The Department of Education has recently been assigned a 19 year old student loan of mine. I have been disputing this loan with the DOE to no avail. My problem is this: The Department claims I owe around 6,000 dollars on a 19 year old loan that was originally 3,000 dollars. The 3,000 dollar loan covered my spring 1989 semester. However, due to medical reasons, I withdrew from school 20 days after the start of the semester. I was sent a letter from the financial aid office that my financial aid was being canceled.
Now let's forward to 2008: The DOE sends me a letter stating they are collecting on this now 19 year old loan. Collection agency is calling my home at least 10 times per day. I find out the DOE is trying to collect on a loan I never even received.
This January, I filled out an unpaid refund application, and it was miraculously denied by the DOE. They claim I attended over 60% of the semester, which would preclude me from receiving this type of discharge. I have sent them copies of my transcript clearly showing the date of my withdrawal, and that I did not attend over 60% of the semester. I am currently disputing their denial.
I cannot seem to make this clear to the DOE that an error has been made. I unfortunately did not keep a 19 year old letter stating that my financial aid was canceled back in 1989. My education records clearly show that I did not attend school for the full semester. What other proof do I need?
They still have collectors calling my home and cell phone, despite my current dispute over this debt. I'm tired of being harassed and my dispute over this debt is not taken seriously at all.
Full Version: 19 year old loan assigned to DOE
Try the student loan ombudsman. Also you may want to go back thru your school. If your school shows you as withdrawn after 20 days, by law your SL had to be returned.
I've called my school's financial aid office to see if they would have records regarding my financial aid from 1989, and was told they do not keep 19 year old records. However, my official transcripts indicate the date the spring 1989 semester began and the date I withdrew. I sent a copy of my official transcripts to DOE to prove that I had withdrawn after 20 days of the semester. I have contacted the ombudsman regarding this, and there has been no reply.
This is definitely an ombudsman situation. I had good luck with the ombudsman's office solving a problem that I had last year with a CA. They seem to take a little while to get to it, and that time frame seems to vary. I think I waited about a week after explaining my situation to the intake person for the ombudsman's office at the DOE. Then an actual ombudsman called me back and spoke with me; then about a week later the ombudsman was able to resolve the situation in my favor.
More recently I have had another problem requiring the omsbudsman's office, and this time it took nearly four weeks for a call from an ombudsman after I had spoken to an intake person. Now I am waiting for the ombudsman to work on the problem and call me back with her progress on the problem. (I had a false duplicate loan in the national student loan database and am needing to have it deleted; also trying to find out about the actual CRA reporting rules for old defaulted, paid-in-full Perkins loans.)
Did you speak to an actual person yet? When the ombudsman gets your case, he or she calls and gets your story, then gives you a contact number so you can reach him/her directly if you need to. Wouldn't surprise me if they were backlogged with the downturn in the economy, but with luck, if you get a competent ombudsman, they should be able to make short work of your problem. Good luck!
More recently I have had another problem requiring the omsbudsman's office, and this time it took nearly four weeks for a call from an ombudsman after I had spoken to an intake person. Now I am waiting for the ombudsman to work on the problem and call me back with her progress on the problem. (I had a false duplicate loan in the national student loan database and am needing to have it deleted; also trying to find out about the actual CRA reporting rules for old defaulted, paid-in-full Perkins loans.)
Did you speak to an actual person yet? When the ombudsman gets your case, he or she calls and gets your story, then gives you a contact number so you can reach him/her directly if you need to. Wouldn't surprise me if they were backlogged with the downturn in the economy, but with luck, if you get a competent ombudsman, they should be able to make short work of your problem. Good luck!
By coincidence the ombudsman just called me to tell me my student loan database problem (false, duplicate loan listing in the database) is resolved! She is requesting more info about the Perkins reporting question.
Glad to have that duplication problem behind me! I did not want a problem with the CAIVRS database should I apply for an FHA mortgage.
I'm sure you'll get some assistance from the ombudsman's office. Let us know what happens with your case.
Glad to have that duplication problem behind me! I did not want a problem with the CAIVRS database should I apply for an FHA mortgage.
I'm sure you'll get some assistance from the ombudsman's office. Let us know what happens with your case.
QUOTE(marseilles @ Apr 1 2008, 03:15 PM) 
This is definitely an ombudsman situation. I had good luck with the ombudsman's office solving a problem that I had last year with a CA. They seem to take a little while to get to it, and that time frame seems to vary. I think I waited about a week after explaining my situation to the intake person for the ombudsman's office at the DOE. Then an actual ombudsman called me back and spoke with me; then about a week later the ombudsman was able to resolve the situation in my favor.
More recently I have had another problem requiring the omsbudsman's office, and this time it took nearly four weeks for a call from an ombudsman after I had spoken to an intake person. Now I am waiting for the ombudsman to work on the problem and call me back with her progress on the problem. (I had a false duplicate loan in the national student loan database and am needing to have it deleted; also trying to find out about the actual CRA reporting rules for old defaulted, paid-in-full Perkins loans.)
Did you speak to an actual person yet? When the ombudsman gets your case, he or she calls and gets your story, then gives you a contact number so you can reach him/her directly if you need to. Wouldn't surprise me if they were backlogged with the downturn in the economy, but with luck, if you get a competent ombudsman, they should be able to make short work of your problem. Good luck!
More recently I have had another problem requiring the omsbudsman's office, and this time it took nearly four weeks for a call from an ombudsman after I had spoken to an intake person. Now I am waiting for the ombudsman to work on the problem and call me back with her progress on the problem. (I had a false duplicate loan in the national student loan database and am needing to have it deleted; also trying to find out about the actual CRA reporting rules for old defaulted, paid-in-full Perkins loans.)
Did you speak to an actual person yet? When the ombudsman gets your case, he or she calls and gets your story, then gives you a contact number so you can reach him/her directly if you need to. Wouldn't surprise me if they were backlogged with the downturn in the economy, but with luck, if you get a competent ombudsman, they should be able to make short work of your problem. Good luck!
An actual ombudsman has not spoken to me as of yet. It's my understanding that they must send a letter with their findings, or am I wrong? I hope I can be as satisfied as you are with the ombudsman. Your post gave me some hope!
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