Beginning with the first part of your question, there is no such thing as a bill being intangible, only what it may have been used for. A student loan has a tangible cash value - with interest. The value of your education you used it on may be intangible, because it is derived from your objective opinion of it's value. Unfortunately, the bank and the government guaranteeing this loan do not care if you think you got your money's worth. That is up to you, the college, and the courts to prove. The lending institution and the government only care what you agreed to borrow and repay. Almost all loans come with a contract stating that you are liable for the repayment of a certain tangible amount. Now about your actualy question. If you don't repay a bill, the creditor has three options; write it off and do nothing, reposess collateral, or sue you in court. It doesn't matter if you have money or not, they can do any of these. If you don't have money, a court can still make a judgment against you and this will follow you until the day you die. Enforcement usually comes in the form of garnishment unless you agree and abide into a payment plan. If you are homeless and have no money, you will never be able to get a legitimate job in your life without having your paycheck garnished. Even recieving government benefits can be garnished, so unless you truly work under the table the rest of your life and never own another asset until you are gone, don't expect that you can have a monetary judgment against you and not have to pay, unless you really want to live a very harsh life of low income working for cash for others. You will never be able to do anything like buy a house, finance a car, rent an apartment on a lease through any normal channels without a legitimate job address or bank account to show that you have a legitimate income. The short answer is it isn't reasonable for anyone who owes money to a creditor to get by in life very far without eventually paying up unless they want to live a life of poverty and subexistence.

I did quite a bit of research on this. I was in some debt problems and got real scared. I had to find out my rights. I found that it depends your state. It is a state to state issue. In the state of Texas, there are two types of debt secured and unsecured. Secured being where if you do not pay then the item can be repossessed i.e. land, home, car. Unsecured debt is any debt that an item cannot be repossessed i.e. credit cards, medical bill, gas cards. In the state of Texas if you do not pay an unsecured debt your paycheck CAN NOT be garnished. In this state the only one who can garnish wages is the IRS and student loans companies (child support unknown another issue). I suggest that you find out your rights. A good place to call to find out your rights is the Federal Trade Commission. They can tell you your rights from state to state. If you know your rights are being violated by a collection agency contact the Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov, the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org, and your local Attorney Generals Office.