Reccommended Advocates and Counsellors

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Thank you John at CFW

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URL: https://www.canadastudentdebt.ca/forum_posts.asp?TID=6448
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Topic: Thank you John at CFW

Posted By: Lanie
Subject: Thank you John at CFW
Date Posted: 28/May/2012 at 4:09am

I remember the screams of my children as I walked across the stage and collected my diploma with honours. I remember the permanent smile I had on my face when the letter from the Minister of Education came in my mailbox with hearty congratulations and a cheque for all my hard work, however I am not even sure of the date that I came home to a "notice" stuck on my door. Yep, you can ignore the collection calls but you can't ignore when someone comes to you door and hands you papers - not with a heartfelt congratulations, but a "HI, you are being sued on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada."

Can you say "FREAK OUT!!!!" I graduated in 2005 and I was proud of all my hard work. I applied for interest relief and received it. I then applied again as my job was new and I wasn't making that much...and I received it. Then after the time period was up, I got my first invoice from HRDC. $785 a month! I called and was told to submit paperwork. I did and was told I could afford to pay that. I had 3 children, I was a single mom and if SOMEONE could find me an additional $785 a month I would be forever grateful.

I am a good person, I follow rules, abide by the law but 3 months after trying desperately to make those payments, I stopped and went into default. I wanted to pay my loans, but couldn't. Flash forward 6 years. I file income tax. YAY...quite a big chunk goes to paying off my student loans. I am pleased and then I come home to the notice.

I am forever indebted to the help, hand holding, calming down and education that John has been able to pass my way. He has been uber patient with my OCD need to know everything. His knowledge of student loans far surpasses anything I was able to find on the internet (which is how I ran across his information). John has been able to get my payments down to an amount that I CAN afford, he has been there on my behalf, working behind the scenes and getting a fair deal where I was told that no fair deal was to be found.

It is hard to put your trust in someone that you will not meet, someone that you may just talk to via email, maybe once or twice on the phone. I am a cautious person and after my experience with CSL I am more than leery and was scared to hand over that authority (yep OCD again) BUT if there is one thing that you do before you do anything in terms of your Canada Student Loan or even your Provincial Student Loan, give John a call. He will get you started down the right path.

Thanks again John.

Replies:

Posted By: RidOfCollectionA
Date Posted: 29/May/2012 at 3:41am

Lanie, I am glad your problem got resolved.
I also got a real big help from John, just recently. Here is the story:
Even though I was a full time student, there was a mistake with the schedule 2 I sent and my loans went to repayment. The federal portion accepted a rehabilitation program and that part went back to interest free status, but the provincial loan went to a collection agency.
If you reading this, then you know the level of stress and anxiety that goes with dealing with this situation, so I don't need to tell you what hell I was going through.
I called OSAP, CIBC, the collection agency and tried to make them understand that this is all a bad mistake, but for THREE FULL YEARS each of them threw me to the other one like a ball. Without exaggeration I had called each of them a hundred times, with no result.
Meanwhile, I kept receiving the calls from the collection, with their damned humiliating and threatening tone and content of speech. Not mentioning the letters that would threaten recommendation to Ontario Student Loan to sue me!
At this point I realized I am in real danger here and should get help. Through searching online, found John LeBlanc (CFW group). After some e-mail exchange and one or two phone conversations, we called CIBC together. That one phone call was enough for the OSAP to recall the loan back from collection! It was like a miracle! I am so relieved now. All that mountain of stress is gone by that one phone call and you know how much it cost me? Less than $90!!!!
I should tell you that John was so nice that every time we were on the phone together he would spend a good chunk of his time calming me down and giving me tips to manage my stress and anxiety, so he didn't just provide me with assistance as mediator, he also helped me deal with the situation psychologically.

Thanks a lot John!

If you are out there, needing help with your student loans, I certainly recommend John.

Cheers,

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RidOfCollectionAgency, finally!