I have been dealing with a CA over a student loan. In October, out of the blue I received an inkjet letter, spelling my name wrong saying that I owed them about $7K. I had no idea who they were, or why they were trying to collect on a student loan debt from four years prior that had been charged off on my credit report. I know that doesn't excuse me from paying the debt, but I also didn't know who this CA was or how they had gotten my info. Being suspicious of credit fraud, I called the CA asking for more information and was told that if I didn't pay that they would garnish my wages, and take me to court, etc.. I freaked out and called the original creditor. The OC said that no collection agency they use was authorized to garnish wages, and that they would find someone who I could deal with at the CA. A few hours later the same guy who abused me on the phone called and said he would send my original promisory note, all the info from the OC, etc. - yeah right- always get it in writing. After no word for three months I get another call saying that I need to pay up or else. I wrote a letter saying that I wanted more proof that the debt was mine, that the OC had authorized the CA to collect the debt, and to do all business in writing no phone calls. A week later I get a "bill" saying that they will settlle for about $5K - again no info on the OC, the original promissory note anything. After that I was called three times, two hang ups and a please call me asap. I wrote another letter, some of which was paraphrased from the validations letters on this site requesting all of the info that the FCRA requires and again stating that I wished to receive no phone calls. Four more calls since then, including one today that they are submitting a "refusal to pay" notice to the OC. I have never said that the debt is mine, nor have I refused to pay, all I've asked for is proof that I'm paying the right company. I'd love your thoughts and suggestions please.
The question is what type of student loan it is. If the student loan is a Federal Student Loan, THERE IS NO SOL, and alot of the regular rules DO NOT APPLY. The gov't has secondary laws which allow it (and CA's accting on its behalf) to do a lot of things without court, most importantly like offsetting any gov't check (TAX REFUNDS, Federal Pensions, etc.) with little more than providing you a letter saying that effective xx/xx/xxxx, if this is not taken care of, we will take all of your TAX REFUNDS, and possibly a portion of any other gov't check which you receive.
No it's not a Federal Loan, it's a personal loan from a bank. Actually a Bar Loan. I'm not practiciing law now, but it' helpful to be able to read the law and understand that they have to provide me with certain info when requested. I'm currently paying all my Federal Loans through a consolidator.
If it is a private loan, then I would write a letter to the OC, telling them that (parphrase it, and make it your own.) Other people may be able to offer suggestions on how to edit this a little bit more, this is just off the top of my head, what I would write. I have repeatedly asked CA to not contact me via phone, in accordance with Federal Law, and they continue to refuse to comply with Federal Law, and continue to harrass me via the phone. I have repeatedly asked that the CA provide me with documentation for the account provided by your company, in accordance with Federal Law, and they have repeatedly refused to provide it, and have continued collection activity, despite the fact that continued collection activity being prohibited until CA obtains and mails said documentation to the consumer, under Federal Law. Please, either force CA to comply with Federal Law in this matter, or recall this account from CA as having been submitted in error, and find another company whom will provide me with the documentation that I have repeatedly requested from CA under Federal Law, and comply with my express wishes to have this matter discussed only in writing. Your company has now been expressly notified of your agents illegal activities, and your company could be held liable for any future illegal activities that CA commits after your company has received this notice.
I was already working on a private loan solution. You will probably be able to fine tune it with the legal knowledge that you have. I think that if OC is properly notified of the CA's non-compliance, they'll be wise to recall the account, or contact someone at CA who is high enough to force them to comply.
Sorry it took me a while to reply. It's about $7K. So their violations add up to just about what I owe them. I have decided to wait for the OC to contact me, and haven't heard a thing since my last horrible contact with the CA. Should I really contact the OC? I've yet to see any negative impact on my CR, and will be having one run in the next month or so. So I guess I'll see then.
