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Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by patio11 on Sunday October 11, 2015 @07:49PM (#10371697)
Student loans are at below-market interest rates and are guaranteed to be available in quantity. The market does not generally offer non-secured signature loans for $20k to $140k to people with no credit history or limited credit history and no income. When it does, it charges literally 10+% more.
Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by steven2012 on Monday October 12, 2015 @01:41PM (#10375976)
But they are secured. Meaning that if you don't pay, your wages will get garnished, etc. You can't dispose of the debt, so how is that not secured?
Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by PeterisP on Monday October 12, 2015 @02:56PM (#10376360)
They are unsecured in that there's no collateral that can be "quickly" (<1 year) repossessed to recover most of the loan, just as any other unsecured debt - credit cards and other consumer lending.

The differences in bankruptcy are not relevant; for student loans the lender can easily be unable to pay for the rest of their lives, thus it's classified as unsecured loan.

Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by kefka on Sunday October 11, 2015 @08:10PM (#10371762)
I only care at what the banks' interest percentage is. Student loans should be at that. And that's 0.25%

Student loans are 8%. And that's bullshit. Theyre making 8% on us for absolutely nothing. And they get guaranteed repayment, since default risk is 0 due to garnishments.

Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by tptacek on Sunday October 11, 2015 @08:46PM (#10371880)
This doesn't sound right. The markets are populated with people who will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to outcompete other firms for sub-penny advantages on trades, and, contrary to popular belief, the largest and most successful of those firms are not making so much money that they're upending the finance industry.

So if somebody is making 8% for doing "absolutely nothing", can you explain why somebody else isn't taking them to the cleaners by offering to do the same nothing for 7.9%?

Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by kefka on Monday October 12, 2015 @05:59AM (#10373513)
That's because the interest rate is set by Congress. Captive audience.

In essence, there's no reason to.

Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by nordsieck on Sunday October 11, 2015 @08:24PM (#10371802)
It's not true that there's zero risk. As they say - "you can't get blood from a stone".

There are plenty of people who just don't pay their loans and make so little money there is no realistic recourse for the banks.

Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by kefka on Monday October 12, 2015 @06:00AM (#10373520)
Unfortunately, the recourse is a lifetime of garnishment. That may (and can) include garnishment of Social Security.
Re:A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower by rtpg on Monday October 12, 2015 @11:44PM (#10378450)
That 0.25% is for a 24-72 hour loan, not for a multi-year loan. If you spread it out, that's a 25% yearly interest rate. You want that rate?