Negotiating a student-loan settlement. Guide to dealing w/Collections?

[Grisgra]

Obviously, this ain't for me, I play poker online [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

My gf, though, has about 15k in student loan debt. She's not working right now (I'm paying the bills) -- well, she's working, but it's of writing-and-producing-plays variety, which is not exactly a big income generator.

The collection folks have finally decided to get nasty, and are calling a bunch/threatening to garnish her non-existent wages/blah blah blah. I was especially impressed with them when they told her that she couldn't shirk her financial obligations after she told them that her father had just died the day before, could they give her a couple of weeks? Apparently that was just too much time to ask for. (FYI, he had [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].)

They offered her a settlement down to 13.5k or so -- which isn't much considering that I think her actual debt was only 12k and it became 15k when it went to collections.

What I'm curious about is whether anyone here has worked with collection agencies, or for such agencies. She told me she tried to negotiate a lower payback, but that the guy on the other end said he couldn't go lower -- her credit was very good and so there was no obvious "need" on her part.

Sounds a little fishy to me. I have to believe that if I spoke to the guy, told him that he wouldn't be seeing a dime unless he went to, say, 7-8k, which he would get in full next week if he agreed to it, that he'd eventually cave. Yes, or no, do you think?

Any tips?

Also, given the fact that she's otherwise got good credit and doesn't actually have any wages to garnish, can she actually be hurt very much by these guys?

Thanks in advance. And let me get this out of the way right off the bat -- I'll ask her about the pooper thing.

Getting the other nonsense out of the way -- yes, she borrowed the money, yes, she doesn't want to pay it back, she's an evil, EVIL woman. Freeloader, too, as is clear by the fact that I'm paying all the bills. Noted.

I just want to know the ins and outs of this collections nonsense.