Hi Everyone, I really need you're help on this one. Here's the situation I found myself in: In 1997 I attended a trade school called "Masters Institute" working toward an AA degree in Computer Science. This wonderful school promised me the world which including job placement assistance "within a few short months", and all I had to do is sign on the dotted line. Well of course there was no job to be found, so by 10 th month of attendence things became grim for me financially. As it turns out the school had a side loan with me in addition to a federal loan and they started demanding me to make payments to them (on top of the money they were being fed by my quarantor) I just couldn't pay them anything (I had no money to speak of) so they prevented me from attending at that point. I had to basically drop it and move on with my life. The best part of this is that as of March 5th the school closed down and I'm sitting with worthless credits and no degree as well as being stuck with a defaulted $14,000 loan and DESTROYED credit. I was contemplating filling out a loan discharge application even though the school closed some time AFTER I stopped attending. Here is the disclosure I was sent from the guarantor: Could someone here please help me to answer this correctly so as not to SCREW myself? thanks LOAN DISCHARGE APPLICATION: SCHOOL CLOSURE Federal Family Education Loan Program /William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program WARNING: Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation on this form or on any accompanying documents shall be subject to penalties which may include fines, imprisonment or both, under the U.S. Criminal Code and 20 U.S.C §1097 SECTION 1: BORROWER IDENTIFICATION If information has been preprinted but is incorrect, please correct and check this box:_ If any of the items below were not preprinted. Please provide the requested information. SSN Name Address City, State, Zip Telephone - Home Telephone - Other SECTION 2: STUDENT INFORMATION Before answering any questions, carefully read the entire form, including the instructions and other information on the following page. If you are a parent applying for discharge of a PLUS loan, begin with Question 1; if you are a student, begin with Question 3. 1 Studentâ??s name (last. first. M) 2. Studentâ??s SSN: 3. Name of closed school: 4. Date school closed (if known): 5. Schoolâ??s address (street. city, state, Zip): 6 Dates of attendance: From_ To_ 7. Name of the program of study that you (or, for PLUS borrowers, the student) were enrolled in at the time the school closed: 8. Did you (or. for PLUS borrowers, the student) complete the program of study at the closed school? Yes_ No_ If No, check all reasons that apply: The school closed while you (or, for PLUS borrowers, the student) were still enrolled. You (or. for PLUS borrowers. the student) withdrew from the school on: _/_/_ You (or. for PLUS borrowers, the student) were on an approved leave of absence (not to exceed 60 days) when the school closed: From_ To_ Other (please explain):________________________________________ 9. Did you (Or, for PLUS borrowers, the student) complete, or are you (or, for PLUS borrowers, the student) in the process of completing this or a comparable program of study at another school by transferring credits or hours earned at the closed school to another school, or by any other means? Yes_No_ If Yes, were you (or. for PLUS borrowers, the student) required to start the program over from the beginning? Yes_ No_ 10. Did you (or. for PLUS borrowers, the student) receive any money from the school If Yes, give the amount and explain. 11. Did the holder of your loan receive any money from the school on your behalf? If Yes,. Give the amount and explain. Yes_ No_ Donâ??t Know_ 12. Did you (or, for PLUS borrowers, the student) make any monetary claim with, or receive any payment from, the school or any third party in connection with enrollment or attendance at the school? - Yes - No â??1 Donâ??t Know, If Yes, give the name, address, and telephone number of the party with whom the claim was made or from whom payment was received. the amount and status of the claim (if applicable), and the amount of any payment received: Name address/telephone number: Amount/status of claim: Amount of payment received: $ (Write â??noneâ? if no payment was received.) SECTION 3: BORROWER CERTIFICATION By my signature below. I certify that: â?¢ I received FFEL Program or Direct Loan Program loan funds on or after January 1, 1986, to attend (Or, if lam a PLUS borrower. for the student to attend) the school identified as â??closed schoolâ? in Section 2 of this form. Those funds were either received by me directly. or applied as a credit to the amount owed to the school. I (or. if I am a PLUS borrower, the student) was enrolled at that school or on an approved leave of absence (not to exceed 60 days) on the date that it closed, or withdrew from the school not more than 90 days before it closed (or longer if authorized by the U.S Department of Education). Due to the schoolâ??s closure. I (or. if I am a PLUS borrower, the student) did not complete the program of study at that school. I (or, it I am a PLUS borrower the student) did not complete and am not in the process of completing that program of study or a comparable program at another school by transferring credits or hours earned at the closed school to another school. or by any other means by which I (or, if I am a PLUS borrower, the student) benefited from the training provided by the closed school. â?¢ I have read and agree to the terms and conditions that apply to this loan discharge, as specified in Section 6 on the following page. â?¢ Under penalty of perjury. all of the information I have provided on this form and in any accompanying documents is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. Borrowerâ??s Signature:_________________________________________________Date:_____________________
sal, just fill it out truthfully and it will be okay. remember when you first posted about this and i told you that you would be able to get it taken care of.... trust me..... this one is a no brainer, especially since the school is already under investigation. If you have questions, wait about two weeks after you send the form in and call to inquire about status. make sure to keep copies of everything.
You need to e-mail "mozilla". If you e-mail me, I will give you his e-mail address. gene027@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu
sal, do want you want, but i am telling you that i worked at a school that had a similair situationl. if you fill out the form you will get the relief you need.
Marci, Uniondiva, I can't thank both of you enough for giving me this little glimmer of hope. Uniondiva, I trust you when you say I should just fill it in truthfully - I'm just so concerened they will somehow implicate me (hold me to the loan) becuase my attendance date was a couple of years before they actually closed. What I don't get is who would someone sue if a school school did go bankrupt (the poor person would still be sitting there holding a loan) -Sal
Filling out the form may be a breeze and you may get your loan discharged. Or, you may get boned. I am assisting someone right now that attended a school that closed. About eight years later, he found that the guarantor of his loans was chasing him for a loan which he though was refunded by the school. Its a real nightmare they have been taking his tax returns for 3 years now (about 7000.00) total on an original principle balance of maybe 3000.00 of which half was a loan he never really took because he was told the amount was refunded back to the bank. Who can tell what really happened (until I review his student loan records soon). I think the deal may be that you have to withdraw within 90 days of the school's closure. If you quit attending three years before, you could be SOL. However, it seems you have another angle. It looks like you could possibly have a claim for discharge due to fraud. They told you that their program would get you a job, but it didn't. I would fill out the application and include an explanation of the whole job-promise thing. What state was the school in? Stephen M. Anderson LLC, Student Loan Counselor
right, it is because of the fraud claim. especially since the federal gov't has acknowledged that the school made fraudalent claims of services and is investigating them for misuse of federal funds (student loans).
Mozilla, I did leave the school way before it shut down, but I was not allowed to continue - the school wanted money from me. The part that really drove me crazy was that after so many month, I never received as much as a call from an employer let alone an interview. I am not the only student falling into that catagory, EVERYONE I attended classes with had no assistance getting ANY job either. Right now I've been working with a case worker from "the bureau of post secondary education" and she tells me that all the records are mixed up and piled in something like 500 boxes. P.S. the school was located in San Jose, Ca Additionally, I sent a letter to the District Attorney's office of Santa Clara and they told me in a follow up letter they forwarded it to the the bureau of post secondary education. I really hope I'm not getting screwed here. I'm not in any way trying to get out of paying something, I just know for a fact I was swindled big time. Thanks for the help, Sal
Make sure you send your form via certified mail and keep a copy. If you would like, I will provide you with a letter of recomendation on my letterhead reiterating my assessment of your rights wich you can include with your form. If that doesn't work, you will have to appeal the decision. After that, I know an attorney in California that specializes in student loan work. If I were you, I would request a copy of the DOE investigation of the school in order to substantiate your claims related to the school's false representation.
Mozilla, If it's not too much trouble, you're letter of recomendation on you're letterhead would be great for me to have. (As long as this isn't putting you out) At this point, I would be happy to get some info about that lawyer you mentioned as well. So should I wait to send in that form?? Again, thank you so much for you're time. Sal
Hi everyone, Believe me when I say I really hate bothering you with my school loan issues, but I don't know where to turn at this point. A collection agency by the name of ACS answered my request for validation and sent me copies of 4 notes I signed with Bank One. The problem is that that loan was supposedly paid off as I transfered from one school to another (I attended ITT for 11 months, and decided to transfer to masters institute)The original loan at ITT was to be paid off (Bank One) and another loan was to be opened to pay off the previous and pay tuition for Masters (Citibank) For the life of me I cant understand how she got 4 school loan notes which were originally opened for ITT but now somehow say masters institute all over them (Citibank should be the only loan outstanding) Is it possible I have TWO different lenders after me now? I now have 4 different tradelines on my reports as follows: Citibank NA -(oldest) USA funds Calif student aid Bank One -(this one is only on my equifax and is marked as positive, closed "paid/paying as agreed" As I mentioned in earlier threads I left Masters as well after 11 months as I was being forced by them to start making direct payments via some side loan program with the school. I couldn't pay this so I had to leave. I now have no degree and the school has recently closed and according to my case worker at "the bureau of post secondary schools closure division" THEY CANT FIND MY SCHOOL RECORDS amongst the hundreds of boxes left by the closed school. I need help with this and I need it bad my friends. Money is extremely tight for me right now so my options are somewhat limited. I found out that my tax returns are being siezed (I needed that money desperately) Thanks to all that have helped me so far. If anyone out there can assist me I will be indebted to you for life -Sal
sal, she sent you copies of the promissary notes? are they stamped with master institute or could they be the original paid notes for itt.... call the us dept of education and find out from them what you have outstanding and who is servicing them... that way you know exactly what the government has in their database concerning your student loans. i would also contact citibank and bank one and get copies of my documents with them so you can have all your information and go from there. ps don't worry about us, we are here to help on another.
Uniondiva, I went to the dept of education website and applied for a pin# so I can access my loans online and see whats owed. Now I have to wait a couple of days to receive the pin I guess ....great. Thanks, Sal
Mozilla, No I didn't get that email - I was hoping to hear from you. I know I've gotten myself in a mess, but something is totally wrong and I know I'm being taken advantage of. All I know is that if you, or someone you know can help me untangle this mess, I would be greatly indebted. Thanks, Sal sal826@hotmail.com
sal, You should e-mail him at the address I cc'd you on. I don't think that Mozilla reads the board everyday.
