About to be garnished for a Student Loan that's ALREADY been paid

[sonicanatidae]

Student loan for $2625, paid in full on 02/2008 after going to collections.

 

Received a letter today from GC stating that they were about to garnish my wages for this same loan.

I have paperwork from the previous collector showing the loan paid in full.

 

My first question is "What's the next best step?"

 

While my blood rages for vengence on this scum, I'd honestly prefer to go on with my life,

so I'm guessing sending in the previous paperwork showing the loan paid would suffice,

but then again, this is collections scum.

 

My second question is. "What are my remedies if they ignore the paperwork and garnish my anyway

for a loan that's been paid off for 5+ years?"

Edited February 3, 2013 by sonicanatidae

[evapor8ted]

Are you sure that it is the same student loan? If it is at the garnishment point, it has gone really far. Have you not received any letters or calls from GC the guarantor, or the previous servicer? Pull your NSLDS, see what is showing.

 

Also pull your credit report you may have destroyed your credit letting this go to the garnishment point.

[sonicanatidae]

Positive it's the same loan. Same amount, sam origination date.

 

They contacted me 12 months ago. I asked them to send me docs and nothing ever arrived.

I explained then that this loan was paid in full.

 

Got a letter a week ago. Called them to re-explain it. They had the wrong social and a few

other errors in my contact into. I asked them again for docs, stating that I had proof of it being paid.

Saturday, garnishment papers arrived..lol

 

The entries from the PAID IN FULL collections are already on my credit report.They fall off in about 18 months.

 

How stupid can they get?

[xelda]

Positive it's the same loan. Same amount, sam origination date.

 

They contacted me 12 months ago. I asked them to send me docs and nothing ever arrived.

I explained then that this loan was paid in full.

 

Got a letter a week ago. Called them to re-explain it. They had the wrong social and a few

other errors in my contact into. I asked them again for docs, stating that I had proof of it being paid.

Saturday, garnishment papers arrived..lol

 

The entries from the PAID IN FULL collections are already on my credit report.They fall off in about 18 months.

 

How stupid can they get?

This raises a red flag to me. You didn't provide them with your correct info, did you?

[sonicanatidae]

Provide whom? The loan was from 1988 and I'm fairly sure I didn't plan to defraud

20 years later by listing incorrect info. They contacted me last year and I asked them

for a copy of the documentation. Nothing arrived. They waited their 12 month period,

then sent a final letter. I spoke to them RE: the letter and again asked for documentation.

5 days later, garnishment paperwork arrived.

 

The loan paperwork was filled out by the financial aid advisor. I signed it. (all those years ago).

To my knowledge, all student loans I've ever applied for (all 2 of them) contained accurate info,

but I can't say that I remember verifying every detail. These loans are from many years ago.

 

The CA knows this loan has been paid. They did a soft pull on my CRs in Dec/2012 and the

entries related to this loan are clearly displayed.

 

Faxing prove today, which I'm sure will be ignored. Next step is counsel, I guess.

 

Edit: Attempting to pull NSLDS today, but a pin (which I do not have) is required.

Edited February 4, 2013 by sonicanatidae

[sonicanatidae]

To further answer the question, they offered the incorrect social security number. I stated that it was incorrect.

They then stated my correct Social.

[LynnInMN]

Have you ever logged into NSLDS to verify loan status???

 

FYI....you cannot "ask" verbally for loan docs. It must be done in writing.

[New2repair]

As far as how stupid they can get, there is really no limit. I am going through a similar debaucle. I have to go through it every few months it seems.

 

I requested a paid in full letter from these clowns when I finally paid it off, so I saved it, and I have to keep sending it in. Every few months they show back up saying one, or some of my accounts are in collections.

 

The ombudsman no longer wants to deal with it/me/us.

 

Calls to the Dept of Ed are painful and not very helpful.

 

You need to WRITE to the Dept of Ed at their texas address, and request your ENTIRE/COMPLETE payment history.

 

Its a painful process wrought with endless frustration.

 

Keep copies of all documents you send to rectify this, for you will have this problem with them again.

 

If you have checks or bank statements showing you made payments, get ALL of those, and make copies of those as well.

Edited February 15, 2013 by New2repair

[GrannyLinny]

I want to bump this with my recent experiences in case it might help someone fighting a collection over a paid federal student loan.

 

The Dept of Education never responded to my dispute under FCRA, never responded to my hardship application concerning the offset, and never responded to my request for a hearing. From my experience, the student loan Ombudsman is not a disinterested 3rd party, but a mouthpiece for the Dept of Ed.

 

The CFPB has no jurisdiction over federal loans, so their Ombudman can't help you.

 

According to the CFPB, there is no oversight agency with authority over the Dept of Education who can help a consumer. The Dept of Ed is operating under a congressional mandate, so they do as they please.

 

From everything I've experienced so far, they seem to be working outside of any consumer protections that are familiar to us..

 

It's a nasty business all around.

Edited April 29, 2013 by GrannyLinny

[hodap2001]

GrannyLinny - as an FYI - The U.S. Department of Education - is a highly regulated entity within the Federal Government (as any Federal Government Agency) with complete oversight by the President, Congress, Secretary Arne Duncan, Government Accountability Office, Office of Inspector General, Office of Management and Budget, Several Internal and External Auditor Firms, and of course, the United States Tax Payers. The U.S. Department of Education actively monitors all of their loan servicing partners and ensures they perform in accordance with all laws and regulations and so does the Department - they're not above the law.

[GrannyLinny]

I understand that they are not technically above the law, but unfortunately the president doesn't answer my correspondence. Those laws written down on paper and those names on government letterhead don't amount to a hill of beans in the real world.

 

Monitor their PARTNERS? My problem is not a loan servicing partner, it's the DofEd itself. They are horrific.

 

Our Congress specifically crafted a law that allows collection with no statute of limitations and a garnishment down to $750.00 a month of income. They didn't care if it was a clear violation of the Social Security act provisions that were written to protect seniors and the disabled from extreme poverty. What does Congress care, they spend $750,00 on wine with lunch.

 

Income of $750.00 a month was pretty bad in 1996 when they passed 484A, but you could survive. It was sort of a debtors prison. It's no longer a debtors prison, because prison gets you a roof over your head. This law, in 2013, doesn't leave you enough money for shelter.

 

It's heinous.

 

I can assure you from personal experience that regardless of the theoretical safeguards that you read about, in the real world of DofEd-held loans, NOBODY CARES.

[hodap2001]

Congress did create the law; however, it was our supreme court justices that upheld the law that withholding social security benefits to repay a federal debt is valid and enforceable. It is one of the most severe consequences of defaulting on a federal debt - it sucks I know.

[GrannyLinny]

It really sucks when you paid it off over 20 years ago, the DofEd doesn't respond to FCRA requests, and nobody will make them.

 

To say something sucks when you are homeless because of it is kind of an understatement. The law is pure Nazi, whether you owe it or not. It is not in the spirit of what our system is supposed to be about,

[GrannyLinny]

If it helps anyone, I was not in the NSLDS database at all.

 

Also, when this first happened to me, i was in the process of getting a USDA home loan on a little house. Sigh. Anyway, I was in the USDA Direct office, trying to salvage my loan after the 100 point drop in my credit score. (Ummm, don't think so...). The lady got on her computer and checked my social against the federal loan default system, which is supposed to show everyone with any defaulted federal debt.

 

I WAS NOT IN IT.