This is a long one, and I'm putting my story here because, frankly, I don't know what else to do and any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

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I am writing this because I do not know what else to do. I am a college student in Florida.  The last 3 semesters, (Last fall, spring, summer, and now THIS fall), my financial aid has run into some kind of a problem that has delayed it.  Last fall, it took nearly a month for it to be disbursed because of a "Federal Verification Process".... AGAIN, it needed to be verified in the spring.  That delayed it disbursing then as well.  It has once again been selected for verification.  I wouldn't mind, except that ever since the issues with the first verification almost a year ago, my finances have been in dire straights.  At the time of this writing, I am over ten thousand dollars in debt from a medical condition that saw me medically withdrawn from the spring semester.  Our mortgage ( I live with my g/f) is over two months overdue (summer aid was just enough to cover the late payments from the spring, and spring from the fall before).  The house is now about to enter forclosure.

This is coupled with the fact that the home still isn't fully repaired after it was severely damaged from Fay last year, with then saw us through a lengthy insurance battle, and 56,000 dollars worth of damage to the house that the mortgage company has been requiring us to pay for out of pocket, before reimbursing us.  We STILL are not reimbursed fully, and are responsible for at least 5,000 dollars more for repairs that they will not release the funds for.  Additionally, and the least of my concerns, is my car payment which is at least two months overdue and about to be reposessed.  I have a job, but I cashier at a grocery store, and my g/f is unemployed, and unable to find a job in this saturated market.  Being that I am a full time student, (with very high grades-this past summer term saw my first "B" grades at ucf, the rest have been all As, current gpa is 3.474) A part time job at a grocery store cannot even BEGIN to cover these bills.

I am writing this because as of last week, I recieved a notification that, once again, I've been selected for verification.  Yes, I'm a bit annoyed at having to go through this ONCE AGAIN, but what really upsets me is that, after calling to find out how long this is going to take, the answer I recieved was "8-10 weeks".  He said that is in addition to 7-10 days from then for my loan application to go through before that, and then after verification, another possible 2-4 weeks. That means that I am looking at a possibly being in finals week before I am able to recieve my loans...Between November and December at the earliest.  School started yesterday.  What that means is that, by choosing to continue my schooling at this college, I stand to lose my house, my car, AND my health insurance, which is up for renewal now until september 30th.  It's Aetna student health, and is expected that STUDENT LOANS will be used to pay for it.  As I see no chance of my loans hitting before then based on this information, I will lose that as well.  I have several newly diagnosed health conditions, most important of which is a heart condition. Without health insurance, I wont be able to afford my medication, or my continual appointments. I am in need of several procedures as well, that I now will not be able to afford.

 I applied for a short term advance for books, however, they said it'll take about a month for that to disburse...So I am now also expected to attend class without books for a month because they cannot touch my funding until they manage to get to my paperwork and clear it.

What are my options? I'm not sure I have any others at this point.  I'm not some new college kid relying on my parents for support.  I am a 26 year old man who has been responsible for taking care of myself up until this point, and after going to  this school, each semester has made it harder for my financially, with this one possibly being the end-all.  I cannot continue my education without the financial support of student loans that I've done everything right in order to keep.

A note-My girlfriend has been at this school now for 6 years, on loans the last 3 years, and not once has she had to go through this...  She no longer has student loans, so that's even less money we now have to work with. I make 100 dollars a week, and that's what we are living off of.  I think the math speaks for itself.  I have tried asking friends, family, etc.  I have even attempted to obtain private financing, which I have been denied. 

This may sound like a sob story, and to some extent it is, but how can this happen?  Is this a common occurence at universities?  I completed my FAFSA back in march, however, the school said that they had not recieved any notification when I called them, so I had to fill it out again at the beginning of august.  That is the only leg they are standing on---you didn't do your fafsa until august, so it's your fault we wont disburse your loans until the semester is over.  I attended a different school before this, and didn't turn in my fafsa until midway through the first week of school, and still managed to get my loans in a timely manner.  This time, I did it when I was supposed to and they said they didn't get it. 

I've scoured this site for anything that could help, private loans, grants, scholarships, and it just doesn't seem to be working.  Are there any other resources? Is there possibly some sort of college oversite board? I'm speaking from ignorance because I've exhausted all other options.  I've written the university president, the provost, even the local news problem solver, just trying to get answers.  All I've found is a brick wall.  My credit is completely shot, so there's no chance of private loans.

I took the time to read your long post. Not sure what to tell you. All I can say is make yourself the squeeky wheel at your school and see if you can find an ally . The other idea I have is to consult an attorney to see what your rights are in this case with all your issues to see if there is anything you can do to slow some of the legal processes down---forclosure, medical health insurance termination etc so your loans can catch up.

Depending on which state you are in I may be able to get you the legal assistance you need for extremely low cost.

send me an email at superrachel@verizon.net

Take care

That means consulting an attorney for around $16 for the month would be your best option at this point.......Or have you already consulted an attorney to see what your options are right now?

Depending on which state you live in, you could get a Prepaid Legal Services, Inc. Membership for as low as $16/month and talk to an attorney that has the specialty that you need without any added fee if you just go use the phone consultation portion. I don't want to give a complete commercial and I would be happy to explain how I have my own 17 year old son covered on this service.

http://www.prepaid.com/hub/rduncan77

Look at the family legal plan which could cover a live in significant other/spouse----I would be happy to discuss further if you send me an email I will send you my phone number or I would be willing to call you and explain how this all works.....It may or may not be for you but it might be worth checking out.

superrachel@verizon.net