– Meet Janet Dupree:72, Alcoholic, HIV-Positive, $16,000 In Student Debt: “I Won’t Live Long Enough To Pay It Off” (ZeroHedge, Oct 23, 2014):
One would think that Janet Lee Dupree, 72, a self-professed HIV-infected alcoholic, would be slowly putting aside material worries as she prepares to set the intangibles in her life in order for one last time. One would be wrong.As she admits, “I am an alcoholic and I have HIV,” she tells the BBC. “That’s under control.” What is the cause of most if not all consternation in the final days of Dupree’s life? “I was sick and I didn’t worry about paying back the debt.” As a result, Dupree defaulted on her loan, and since she turned 65 she has had money withheld from her Social Security benefits. “Just recently I received a notification that they are going to garnish my wages because I am still working,” says Dupree, who works 30 hours a week as a substance abuse counsellor. The debt in question: Dupree owes $16,000 in student loans she acquired in 1971 and 1972.
“I will never live long enough to pay off my loan.”
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Well, as I have tried to tell another who has paid nothing on her student loans since graduating in the early 1990s, going for deferments again and again (regardless they could afford to pay on them) with that philosophy, the government will go after their estate for the money. Her heirs will be hit with the now considerable loan debt. Had she paid on it over the past few years when they were making very good money, it would be resolved by now, but for some reason, they never had the money for the student loans. I don’t get it…..I have wondered how that is possible…….but those in control of the student loans are watching them grow, and for them, bad news is good.
She is also 70, and has the same philosophy as the person you describe. I have tried to tell her the government will go after her heirs, and she says she knows what she signed, and that isn’t in the deal. I think she is delusional….just like the one you describe. For greedy guts, bad news is good, and they don’t mind letting the numbers get bigger so they can sell them on Wall Street.
I sometimes get petitions to sign. One was on this very subject, and I refused to sign. This one has HIV and is an alcoholic and won’t live long enough…..they will go after her heirs or family members, regardless of the families and income. The clowns who wrote up these loans have made them bullet proof to enrich investors.
All I can say to these people is they need to do something if they have any family they care about. It is wrong to sit back and do nothing. She didn’t mind taking the money. Just like deferred taxes, the rate of interest is quite high, much higher than greedy gut bankers pay each other. The reason is simple.
Over a year ago, the UK started packaging loan packages to sell on Wall Street. To keep up AAA rating, they now include student loans in those mortgage backed securities, auto loans, credit card debt, and so on. The US quickly followed. So, it has become a deal for greedy guts to sell, and there is no way any person with student loans will get out of them. They are now part of the sub prime market game.
I was told excitedly they were going to forgive the student loan debts by this same person I referred to earlier. It won’t happen, it is a fantasy. Once greedy guts get into it…….I would not be surprised to see the IRS selling old debts as well. There is no integrity left in the system.
On the other hand, this person’s attitude shows no integrity, either.
I have no sympathy.