During the whole time I never had any wages garnished, and the only time that I felt any sort of effect from it was when I paid off my past due IRS bills in full. I was supposed to get $80 back that I overpaid but instead it was taken presumably for this Department of Education outstanding loan. I've always worked as an independent contractor so I usually pay money back in taxes as opposed to getting a refund. I was really hoping to become more legit this year though and I wanted to do my best to pay off this loan as soon as possible, but as we all know there have been certain hurdles presented this year. If the interest can stop rising at least until September then that's good for me because every little bit helps. I just wasn't sure how it would apply to my situation since my loan was passed off to a debt collector.