More from Alan Collinge about that article

Hey All,

I'm still pissed about that piece published in the NYTimes yesterday. Its this type of non-starter, hand wringing article that breaks no new news, and simply repeats what the fake student advocates like Lauren Asher, Deanne Loonin, et al that we DON'T need.

The piece never mentions that Mark Kantrowitz makes his money from lenders and schools, either. People need to know this.

The reporter, Tamar Lewin, is new on the beat, and obviously needs to hear about the real issue from us, the borrowers. So I'm going to take the liberty of giving you all, the people she NEEDS to hear from, her personal email address. USE IT. MAKE HER FEEL YOUR PAIN.

tawin49@gmail.com


Also, please donate. We need it:

http://www.studentloanjustice.org/pac.htm

This articles DOES suck! Student debt a healthy investment???

Reading this made me want to vomit in rage. If Susan Dynarski was a man, I would punch him right in the face. Good to see the NY Times prints such wonderful articles. It really does anger me. Healthy investment? For many people, just being able to pay off the electric or phone bills...that's a healthy investment. Being able to pay for decent health insurance and auto coverage, that's a healthy investment. Paying for a scam that keeps growing in drowning debt...seriously Dynarski, you are very misguided. But, judging from your position at the University of Michigan, you really wouldn't know what good and bad debt truly feels like. Make your own assessment, people, but don't just sit there and scratch your heads. Voice your opinion. The longer everyone just stalls, the longer this problem continues to thrive and the NY Times will continue to belittle the problem and sweep us under the rug. The insanity continues as long as you let it.

NCO

A slight change in topic but I'm well aware of the notorious NCO. So, I thought I'd share what I know about them and list a few numbers. Now, I advocate taking care of all your other debts...phone bills, electric, medical, etc...because having a wolf on your case like NCO in addition to Sallie Mae...could be just enough to put you into the mental institution.

But here is what I found out about:

NCO has changed their return address...
OLD:
NCO Financial Systems, Inc.
507 Prudential Rd
Horsham, PA 19044-2308

NEW:
NCO Financial Systems Inc
P O box 15630
Dept 99
Wilmington DE 19850

Although on the envelope, it'll just have the PO box info, since by now, they should know having NCO on the envelope would ruin the surprise. What they didn't realize is that the address can be punched into Google. At which point, a simple 'Does not live here at this address' can be written on and NCO will be thrown off for a while. Not a long term solution, but at least it'll save you stress when checking mail. Same goes for medical bill collectors.

The number for which NCO has called from, either from NCO or the name Antoine Jefferson:
1-800-709-8625

There is also a number from an MCO (not sure if its linked) that uses 1-800-708-8625.

The complaints about NCO are long...as well as their practices such as trying to revive "zombie debt", trying to collect off debts of the deceased, lying about bank overdrafts to get routing numbers and all sorts of wonderful tricks to get money. And at times, they go after people who owe nothing at all.

For more stories about NCO, go here.

And again, if you want to avoid a wolf like NCO, just please take control of your finances, pay your bills on time because like Sallie Mae, these guys just aim to make life miserable. And again, I don't advocate not paying debt or running away, I'm just giving out this info because I've had additional debt collectors after me.

I hit gravel on my road bike...a 2 hour wait in the ER, 6 stitches and my bill was over $1000. Luckily, I gave them my Google number (which I highly recommend for these scenarios) which acts as your personal secretary...when a collector calls my Google number, a voice asks for them to ID themselves and the message they leave is immediately put into text and emailed to me. I've avoided the stress of several medical bill collectors trying to use 'unknown caller' status.

I'm gradually paying it off since medical services were rendered and I believe in paying off what I owe...I just don't need or want a collector hounding me on the phone 5 times a day, saying they want the full balance paid off.

So with that, that's why I felt like writing about NCO. So once again, make life a little easier by keeping NCO out of it.