yellorose

and go ahead and ask the mods to move this to the "served" forum. you'll get some help with your answer there.

I've just pulled up my CR from eq and SM is reporting a balance of exaclty the same amount as NCO is trying to collect, so I will eat my hat if NCO actually owns the debt. kinda works against me tho. so I think I will write to them disputing the amount and asking for a bill of sale. next try to find out from ACS how they got my payment from SM, then go ahead and send a payment to SMA again. certified, rrr. just guessing here.

*deep breath* just getting some feedback here is making me feel less anxious! thanks so much everyone! dontbl8t, I went back and re-read this: that's good advice, I can ask for a bill of sale in my letter to them. I'd be interested to know what they paid.

Hey thanks everyone! I was about to give up. well, I did send 3 letters to SMA, at least 2 of them were certified and I do have the green cards. sM's correspondence provides an address where you may send payments "on any disputed part of the debt" or words to that effect. I sent SM a money order in one of those letters, and that money order found its way to ACS, the servicer of my federal loan. go fig. perhaps I can do more research with ACS on how that happened. I did think that in case of a law suit, I could show a good faith effort to address the situation. I have been very hesitant to contact SM, as they were very very mean and made multiple threatening and even prank phone calls to me in the beginning, when i first defaulted. caused me to lose a job! NCO sent no explanation of how they reached 40k. just "payment in full is now due. please tell us how you plan to address this debt." NCO have more than enough to prove the debt, they seem to have the entire file from the school including employment verification and a copy of my drivers license! I actually did not attend this program and the money actually went to the school. I have only recently managed to convince the school to refund the money to me, and the school only refunded 9k, 1/2 of the original debt, as they felt that my one month's attendance and then a week into the second month constututed that I attended 1/2 of the program. so they have prejudiced me a bit here. fine, but I took their money and it is in the bank. no doubt this info has been passed on to NCO. it has now been 5 years and SM added fees and interest. SM is reporting the debt on my CR as 38k, so the extra money must be NCO's fees. as to ownership: I hate dealing with a CA, but perhaps if they do own the debt I could make a deal with them? I guess there is no such thing as an SOL on a private loan. seems like the thing to do now is find a qualified attorney. I must answer NCO tho, so should I say something like that I have made a good faith effort to reach a payment agreement with SM and if they want me to work with them, then they need to provide me with details as to ownership of the debt. also that I dispute the amount. I cant help thinking that they'd just answer me with a summons.

sorry for the self-serving bump. I dont see any of my old friends on the boards, so I'm hoping someone here has some experience to share. I honestly do not know what to do next. write NCO? try to write SLM again? send in payments to the address provided by SLM? [when I did that before, the payment was somehow re-routed to my federal student loan.] I do not want to deal with a CA if I can avoid it, esp as they are tacking on about 10k in fees! I would like to attempt a good faith effort to work it out with SM who have ignored me so far. next step is that NCO will sue me. I'd like to avoid that.

did you read Stryker's thread?

you imply that Penn station is uncivilized. (you would be correct). LOL going away now since I can only offer comments that are off topic...

debeeg, first, you've had some bad luck! I hope things soon change for the better for you. as to the letter, it's not my style to be so detailed, but since you've gone to all the trouble, make sure you get your letter into the hands of someone who will actually read it. any old CSR would most likely just toss it. have you read Stryker's "goodwill" thread? please do a search for that thread and read it to get some ideas first. I think if you got it to the right person, you could be successful. everyone knows times are tough right now. good luck!

sourgirl, thanks, but there is no rehab for private loans. Dept of Ed has nothing to do with private loans and will not help. just to be clear, my questions are: can NCO garnish for a private loan without a judgment? 3 registered letters to sallie m. and one payment sent this past year, and I've never had a response, is it pointless to ask NCO who owns the debt? how to make an offer in settlement? has anyone on this board ever settled an old private SL? anyone?

good grief, I keep losing my internet connection. yes, EarnIt, I would do your strategy. unfortunately, the fed SL folks know where I work, so would share that, I am sure. I cannot figure out if NCO owns the debt, this is the question at hand. Sallie m. has never responded to anything i';ve ever written. I even sent a payment on the "disputed amount" but they forwarded it to ( ???? who??? ) and it eventually was applied to my federal SL. so strange. I do not feel inclined to pay any collection agency. I do not know if there is any sol on private loans used for ed purposes and no one in the SL forum has ever been able to answer this question.

thanks EarnIt, very kind. yeah, seems like they have all they need. if original loan was 19K and I offer 1oK, does anyone think they would accept. thats all I have.. they can find out where i work very easily, so I need to do something.

ok, yeeeeeeaaaah, thanks xecuter2, yeah, paying is always an option!!!!111!!! I did not think of that!!!!1 hey, can I borrow 40k? just kidding. no, I did not mention bk. I'm not trying to do any bk here, as that is the only unaddressed debt I have.

for "full validation" they sent a copy of my loan application (signed) and a signed copy of the promissory note and a copy of my letter verifying employment back in 03, and even a copy of my drivers license (yikes!). what is missing is, um, who are you NCO? what relationship do you have with sallie mae? but anyway, still, if anyone has any ideas, I'd be grateful. really. truly. deeply.

azntg, you must be my neighbor. I'm the girl walking the pitt bull every day! hah! we probably pass each other every day on the 7!

I took a break from my bad credit for a while; but it did not take a break from me! anyway, hi again. the situation. private loan for tech school program I applied and was approved in 5/03. $19K long story short, life happened; I quit the program; defaulted on the loan. I had not been dunned by anyone for the last few years. I was contacted by OSI back in may of this year for collection and I DV'd within 30 days. they sent me a blank contract. I said not good enough, and I never heard back from them. I just today received a full validation from NCO, who I notice is using OSI's former address and at the bottom of the letter it does say NCO is formerly OSI. whatev. the debt they are trying to collect is now over $40k and I need some ideas on what to do next! I realize they will never go away, but I at the very least I want to avoid garnishment. first things first -- can they garnish my wages without a judgment? I know regular student loan servicers can do that, but can private? I'd like to offer a settlement, but not sure if they would even consider that. any ideas? I'm not freaking out yet, but I may be soon!