Studen Loan - Harrasment?

[tinkar]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota -

Early last week I recieved a call from a 3rd party bill collecter about my 6k student loan that I have gone default on.

They originally said I could pay it in full and they would drop it to 5k instead of 6k, and that I had 2 days to decide/pay or else they would have a meeting and my account would be reviewed for wage garnishment.

Now I have talked to them, a week later, and they said that I qualify for monthly payments and they usually make you pay 30-40% down (around 2-3 grand) of teh loan - then you can make payments... but since im "a special case" they are only doing 20 or so percent, which is about 1300 down with 90/month payments.

How much would they garnish, i know 25% is the max they can do, but if i pay this ammount is it really worth it? Would i be better off letting them garnish since i cannot afford the 1,300 "down" on my loan?

Is there any way to pay my debt off directly and not dealing with this 3rd party company? (So i dont have to pay extra)

And they also have called my work, what are the laws on that, can i tell them not to call and then they legally cannot?


Im 100% able to start paying this back, but i just cant afford the large sum of money they want off the bat, and im not sure what to do, i have untill thursday (of this week, 2 days from now) to get back to them... any help?


Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you very much