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Student Loans:  They’ll Want the Money Back

More people are aware of the serious issue with student debt, especially with the non-dischargeable nature of the debt.  But with this era of too many societal promises/too little money, I was surprised at the report that the US Department of Education actually requested a SWAT team raid a house looking for a delinquent borrower.  There are a few caveats that I'll provide as I link this article:

• It's from the Drudge Report, which presumes a certain sensational quality about the news or it wouldn't be there;
• It's highly unlikely that such an overkill raid was solely in response to a simple delinquency situation.  Did the borrower have a history of making threats or carrying weapons?  There's much that's not disclosed in the article and it would be helpful to know, although I doubt that we ever will.
• Were there other issues, such as fraud in a large amount?
• Another news report states that the Department of Education denied that it pertained to delinquent loans, but instead to a criminal investigation. 

The feds asked for a raid and got it, but no explicit reason as to why. 

There is something to take away from this article however.  While I don't expect there to be routine raids on a parent's house because Junior is now a year late on repaying the student loans - the default rate is now more than 13% - they will want the money back and will actively take measures to obtain it.  The Internal Revenue Service hired more staff to pursue tax revenues and there is no doubt that the same will happen here.  In this new world, the money will be most actively pursued from the most voiceless and least organized, the young.

This is something that I'll remember as we consider the higher education alternatives.

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