back then. If you aren't trying to sell, does it really matter?

[thomastractorsvc]

I bought and sold a couple houses during that time. First house September 2007 was sitting empty for about a 6 months and made offer to the builder at $140K, after I retired from the Army sold it for $298K in July 2009 and moved to Kansas City Area. We bought a house in July 2009 that a property company got at a foreclosure auction in 2008. We paid exactly what they paid for it at the foreclosure auction. $232K, according to Zillow it is worth $337,595 a 45% gain since 2009 and Zillow foretasted in the next year a 3.2% gain in value to be $348,499.

Point being I am not a real estate expert but all of those people who walked away should have stuck it out as with everything eventually the market will correct. You also have to have a place to live. I read a lot about the real estate market at that time and most people walked away from the houses and started paying rent at nearly the same dollar amount. With the vast majority only saving the home ownership maintenance costs. We have a home warranty we kept up with and although it costs about $500 a year it has replaced our A/C and fixed the furnace and a few other things.

I was looking for some pictures of the house I bought in 2007.

Then when we got ready to sell in 2009.

[Mcrafty1]

I agree college isn't necessarily the best path for everyone and vocational skills shouldn't be dismissed. in the end though, everyone has a choice to make and have to weigh out the pros and cons and that's where parenting comes in. It seems to me that everyone has their hand out in some way shape or form and always wants someone else to pay for it since the world is t fair. This is coming from an uneducated truck driver in his mid 30's with no loans other than my mortgage which is nearly paid off, no vehicle loans and about $6k in a student loan through WF (my wife just started her first year teaching this year) which will be paid off this year. I'm not trying to toot my own horn but I want to make the point clear I live with in my means. I drive older used vehicles instead of new ones like most my friends, I don't go on trips or vacations unless I have cash to do so. I'm not looking for pity in fact I'm proud that I'm not in debt up to my eyeballs like most people I know. More people need to live within their means and see how freeing it is not working to just scrape by, to see how much more fulfilling life is when have to wait and save up to buy something. Just my two cents. Have a good one.

Well said.