I am desperate for help. I took a $2000 student loan in 1984. In 1996 after a suicide in my family and a $13000 car accident, I got behind in my payments. After a couple months of harrassment I signed a consolidation agreement which doubled the amount of my loan. At the end of that year after the snowball effect, we filed for bankruptcy. My student loan would have qualified in the bankruptcy if I had not signed that consolodation agreement but I tried to do the right thing and got screwed. Plus they harrass you to the point of tears. After my bankruptcy was discharged I called my lender and asked for a forbearance while my husband looked for new employment. We had left military. Which I thought was granted. This was in 1997. At the end of the year, I contacted the lender who could not find my loan, could not tell me where it was. It took about 6 months to finally find my loan and as soon as I found it I started making monthly payments. Then the calls started from a collection agency. They claimed I defaulted, I claimed I was in forebearance and the almost tripled the loan amount. I asked for a history of my loan. Noone can give me one. Only back to the point which I found the loan. I also found out that the loan was sold during the bankruptcy process. The letter to my attorney was from the original company and was dated after they had sold the loan. So the forebearance I filed was with the wrong company. Anyway, I have never missed a payment since but they call me 3 to 6 times a day. They have contacted me at work after I told them not to in writing and they have even called and questioned my children. I quit my job so that I would not be humiliated. I have to turn my ringer off on the weekends because my phone rings at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday without fail. I just hope that nothing happens to my father on the weekend because he has had 3 heart attacks but I wouldn't hear the phone ring if they needed to reach me. There are no consumer attorneys in my state, I want to sue on my own and need help. They also have threatened to garnish wages which I thought was illegal unless they planned to do it. I am in tears at least once a week over this harrassment and I don't want them to get away with it. I have made monthly payments since I found the loan 3 years ago. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Stacey
Stacy, After reading your story I am left feeling both confused and amazed at the same time. You quit your job to avoid the humiliation of collection calls at work? That would only seem to exacerbate problems by eliminating your income. I would offer three items of advice: 1) Email Psychdoc (a valued creditnet member) and ask for his advice with regards to the emotional trauma you've encountered over the past several years. 2) Try to contact the collection agency that has the student loan account and attempt to work out a reasonable repayment plan that involves the full deletion of the account once it is paid in full 3) keep your head up high and realize that there are many people at this site, myself included, that care and want to help you. In addition, many of us have experienced what you are going through and know first hand how painful it can be. Sean
My husband makes good money and I didn't really need to work at the time. I am not disputing the loan itself just the fees that were added almost tripled the loan amount. I have worked out a repayment plan in the beginning but because I won't sign documents stating that I owe this amount plus more fees and 18% they say they have the right to call me as much as they want. I have hired 2 attorneys who got nowhere. I spoke to the department of education today who said that I have the burden of proof and they are not required to notify me if the loan is sold or tell me where it is, but then stated it is up to me to find it and make payments. She said she could not provide me a history of my loan. Only 3 years worth. This is ludicrous.
Spacey, I agree that the U.S. Dept of Education can be a royal pain in the a**. If you pull your credit report, it will tell you who the collection account is with. You can do this online with a credit card.....at www.equifax.com, www.experian.com, or www.transunion.com. Best of luck to you Spacey. Sean
Spacey, you need to contact Roni, she is the student loan expert and has helped many here. Do a quick search and you will see some old posts of hers. Click on her name to email her.
Stacey, First, the Dept. of Education has interest/collection cost caps on federal student loans, so these companies cannot arbitrarily raise what you owe to some number without providing the proof/interest calculations as to how they got there. As I remember, collection costs are capped at 25% of the principle. And interest, even at 9% at the highest, would not triple what you owe, I think. 1. I would call 1-800-4-fedaid to make I know who is the current "owner"/servicer of the loan. 2. I would go the the National Student Loan Database System (http://www.nslds.ed.gov/), go to the "Financial Aid Review" link, apply for a PIN if you don't already have one and access my records. That will have the complete history of all your student loans and itemized principles and interest costs. The NSLDS is going to be a more complete resource than your credit reports, b/c this is maintained by the DOE and is in fact the same database that the DOE reps look at when giving you your information over the phone. It is a good idea to print out your histories say, every 6 months, as paper proof of what they had down there, in case they start changing the amounts around on you. 3. I would have each servicer on your NSLDS list send you a written statement of principle, interest and collection costs (the collection agency should do this, too) and copies of your original promissory notes. They need to be able to tell you how long they had the loans and spell out the process of how they got the numbers they did. 4. Finally, only Roni and Stephen Anderson on this board have dealt with defaulted student loans that were not supposed to be defaulted under the law. Roni is not posting currently - but if you e-mail Stephen, or look up his posts on creditnet under the user name "Mozilla", he will be an invaluable help and he will reply to you. Stephen successfully litigated against a servicer for putting him in default incorrectly and for charging him more collection costs than they should have. It was a long battle for him, but he is my hero in this regard. stephen_m_anderson@msn.com The more I think about it, Stephen (aka Mozilla) is the person you need to talk with. Good luck,
Damn, I just wrote a ton and lost it all... I will attempt to shorten... Marci you provide great information, some of which I didn't have...thanks! Stacey, first take a deep breath. You have rights provided by the Higher Education Act. You certainly need to educate yourself on student loans. They can garnish wages and seize income tax returns, but these are reversible once your account is in good standing. First, I'd get the harassing CA off your back. Read the FDCPA, link is: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm, particularly sect 805-808. Send them a cease and desist order under sect 805. Indicate you wish halt further communication until you can educate yourself of your rights provided under the HEA that guide you in dealing with student loans. Also that you feel they have violated your rights under the FDCPA by contact at work after your letter, harassment (repeated calls), and third party contact (your child). I'd indicate you are serious considering legal action. Check this link: http://www.nwjustice.org/docs/1170.html#1170b. Specifically on this page: "What if the loan holder is not acting reasonably in setting the repayment plan? On Department-held loans, you can fax a letter to Tom Pestka, Deputy Director, Debt Collection Service, U.S. Department of Education at (202) 708-4766. If a guaranty agency is holding the loan, fax your letter to Pamela Moran, Policy Development Division, Loans Branch, Department of Education, (202) 708-8242. Include your name, social security number, dates, name of the collector staff, and all other important information. " I'd call and be real general, tell them what is going on and that you need help, what can you do. Don't be too specific with them, just that you are trying to learn. Also reference this link: http://www.sfahelp.ed.gov/ for third party help in this matter. This may be your ultimate recourse. EDUCATE YOURSELF! I'll give you the links I have used to learn: http://www.nwjustice.org/docs/1170.html#1170b http://www.carreonandassociates.com/sl.htm http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/consolidation/rehab.html http://www.mycounsel.com/content/collections/specific/studentloans/several.html http://www.sfahelp.ed.gov/ And above all this one: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/20/ch28.html, sections 1071 through 1087. Bear in mind the previous links could have inaccuracies, incorrect assumptions, but the HEA is the binding legislation on student loans. I also suggest searching creditnet for keywords such as student loan, sl collection, rehab, default, etc. and learn here too. Read, read, read... Gather all your documentation together relating to this loan. Start building your paper trail. You probably have several options, maybe even rehab of the new loan. I didn't know jack a month or so ago about all this, but feel I've learned a lot and you can too...
I was under the belief that they cannot garnish wages or take tax returns if regular monthly payments are being made. They threaten it every year but have never been able to do it. Thank you all so much for the useful information. I sent a c&d letter yesterday and will contact the people you have given me. Stacey
