Way back in the mid 70s prior to my wife and I getting married she took out a student loan for nursing school. It was funded through the old Western Thrift and Loan Savings Bank. When we married I assumed the responsibility for paying the loan. We paid it off around 1981/82. The the savings and loan crisis of the mid 80s occurred and Western Thrift went under. Some how the records were not correctly transfered to whomever took over their accounts. We heard nothing for 17 years! Then we started getting letters that we owed the full amount of her loan and have been getting them for about 6 years now. We don't have the records going back that far. we kept them until around 1994/95. I called our credit union and they aren't even required to keep records that far back and so they don't have them either. Now wait a minute-17 years of not hearing a thing from anyone and we have been fully accessable and have lived at the same residence for 20 years. Our numbers are not unlisted as well. Anyone have any ideas. I thought about contacting my congressman. I know for a fact we paid that bill off in full.
Was this a government guaranteed loan? By all means contact your congressman. There's too much bogus "debt" floating around. If your paid loan has been "resurrected", probably there are others in similar circumstances.
If this was a government guaranteed loan, at the time the original loan was taken out, in the mid-1970s, were the SOL laws on such loans what they are today?
Try going to the US Dept of Education website; they list the status of all student loans. You will have to register, and will receive a PIN and log on info. If this shows that you indeed paid off the loan in full, you will have some evidence for your case. Also, have you checked with the school your wife attended? Talk to their financial aid office, as often they have archived records (on micro fiche when that old). They may be able to provide additional evidence of payment. Also, do the full validatio request process; make THEM prove you owe the money! They will have to get the same information from the educational facility your wife attended. Unfortuately, there are SOLs on student loans, but investigate the above items (Govt. website, school, etc.) I am certain you will find something to help your case.
I would contact the organization that services Student Loan Debt for your particular state. I too had incorrectly reported balances from Student Loans on my Equifax and Transunion credit reports, resulting in a TU score that was in excess of a 100 points lower than my Experian score. My Experian was 652 while my TU was 545! I got my pin number and sure enough, the Department of Education site showed no payments made with full outstanding balances. As I am deep in the middle of an FHA financing one year after BK discharge, I called the Student Loan Fund in this state and demanded account statements that correctly show a "zero" balance. I have faxed them to the local bank. Hopefully, this will work.
Unfortunately both the savings and loan that we made our payments to and the school she went to are no longer around. According to the paperwork that this VanRu company has she never went to the school that is indicated on that paperwork. Why should we have to keep our records when we did not hear from anyone about this loan for 17 years. Our bank does not even have records that far back. We have been in the same place for 20 years now with alisted telephone number. We have not been hiding out. We could easily have been contacted 17 years ago but not a work in 17 years then all of a sudden now they want money. We already paid it.
Wow, this sent me running to my files ! fortunately I found my old student loan information.... I'll keep this file forever.
