Hi everyone, Quick question: I have a school loan which has went into default (I have been disputing it for reason I dont want to get into at the moment) I was wondering if I could send $50 payment to the address below without entering into any formal agreement with ED Fund pertaining to rehab. I heard someone say they would have to accept the money and would have to AUTOMATICALLY start you on the rehab program. If someone has evidence that I am correct on this, I would really appreciate if you would chime in here: National Payment Center P.O. Box 4169 Greenville, TX 75403-4169 Thanks, Sal
Have you talked with the Ombudsman's office? I would talk with them first and make a case for why I don't owe the money. If the Ombudsman's office refuses to stay the collections activity until the issue is resolved, I would enter a rehab agreement (in writing) with the guarantor, though stipulating that I am doing so in disagreement and without accepting responsibility for the default. That I am only paying to protect my credit rating and paycheck from garnishment. You don't want them to garnish your wages,and at the same time you don't want to end up paying for an education you didn't receive. So get the Ombudsman's office involved IMMEDIATELY, find a good attorney, and pay the guarantor with above disclaimers long enough to keep them out of your paycheck.
I talked with the Ombudsman about a similar issue and they said even if you send in payments without a formal plan you are still subject to all collection activity. The people I have seen on here that have done it, sent in 12 payments and then asked the loan to be rehabbed. You are taking a chance though that they won't do something during those 12 months. Good luck.
Hi Marci, Thanks for replying. All I can tell you is that this is a nighmare the will not go away. I'm so tired of explaining the situation to all those idiots trying to collect. I've made a grave mistake looking for help from "Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Eduction" I swear Marci, she acted like she was trying to help (that was months ago) and if I wouldn't call her she would NEVER call me. She kept telling me how all the records are mixed up (thousands of them) and even said I may have to pay someone to sort through the mess in the storage room where all the records are located. To answer your question I have not yet contacted Ombudsman's office but I have contacted the Dept of Education and explained the situation to some guy, and he seemed stupified about the whole situation. He told me he would have a GURU call me within 48 hours to get to the bottom of this. I know I seem to be asking the same questions over and over, so please forgive me but I'm so very stressed right now I dont know what I'm capable of doing at the moment. In your opinion should I NOT wait for this guy from the Dept of Education to call and instead just call the Ombudsman's office or an Attorney or both? Again, thanks for all your support and help, Sal
1. No - don't wait on anybody to call you. 2. Yes - call the Ombudsman's Office AND an attorney today. 3. KEEP CALLING THE OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE UNTIL THEY GET SO SICKOF HEARING FROM YOU THAT THEY MOVE ON IT. 4. Do whatever it takes to stop your wages from being garnished. A good atty can stop this if there is a dispute about the validity of the debt. 5. KEEP CALLING THE OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE UNTIL THEY GET SO SICKOF HEARING FROM YOU THAT THEY MOVE ON IT. 6. Get a good attorney who isn't afraid to deal with student loan guarantors. 7. Keep your head up and FIGHT. DO NOT GIVE UP! 8. KEEP CALLING THE OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE UNTIL THEY GET SO SICKOF HEARING FROM YOU THAT THEY MOVE ON IT. 9. Keep your head up and FIGHT. DO NOT GIVE UP!
Marci, Do you know of such an attorney? I've never found one who knows, in detail, about student loans. Just the cursory stuff. Thanks.
No, unfortunately, I don't know of one who specializes in student loan issues. A poster named "mozilla" does, though. I would suspect any attorney with some FDCPA experience would be able to make the DOE/guarantor slow their guns re garnishment if there is a question about the school's part in this.
Marci, It's not good - very bad indeed! -Talked to ombudsman, the guy told me he really doen't know how to help me. He said the Dept of Education has no jurisdiction over this. -Talked to ANOTHER wonderful representative of California Student Aid - she kept telling me in so many words "TOO BAD" your stuck. I'm very sick right now.
Re: School loan - Self rehab (long) While you can't just start rehabbing it with a payment, you can call the servicer of your loan and use this EXACT LANGUAGE: "I want to make resonable and affordable payments to rehabilitate my loans." By law they must set up rehab at your request REGARDLESS of what stage of default you are in. You may have to prove that you can only afford a certain amount, but the payments half to be "reasonable and affordable" per the Higher Education Act section 464. Using that exact language will get you answers, though you may have to make several calls to get the person who will give them to you. I had talked to three people, then found a guy that explained it completely. If you know who has your loans, you are way ahead of me when I first started! If there is no judgement, then you are not out of luck!! Have you gotten a notice about garnishement or do they have a judgement? (I don't know about Calif. but here in MO they can garnish without judgement. And do!! I recommend you look for "Take Control of Your Student Loans" by Robin Leonard, Rolo Press at your local library. It is out of print, but you may find it online as well. It's kind of old (97) but there's good info that still applies. I have loans from two schools. One of which is Stafford and is coming out of rehab this month. It's been a huge pain, but it will be worth it. In the last few months I've learned more about student loans than I ever learned in school.
I simply don't believe that it is not their jurisdiction. If not, just who's jurisdiction is it???? The Dept. of Defense??? That makes NO sense to me. I don't know what to tell you; but I would keep scaling up at the Ombudsman's office to supervisors until I got answers. And I would shop around for some attorneys. I think Uniondiva mentioned some forms that you could fill out to investigate the school's closing. I would also call my state's attorney general's office and tell them what's going on. Get your story in the hands of people who have to answer to "public interest" issues.
i would call everyone.... congressman, state rep, califrornia student aid. Please keep careful logs of everything and everyone you talk to (extension number too). has lender validated these debts, do you have copies of promissary notes. do you still have copies of the news paper articles about the school going out of business... was there any gov't official quoted in the article... call them. any documentation from the state of calif on school going out of business, request the whole damn file (freedom of information act) somebody knows something and you gotta make them tell you!
