By Victor Omondi
(Source YourBlackWorld):
Angela Powell met her “prince” while she was a freshman in college. She fantasized of a joy-filled marriage, a thriving career, and a couple of wonderful children. After graduation, she wedded and started on the other two, joining business school while her spouse pursued his law degree, before settling down in Arizona to have a family.
They opted to merge their loans through a new Department of Education program for married people about the same time. The benefits were numerous: a cheaper interest rate on their loan and only one monthly payment to stress about.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal because we’re going to pay all this off. We’re going to be married forever, right?” Powell said. “Fast-forward to the housing market crisis in 2009/2010. Not a happy marriage anymore. Everybody loses their jobs.”
Powell’s relationship with her ex-husband deteriorated after the split. According to NPR’s analysis of the documents, he has not made monthly payments on the loan since 2016. Regardless of the fact that he had originally borrowed nearly twice as much as she had. They’re now liable for roughly $200,000 in total, more than five times the amount of Powell’s first loan, thanks to consolidation.
“I’m stuck with having this thing on my back,” laments Powell, “and knowing that at the end of the day, if he chooses not to pay, guess what? My monthly payment is $1,942.50.”
More over 14,000 borrowers took part in the short-lived initiative, which was shut down by Congress in 2006. It sounded like a simple idea: couples could consolidate their debts into a single monthly payment with a reduced rate. The issue arose when attempting to divide loans in the event of divorce or domestic violence. There is no way for the system to untangle the debts.
“It seems pretty straight-forward. If you can put something together, you can take it apart,” says Patrick Stebly. He’s been in this predicament since his divorce in 2013, and he’s spent the previous five years trying to make things better for the rest of everyone.
Stebly’s efforts have led to legislation to address the issue. The law would allow joint loans to be divided proportionately depending on the initial money borrowed in circumstances of divorce or domestic abuse. Nearly a half-dozen families in this predicament told NPR that this is the solution they’ve been looking for.
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