Some background -

I currently owe about $193k private student loan debt. I took the loans out in the mid 2000s when banks were allowed to send you predatory letters in the mail saying things like, "you're still eligible for $100,000 in student loans this year, hurry, act now! Don't forget to apply with a cosigner". The money could be used for really anything as no one was checking, and it was marketed as covering things like living expenses (things the govt loans wouldn't cover). My son was almost 5 years old at the time and I was a single mom. I was not good with money. It's not something I was ever taught, either by my parents or in school. My mom consigned them all.

I got a BS in chemistry, but graduated in 2008 when the economy sank and so I couldn't find a job. I used all the deferments and foreberances I could. When those ran out and I still couldn't afford to pay, I went to grad school. I racked up more private student loan debt, but also staved off the original debt due to being in school full time. When I graduated with an MS in environmental engineering 2.5 years later, I was able to find a job, but the pay was not good. So, more deferments and foreberances until I ran them out. Then it was interest only payments for a while until I finally started making enough money to pay the minimum balance.

My total of my original loan amounts was about $212k. Interest rates were all variable and payments were all largely going to interest. My loan balance wasn't going down, it was going up. I think the highest my balance got was maybe like $232k or $242k. One year alone I ended up paying $48k (yes, you read that right - forty eight thousand) in INTEREST alone. I know I've already paid off my original balance.

At the height of the interest rate gouging, my minimum payment amount was around $2700/mo. Loans were through Chase, AES, Navient (formerly Sallie Mae), Key Bank. I tried consolidating but kept getting turned down because I wasn't making enough money. Finally, about 2.5 years ago (October 2023), I was able to consolidate my private student loans with SoFi. By that time, I think my balance was down to like $204k. It's now down to like $193k with a $1500 monthly payment, but I have 19 more years to pay.

I'm just so done with it. I've paid my share /the original amount, I know I have. I live in Ohio, which has an 8 year SOL. I have a mortgage, I have 2 personal loans (also with SoFi) as a result of getting divorced. I really want to stop paying the SoFi student loan, but I'm very concerned that SoFi will come after me and quickly, and sue me. Also because I have the two private loans with them, too, that I want to continue paying on (or maybe it would be better to switch lenders before I stop paying the SoFi student loan?).

I'm sorry this was so long. I'm asking for anyone in a similar situation living in Ohio - what did you do? What happened? Was it worth it? What was the outcome?