My situation is likely similar to many others, although
perhaps my debt load was bigger than average. After completing my undergraduate
and masters degrees, all financed through student loans, my student loan debt
was in the neighborhood of $35,000 federally, $20,000 provincially (B.C.). In
addition, I got a $40,000 student line of credit from RBC along the way,
bringing my total debt to close to $100K.
I actually did manage to obtain employment in my field
within a year or so after graduating, but was barely living paycheque to
paycheque living in the city and also making monthly payments on the line of
credit (there was no getting around that). I quickly ran out of the various
student loan programs (interest free status, loan remissions, etc.) which I eventually
didn’t qualify for due to my income anyway.
So I found myself in a pretty hopeless situation – over
$50,000 in student loan debt and no feasible way to make payments, didn’t
qualify for any programs, etc. I was starting to get the collection letters and
they started calling me at work. Not knowing what to do or where to turn, I
came about the CanadaStudentDebt website and learned of John Leblanc and CFW
Group.
I gave it a shot. The first thing that happened was John had
his lawyer draft letters to all my various lenders (and collection agencies)
informing them he was representing me now and to only send or phone correspondence
to him. To me, those letters alone were worth the price of his services. That
was a huge relief. Yes, I would still occasionally get calls or letters, but it
was super nice being able to tell them simply to contact John rather than try
to deal with them myself.
Then the process started of information gathering,
limitations studies, etc. Similar to others’ stories I’ve read, this is a long
and uncertain process. For me, it lasted 6 years and included long stretches of
not hearing anything. There were times when I wondered if I’d made the right
decision. But the one constant throughout was that I knew of any trouble occurred,
I could turn to John.
For example, at one point the CRA phoned my employer
threatening to garnish my wages. This was tremendously stressful and I can’t
imagine having to try to deal with this myself. John quickly pursued this, with
a combination of his own inquiries and utilizing his contacts in the CRA. The
situation de-escalated.
There were other trials and tribulations along the way, but
the culmination was: John (and Heather) were able to obtain statute barred
status on the full amount(s) of both my federal and provincial loans. Yes, over
$50K statute barred. I’m still basically in disbelief. These loans have been
hanging over me for so long it seems incredible that they’re gone.
Would I have been able to obtain this result without John’s
help? I highly doubt it. I don’t know the (student loan) system and how to deal
with it, whereas John knows it inside out.
I think that’s what the CRA, collection agencies, etc. prey upon – this
lack of knowledge in the average borrower. So they can easily intimidate you.
When you get someone knowledgeable like John working with you, this advantage
for them is eliminated.
If you’re fairly confident in your knowledge of the student
loan system and how to deal with it, then you may not need John’s help. But if
you’re like me and don’t know it, and are intimidated about how to deal with
it, I highly recommend getting John’s help. Obviously I ended up with an ideal
result, but even if I hadn’t got the full statute barred result and only got a
settlement, I still would have been satisfied with John’s services. Having him
in my corner throughout this process provided a semblance of peace of mind,
which I surely didn’t have before hiring him. That peace of mind alone was
worth it for me.
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