In May I was notified by the OC holding my defaulted Stafford loans that they were seeking wage garnishment from my employer. I, of course, requested a hearing based on a written statement and submitted a several page write-up as to why this would cause me financial hardship. (I defaulted in the first place because my parents obliterated my credit as I finished school 8-9 years ago.) The hearing took place at the end of July and the ruling was in my favor, that NCSEAA (North Carolina State education Assistance Authority) could not garnish my wages because it would cause extreme financial hardship for me.

I also made note that I fully intend to repay the loans and will be seeking consolidation w/ reduced payment in the future when my situation is better. This was noted in the hearing.

This week I received a mailing from NCO Financial Systems, Inc (based in Ohio) acting on behalf of NCSEAA with the exact same language I received from NCSEAA in May. In fact, the letterheads are NCSEAA, but the communication information is NCO. I have the same request for hearing form and all of that fun stuff, identical to what I received in May. They are attempting the exact same thing that was attempted and ruled against over this summer.

My employment has not changed.

What should my response be? Should I just send NCO a copy of the hearing result from the hearing 2.5 months ago? Is this even legal??

I am actually in the process of reducing living expenses and consolidating right now. Payments will be reduced from $450/month to under $250. The main reason I chose to fight garnishment is that it wouldn't help my credit at all, whereas a consolidation loan ultimately will.

Are you in repayment? A garnishment hearing means nothing if you do not enter into a repayment. A consolidation applied for in July should have gone thru by now...did you wait?

Thanks for the reply, Lynn. I haven't completed the consolidation yet because I quite frankly didn't have the means to make payments at the time (which is why the garnishment hearing was ruled in my favor). As I said in the original post, I've been working since then to reduce costs so that I can consolidate and enter into repayment. This included changing my living arrangements, which I wasn't able to do until my lease expired early this month.

I really just have to finalize the application, which I'll be doing this week.

In the meantime, should I just request another written hearing and send them the same letter I sent over the summer in order to delay their paperwork? Or should I send them a copy of that result? Both?? I'm just concerned about something happening while I wait for the consolidation to process and discharge. This letter went to my old address (as I'd just moved) so I received it a little late (dated Oct 8) although it doesn't seem to have any specifics regarding time-frame, but it would seem immediate communication would be ideal.

You didnt enter into repayment so the summer letter means nothing. I am surprised that the garnisment hasnt started. Hearings do not give you the opinion no to pay.

You can attempt to appeal but considering this is the second time around, you will probably be denied.