Here's what happens when you stop paying your federal student loans

Two years after leaving school, students default on their federal loans at a rate of 9.1%, according to a 2013 report by the New York Federal Reserve. That figure jumps to 13.4% at the three-year mark.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Lee Siegel wrote an op-ed in The New York Times on Saturday in which he advised people to default on their student loans rather than remain stuck with crippling debt.

But what actually happens when you default?

VICE recently talked to Heather Jarvis, a self-proclaimed student-loan expert who graduated from Duke Law School with $125,000 of debt and has been an advocate for borrowers ever since.

According to Jarvis, if you decide one day to stop paying your federal student loans, after 270 days the loan will default, at which point the government will start garnishing your wages, seizing tax refunds, and intercepting government benefits (like social security) without a court order. The government may also sue if they think it will give them access to your assets.

"They can and do — literally do — pursue debtors to their graves," Jarvis said.

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