Forgiving would be unfair and too costly.
I do support reducing the interest rates to zero or close to zero, for existing loans and new loans.

Doing this would be unfair to those that have already sacrificed substantially to pay their loans off. Changing the interest rate would also be very unfair. Neither of these ideas would do much to help the economy.

It always surprises me that there is this assumption that "wealthy" goes with "doctors and lawyers," and that this particular group of individuals can and SHOULD pay--regardless of the work they do. I am a public interest lawyer (and know a great many other public interst lawyers) who makes less than many teachers, police and firefighters--and most doctors and nurses. I know there are some loan repayment programs (mostly for other professions, including medical professionals), but not for all. I have NO loan assistance/forgiveness program available, and my loans are ASTRONOMICAL. My parents were not wealthy, and I had to figure out the financing of all my education myself. Incidently, I wanted to serve the public good from the moment I entered higher education. I have represented victims of domestic violence, abused and neglected children, and individuals who cannot afford private attorneys in a variety of domestic matters so they can assert the same legal rights and protection that rich folks can--and this is NOT well-paid work. Please do not assume or state things about a class of individuals, unless you really KNOW the situation of that class fully. I have lawyer friends that cannot afford to even own a home, and NONE OF US LEAD EXTRAVAGANT LIFESTYLES! No big vacations, fancy purchses, and my car (a saturn sedan) is 10 years old with over 200K miles. I cannot afford another one because of my student loan expense. Please consider this. I believe that loan re-payment assistance can and should be more widely available to those who serve the public good, and that includes LAWYERS!!!! Perhaps we really should question the meaning of "fair,"given the variety of circumstances out in the world.

Perhaps what can be better characterized as unfair is what the Deficit Reduction Act did to students after 2006. Since when was it a good idea to force loan-bearing students (arguably one of the poorest segments of the population) to bear the burden of reducing the deficit?

Would you call it fair to fix interest rates at historically high levels? Would you call it fair to remove the option to refinance loans at a lower rate? If anything, our current system of financing education discourages meritocracy and perpetuates a plutocracy.

But Zero, there was also a H-U-G-E push for borrowers to consolidate their various student loans at historically low interest rates. C'mon, some folks were locking in their rates at 4%. Even when rates were capped at 8.25% on a Direct Loan, 8.25% was still darn low, when compared to people who put their courses on a credit card (with potential 22.5% interest) because they couldn't get the full amount in loans and aid.

On the other hand, if Student Loans should be "forgiven" it should come with some serious strings - maybe a multi-year service community service requirement, treatment of the loan forgiveness as income for tax purposes (and then all of a sudden, entry-level grads unburdened of their loans would be slammed with a giant tax bill that they can't pay?), or something else, or maybe a combination of all of that.

I dunno... I paid the freight for my education, set up automatic payments to make sure that the loan was paid on time all the time, and paid it off early because I was wise with my money. Borrowers have TEN YEARS to repay after leaving school. I don't really agree with loan forgiveness, but could be convinced that borrowers perhaps be allowed to reammortize and/or interest-rate be renegotiated.

This is actually a very serious problem that is enslaving our young people with sometimes more than six figure debt before they can even begin their lives. This particularly devastates middle class students who have to pay such enormous payments that could instead be money that is injected into our economy through the purchases of new cars and homes, etc. At the very least, consumer bankruptcy protections should be restored to private student loans, as this is strangley the only personal debt that our citizens are not protected from. We are burdening our young people and our economy both until we take some much needed action. Please call and write your representativs immediately. www.congress.org

Although I do support canceling student loan debt and this movement...I can honestly say I would just appreciate a more understanding lender, that isn't forcing me into default with unreasonable, and frankly impossible repayment amounts. I understand that the debt is mine, and I'm not trying to get out of repayment. I financed my entire education through student loans, both private and federal. I was "advised" by my financial aid office when taking out the loans that now total over 100k, that there would be flexible, reasonable and fair repayment programs available to me upon repayment after I gradutated. As it turns out, my lenders expect me to pay over $1000 a month which is half of what I make. Even further than that, I can't ever talk to the same person twice, nor can I get the same information twice. They keep wanting me to put them into forbearance or apply for deferments, but that only prolongs the inevitable...I'd be more than happy to make a scheduled monthly payment that I can afford, but they won't accept anything I offer, based on what I can afford to pay. Because of all of this I feel quite a bit of disdain towards Sallie Mae and AES and I feel that they take complete and utter advantage of people who have no other choice but take out loans, if they want an education. I support canceling, but even further I support a complete overhaul of these lending institutions that are ruining my generation's futures.

What no one is taking into account is the fact that without these MASSIVE loan payments looming over our heads, whether they are in default or not, we would be able to do other things such as buy CARS and HOUSES. We could give up our second and third jobs that we're forced to take for the next 30 years and give them to everyone whose been laid off in the past few years. Everyone needs to step back and look at the bigger picture.

Bad precedent to set in my opinion. I graduated in '99 and have to make my once a month payment to Direct loans (Federal) so I'm not an uninvolved person in this. I just think we all took these loans out knowing we'd have to pay them back, and that $700+ Billion is a lot of money to just wish away. I'm sorry, but i don't think that;s how the real world works, or for that matter how it should work. I think I'll be a better person in 20 years when I finish paying them off - I can say I did this. Plus, I am making more now and it's not the burden it was for the first five years or so. Hang in there fellow loan re-payers - there are rewards to this discipline that transcend the financial.

I think like many of you do. It would be nice if we could at the very least refinance when the rates went down. I was shocked to learn that I could not refinance my loan when the rates dropped. It is clear to me that the politicians who wrote and passed this law were clearly not working for the people, they were working for the companies that were financing these loans. I need to buy a car too, I have two jobs and only have a couple of days off a month but can not afford the car because my payments are so high. It would be nice if the dept was gone but I would be happy if Congress would just change the laws to make it possible to pay the loans off with reasonable payments in a reasonable time. I never have enough to pay my full payment so my loan gets bigger every month rather than smaller. It is very discouraging.

How is this setting a bad precedent? We gave BILLIONS to Wall Street who continue to squander OUR money that we pay in taxes. I view this as a way for us to get back what we give- we all pay hundreds to thousands of dollars a year to the federal government in taxes, why not see some of it back in our pockets? My solution is this: you only get forgiven what the tuition was at the time of your attendance because if you're like me, you borrowed more than that to help pay for room and board and other incidental educational costs. And those who have already paid off their costs of education, an additional tax credit or deduction to put money into your pockets as well.

I pay $500 a month to student loans, and I know I am not alone. And most of that is to the interest. So yes, if my loans were forgiven I would have much more money to spend on other things. I am not a “rich doctor or lawyer” as the article claims either.

Forgive my debt and I will buy my house. I would stimulate the economy by fixing it up and furnishing it. I would also buy a car ...not fiance it.

PLEASE do something for elderly people with ancient student loan defaults.

As a student myself I do not think this would be a good idea. Just because someone has that extra money it doesn't mean they will use it on the things we need to stimulate the economy. I know if I we're in that situation I would definitely use it to pay down the other things that have been piling up since I started school. I just don't think this is a healthy option for anyone. We can;t just let this go without feeling the responsibility of we've done. Some student do not need the full amout that is awarded to them and if you need a good place to start, make it there.

I do not feel that the loans should be
forgiven, particularly Federal loans with
low interest rates. However, many students who were in school just as
tuition rates and other costs rose almost
50% in the last two yrs. of school had
to take out bank loans. Students who were not eligible for enough Federal
loans because of their parents' income were forced to take out private loans in order to graduate. If you got a deferment the fist year after school, and get behind now because of the economy and you are not making enough to pay your note,interest continues to mount. Then you add late fees. What began as an $80,000 loan, which could have been manageable in a better economy, is now
$120,000. My 28 yr. old son is living at home and driving a 10 yr. old car with 135,000 miles on it. It was not a matter
of a miscaculation regarding earning
potential, the economy has not been this bad since the Depression. The
banks made the loans very easy to get but the pay back, with interest, is crippling. New car, home, marriage,family? Not possible when payments
run $800/mo. He is paying $1,200/mo.and still doesn't know if there will everbe a light at the end of the tunnel. He does not expect a free ride. He got something for the money he borrowed. However,
something is wrong when the very bank he borrowed from was able to get a
bailout from the government and has now been able to pay back the government because of huge profits made off of
students like my son.
.

Mr. Kantrowitz is right to say that the law must immediately be repealed that prevents private student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy. On his website, however, he suggests a "reasonable compromise" -- that the loans be in repayment for five years. Senator Durbin has proposed legislation that is straightforward and puts the law back the way it was before 2005 when Sallie Mae bought the votes that stripped away our rights. These loans have no consumer protections, do have usurious interest rates upwards of 29 per cent, and have turned student debtors into lifetime indentured servants. I suggest that Mr. Kantrowitz re-think his eagerness to compromise away the rights of the very students he makes a living from.

I am thrilled that large groups are being formed around this issue. Student borrowers have been too silent, for too long: colleges have raised tuition at twice the rate of inflation for three decades. More importantly, all the consumer protections that we take for granted with other loans were taken away by Congress, and the lobbying muscle that the lending industry has grown over the years.

At StudentLoanJustice.Org, we are fighting to get these protections back, and also call for a reigning-in of the collection powers given to the industry by Congress.

Although we are focused on consumer protections, we do support initiatives such as this one- the citizens simply must stand up and become active on this issue.

Many distressed student borrowers do nothing but wait for the people in Washington DC to solve the problem for us...I've waited for 5 years now.

My guess, though, is that if the borrowers continue to be silent on this issue, we will be waiting a long time.

In some other countries the intellect and talents of citizens are considered natural resources, to be developed and brought to fruition so that they will benefit everyone. Higher education there, like our elementary and secondary education here, is paid for and free to those who are capable. Here in this country, too, it is worth noting that higher learning in some fields is valued over others and is free due to grants, etc. This is the background issue about student loans. What do we value? What do we want? Is it the amount of dollars in my pocket now or the full use of our natural resource of shared intellect and talent for the future?

Forgiving student loans or any kind of loan is ridiculous. This would only reaffirm to people that no one has to honor a commitment when borrowing a loan. These people signed promissory notes promising to repay the loan. If the student didn't read or wasn't able to comprehend, they have no business going to college in the first place. Why does everyone in this country think everything should be "free" or that they are "entitled"? That's like me saying---hey...I took out a mortgage on my house and a loan for my car. I don't feel that contract is valid now for whatever reason so let's give me a pass and I won't repay it. I'll keep the house and car, though. People in this country need to wake up and start being responsible. If you had to or chose to take out massive amounts of Federal loans and pile on private loans on top of that to get a degree, YOU chose that. No one forced you to go to the college or university you attended. No one told you to take out an extra $20,000 to live on for the year. I would love for someone to do some research on how much of this loan debt actually went to pay for college tuition and fees and how much went toward refunds to the student for "living expenses". Maybe that's what they should do, give a pass to those who put the loan money toward actual tuition/fees and all that refund money can still be repaid. I bet the majority of "loan forgiveness" supporters still wouldn't be happy.

As a lawyer that can't afford to pay my student loans at the normal rate ($1400/month) and also eat, I am sympathetic with the loan forgiveness argument. Perhaps interest rates for private and public loans should be capped at a reasonable rate (5%). Some of my loans are at 8%. In addition, all student loan interest should be tax deductable. Currently the interest is deductable up to $2500 a year, but former students like me pay much more than $2500.

I think all reasonable effort should be made to repay loans. However,studens such as myself who are a part of the baby boomer age (when financial aid was not the option that it is now), are facing the prospect of paying back loans from our social security and retirement checks. We went back to school at later ages becuase we could not afford it at 18 or 20. I think some consideration should be given to students who use loans to obtain degrees (perhaps limited to the first two or four year degree) at later stages in their lives, such as forgiving portions (if not all), lower interest rates, etc.

How about if the government forgives my mortgage? I worked full time to put myself through college. I went to a low cost community college for my AAS and transferred to a 4 year University with a cost per academic year of $3600. I worked hard to keep myself out of debt. Why should people who have decided to defer their debt to the college through the use of loans have their tuition excused and not others like myself? I also went back to school in my "later year" and paid my debt. This is getting ridiculous.

I am very sympathetic to this issue and it sounds like a lot of grads have way higher student loan payments than I do. I went to Towson 95-99 and got a regular bs degree and have done no post grad work. When I graduated my total student loans were about 20K and they are around 16K now. I make the minimum payment every month and I am glad to say it's only about $160 a month. If it were $1500 a month I would be in deep trouble and unable to afford my current life style. I do remember making a conscious decision not to attend UM and Western MD where I was accepted because tuition at those schools was much higher. I went in knowing I'd have to pay back what i borrowed and opted for the least expensive option that offered the degree I wanted. I am all for capping interest, refinancing to lower rates and granting forbearances and other measures to make repayment manageable, but I still think it sets a bad precedent to simply wipe the books clean. AIG and the rest should not be the standard we use to judge whether something is worthy, so Rose, despite the TARP program and other 'bailouts' , I think we

No, it not help the economy and would be a bad precedent to set. WE knew we were borrowing money and we should pay it back. I do believe Pell grant amounts need to be increased, include a full amount for summer, and they can create a formula that adjusts for an annual increase as necessary without legislative action. The fact that you can get 0% financing for five years on a car and 4% on a home loan while a student loan is 6.8% or 5.6% is ludicrous. Student loans should have a much lower percentage rate and they can create a formula that adjusts that percentage as necessary without legislative action. Once the formulas are in place Congress should stay out of it, the less they are involved in anything, the better off we are.

Unfair is a word that was not mentioned when people were getting their credit card balances discharged.

So lets help someone who wanted to spend more than what they had on many things they didn't need but let others who all they wanted was a brighter tomorrow drown in massive interest rates and over-rated education. That's fair. It's fair that if you owe to Sallie Mae they can hold your social security & check if you become disabled. It's fair that the value of a Bachelors has drastically decreased but it's cost massively increased. That's fair. It's fair that institutions take advantage of recent high-school grads who don't understand much about finances and are told "sign here and don't worry; we will take care about the rest" only to dump them into a steep debt hole they will surely struggle to get out of. That's fair.

"his proposal would involve the government spending $730 billion now in order to increase consumer spending by $28 billion"....

And how much did the government spend on all their bailouts again? And how much of that money actually went back into the economy?

Too many people just getting loans and going nowhere, the ability to continue to receive federal and state financial aid (grants and especially loans) should be much more tightly bound to a student’s ability to learn and advance. In other words, a student must maintain a 2.5 GPA and a 70% completion rate. This SAP policy will be calculated at the end of every semester, not annually. You get one appeal, and then you are on your own.

I have private student loan debt totaling 140K. At this rate I pay $1180.00 per month for 30 years. This is absurd. I cannot negotiate a lower interest rate with the bank. I think the following would help the economy:
1) Cut interest on all student loans so that we are only paying principal.
2) Allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy court.
3) Forgive student loans all together.
If I didn't have my student loan payment I would by a house today. That would in turn stimulate the economy. Now think if everyone else did this too?????

I work in higher education – and have taken out a total of $80K in student loans to pursue my passion. While completing my graduate degree program, my private student loans racked up more than $15,000 in interest…

Here’s my biased opinion on the matter –
Loan forgiveness would immediately positively impact my life. I make $50,000/year – between mandatory retirement, insurance, and taxes – my take home equates to less than $2900/month. Take out the necessary expenses – apartment, utilities, car payment, insurance, gas (by the way – why haven’t we started a conversation about rising gas prices?), food and my $880/month payments to Sallie Mae – there’s nothing left! Nothing left for savings, credit card payments, clothing, etc. In my line of work, having a second job is not feasible – my hours are insane and consistently involve work on the evenings and weekends.

People like me are really truly struggling. Sure – I make $50,000/year, but if I miss just one or two paycheck – with nothing in savings, I’m on the road to financial ruin.

I don’t think we’ve seen the full effect of this yet. I’m 27 and can’t imagine having children begin saddled with this kind of debt. If I have no money left over now – where would money for child care, child food, and child clothing come from? Sure – the argument is that my husband would bring something to the marriage, but… nowadays it’s hard to find a former student that isn’t saddled with this kind of debt.

Certainly – we should know what we’re getting into before we sign these promissory notes, but do we really? Even if someone would have told me 10 years ago that my payments would be $880/month, at that point, could I have really understood the consequences? Student loans lenders hope and pray for your ignorance and also prey on your hopes and dreams. Who imagines that they’re going to make $50,000/year and be broke? Find me one student who understands this concept, and I’ll show you the exception to the rule.

Outrageous Student Loans have done the following to my life –
- Lead to numerous arguments with significant others (money is the root of many arguments)
- Lessened my interest in having children, due to the inability to adequately care for them financially
- Caused me terrible anxiety

My unbiased opinion and reaction to the article is this –

So – 4% of the total student loan debt is being repaid per year. Consider those with 20/25 year payback terms and we’re talking a HUGE impact. Let’s also consider the other implications – those who are working jobs they don’t like, simply because it pays their student loan bills. Those working 2/3 jobs to make ends meet could spend their time with their families, or volunteer!

What that extra time and money could do can’t simply be measured in economic terms…

I got a better idea… howss aboooouuut paying off all my debt.
I promise I will spend what I would have been paying on my
debt to buy more things so ultimately I will help the economy and
life will be much better for all of us and hey I will be a much better citizen.
I promise, I promise…;) And I promise I won't sign any more contracts where I promise to pay back money.

Sure right!

This reasoning is exactly why we are in such a grave mess in the first place. What idiot
would not want to have all their debt forgiven. You talk about education, what exactly are we teaching with this kind of rational in the first place. How about that it’s ok to break contracts. What we would be doing is really jeopardizing the prospects of future generations by dumping even more debt on them, via taxation. The youth that did not even have a chance to go to school yet, and are paying off the debt of the previous generation that did but screwed it up.

What a joke.

What the school doesn't teach the university of the street will.

At the least there should be some means testing on this or criteria for certain careers, salary, etc. Individuals earning enough to live reasonably well and pay loans shouldn't have them forgiven. Others who work in community service or other type of work should be considered.

I’m 25 years old, hold a Bachelors and I’m months away from my MBA (thanks to student loans). I decided to pursue my MBA because I really need it if I want to get ahead. At least I’m hoping it will land me a better paying job. Let me share with you what my monthly budget looks like (on average).

My Monthly Budget
Income $ 2,053.96
Remaining after bills: $ (157.05)

$ 205.40 Tithe
$ 650.00 Housing
$ 260.00 Electricity
$ 70.00 Water
$ 364.50 Groceries
$ 30.00 Credit Card
$ 177.72 Cell phone
$ 168.00 Current Student Loan in repayment
$ 143.39 Gas
$ 102.00 Car Insurance
$ 40.00 Charity
$ 2,211.01 = TOTAL MONTHLY BILLS

God forbid I get sick or become unemployed. Thank God I don’t owe my 2001 Chevy Lumina and that not all my loans are in repayment. I only have a 3K loan in repayment. The other 72K is in deferment status. But I wonder… what will I do once it enters repayment? Probably get a second job… and maybe a third. The way the economy is going, I doubt my MBA will land me a better paying job soon or that I will get paid more at my current place of employment. I seriously don’t know how I manage to make ends meet or even how I can purchase clothing every now and then. But then again, according to many articles, this is just another “sensationalist” story.
Where do people get those crazy averages from? We need all students to be taken into consideration not just recent grads or community college students. Everyone. Get the big picture. Perform research where the researcher is in no way affiliated with higher education institutions.

The student loan problem is such an embarrassment, in my opinion. It seems incredible that Congress permitted such atrocities to be done to borrowers. Under normal circumstances, I am not one to vote for forgiveness but, in this case, I think it is probably the best way to fix what they broke. I believe it is needed because Congress caused millions to be straddled with debt that they should not have had by allowing private companies to rape students through eliminating Consumer Protections, allowing no obligation for adherence to Fair Debt Collections Practices and Truth in Lending Statutes, eliminating Statute of Limitations, just to name a few of the horrible things Congress permitted and worst yet, endorsed, and even worst yet, for special interest money. Shame on you Congress !!!!

Since my loans are now paid, maybe the government could forgive my home loan then I could stimulate the economy by purchasing a vacation home!

I voted 'yes,' but I do feel it would be more appropriate to give a zero rate. It is unfair to those who have paid theirs off.

Why does my comment appear under "Barry"???? Who is Barry???

Posted by: Barry - College Financial Aid Advisor | August 13, 2009 1:03 PM

YES! Student loans should be forgiven. We should have free access to higher education, just as we should have universal healthcare in this country.

My initial reaction to just this title is outrage!
Are we going to reimburse the students who worked during school to earn the equivalent funds that others borrowed?
Are we going to reimburse parents, grandparents that took savings and invested in their children rather than borrowing?
Are we going to reimburse businesses that offered tuition assistance?
Are we going to reimburse non-profits et. al. that provided scholarships?

If you forgive any loans, someone pays!
I see this everyday in bankruptcies. Most Trustees (they represent the Court) in Creditor meetings
ask the simple question how did you get into this financial situation. The common answer is “I spent more than I should have and it just caught
up with me” . And generally they are allowed to walk away from that debt. But someone pays!

To even ask this question is financially irresponsible.

In general, if you borrow the money, you should pay it back. You agreed to the terms (whether or not you understood them - that falls under "buyer beware) and you were lent money in good faith, so you should repay.

There are extenuating circumstances in which a lender should be willing to extend assistance - but it should not be forced upon the lender as the lender acted in good faith when funds were lent.

If you didn't like the terms of the loan, you shouldn't have taken it out and probably should have attended a different school. You have no one to blame but yourself if you didn't research salaries for your desired occupation and realize that it would take you "forever" to repay your loans. I myself have an MBA and about $50K in loans that I pay on each and every month. I'm just now starting to have extra funds left over at the month and I have been paying on my loans for about 8 years. You can't just walk away from the debt and expect someone not to care and for it to just disappear somehow - someone always pays.... why shouldn't it be you, the borrower, who received some sort of education and to whom the funds were lent in good faith?

YES!! YES!! YES!!! A thousand times yes!! The real shame with student loans is that since most of the payment goes to interest, it feels like they are never getting paid down! I'm not necessarily advocating that one should not be responsible for repaying something they've borrowed, but it seems like these loan companies are taking advantage. Anyway, that's just my two cents! My point: I don't want to have to live the rest of my life trying to pay off student loans... Sigh...

I also owe student loans and as a recent grad I expect to have to begin paying them back by the end of the year.

I don't know if forgiveness is the right thing to do, I definitely knew what I was doing when I took the loans out. It really does look like doom and gloom when comparing my payment to my budget. I think what they should do is extend the payment period to 15-20 years and not have interest for the first 5-10 years. That way, as a recent grad I could find a better paying job and potentially pay it off faster to avoid the interest.

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Margaret

Thanks!

Isn't deleveraging all about paying down debt? If a person can't afford to pay back money they borrow, then they should not have borrowed it in the first place. It's an issue of priorities - my wife and I want to pay our loans off ASAP, so we are socking $2 Grand a month at them and have to live a much more modest lifestyle because of it. Would I love to see them disappear? Sure! But it's not the taxpayer's responsibility!

Are you kidding! Some people, like me, worked very hard to pay for college and are now paying a big junk of my children's college education as well. My sons also work to help pay for their education as well. I should not be expected to sacrifice for my family and then turn around and have to subsidize, through my taxes, a college education for anyone else. This handout mentality people are getting in the country is getting way out of hand It's time to stop it now. What ever happeded to having some pride in yourself and the willingness to sacrifice now and enjoy the fruits of your own labor later?

I have a "Direct Loans" student loan and for the past 7 months I have only paid $412.83 toward the principal balance on this loan. My payment is $235 a month and I owe $54,315 and have not move out of the $54, bracket all year long. I pay $240/month and am always on time. SOME THING IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. At this rate this loan will never get paid off, and I'm supposed to have a great rate of some thing like 3.?% They have it all broken up in all these different categories to where I can't make since out of any of it. I don't mind paying for what I owe, but it would be nice to see some progress and feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, and might I add this is my 5th or 6th year straight of paying. SOME BODY PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.

I wish student loans could be forgiven. It's not fair that a person I know who is a bank loan manager can take a loan out for $50,000 from Bank of America, have $10,000 in an IRA, buy a house for $150,000 Then file bankruptcy, Her IRA is protected they can't touch her new home but all of her charge cards and her $50,000 loan was gone...no problem' She was and still is a bank loan manager...THAT'S UNFAIR TO ME! Why can't student loans be forgiven but $50,000 LOAN CAN BE TAKEN OUT AND NOT HAVE TO PAY A DIME BACK? IT'S WRONG!