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Hindered by a debt - how to deal with collection agency
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Anonymous
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Wait a sec, OP, did you say the university won't release your transcripts but you obtained a private loan?
How is this connected? I was just also going to tell you to do a google search on the phone number the collection calls are coming in on. That wll tell you a lot about the legitimacy of the company you're dealing with. Websites abound on the 'net with info about "who called me from ____" that you can see are linked to phony companies. |
Anonymous
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one more thought: check out this website for more help
www.larcc.org |
Anonymous
| This doesn't pass the smell test. I'm with the posters who would investigate this debt collector. They purchased the debt from the university and are trying to get an outrageous profit of it. |
Anonymous
| FWIW there are collectors that will purchase debt that is out of the statute of limitations for pennies on the dollar to try to collect on it. Sounds like this is what is going on here. They employ very sleazy practices. |
Anonymous
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OP here again - thanks for all the incredibly helpful info, everyone.
The loan in question was a private loan FROM the university. I talked to a couple of departments at the university and they told me the debt needs to be satisfied before my transcript is released. It sounds like I need to make more calls and do more prodding to try to get to the bottom of this and find out if there is any other arrangement I can make. The debt collection agency is GRC - http://www.generalrevenue.com GRC originally called me back in 2008 and had me so scared that they were going to garnish my bank account, etc, that I gave them my last $400. That's the only time I've given GRC any money. Until I tracked them back down recently, I really thought it may have been a scam, in retrospect, but it seems legit? I just don't know - I have a lot more homework to do, and phone calls to make. I really, really appreciate everyone who's taken time out of their day to try to help me out. |
Anonymous
OP here. I do not own a home, but thanks for the idea. |
Anonymous
| Hm, can you speak directly with the university? The collection agency is out for themselves. The university might be more willing to accommodate. |
Anonymous
The university said if I mailed them a payment, they would forward it to the collection agency. I'm going to make a few more calls to them tomorrow, though. I am guessing that they have some sort of contract with the agency and cannot go behind their backs. I googled the collection agency and after what I've read, I'm so scared they are going to start garnishing my wages. It seems like a lawyer might be the best route to go. Can anyone recommend a lawyer who can work with me on a contingency basis? I really, really want to get this taken care of. |
Anonymous
| OP here- whoops, 21:50 is me. |
Anonymous
| Don't be scared into doing anything stupid. Look into your legal rights before doing anything at all - including having any communication with them or the university. Look into a pro bono law clinic. No one is going to start garnishing your wages. |
Anonymous
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States have laws that limit the fees that can be collected to "reasonable" fees -- and I'd think $2200 to collect a $2000 loan seems unreasonable. Unless you voluntarily agree to pay the fees, they would need to sue you, win a judgment against you for the loan amount and then ask the judge to award them "reasonable" fees. The judge, not the agency gets to ultimately decide what is reasonable.
I don't think they can garnish your wages unless they first sue you and get a judgment against you (you said this is not a Federal Student loan). Know your rights -- check out http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm Send a letter to the collection agency requesting a verification of the loan in writing, so you can be certain what amounts are the balance, the interest and the fees. Before you make any payments, you need to determine if the statute of limitations has run on the debt. The debt may be uncollectible at this point (meaning despite what they might say, they can't successfully sue you to collect the debt), but if you make a payment, you could "re-age" the debt, which means the statute of limitations will begin again. Do some on line research to see if you can determine the statute of limitation. Consider contacting a accredited, not for profit, debt counselor. The two largest accrediting agencies for credit counselors are the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Each has an online referral service to certified local counselors. |
Anonymous
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Also -- you should know that the laws for debts are different for federal student loans (those covered by the higher education act) and consumer loans. GRC, which is owned by Sallie Mae, primarily collects federally backed student loans, though they also collect other consumer loans. I think this is important because the collection rep you reach by calling GRC may be thinking you have a federally back student loan -- so, for instance, they may tell you that there are no statute of limitations, which is true for loans covered by the higher education act, but not regular consumer loans.
Local law schools have free legal clinics that may be able to help you out in this case, since you are willing to pay and the issue is just how to do it in a way that makes sense. |
Anonymous
| OP, I don't know enough about your loan to know whether it is subject to the statute of limitations. But, the others are right when they say that payments restart the SOL. When you consult a lawyer, if you do, remember to tell them about the 2008 payment you made because my guess is that this payment did restart your clock. I hope you can find someone to help you - doubt you will find a contingency lawyer, but you may find a low cost or pro bono one. |
Anonymous
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PP here who had credit issues of my own.
Here is my advice, after reading your updated info: 1. don't send any money. 2. save up to pay the original amount off. For a 2K debt, there is NO reason for you to even think about paying double that to a collection agency. 3. if the collection agency has no payment or luck from you, they will probably resell your debt or it may go back to the university. To be honest, them taking you to court could probably be the best thing that could happen. (though it's very, very unlikely to happen). In case this happens, however, simply document every single discussion you have with them, including offers to make reasonable payments. If you are taken to court, you may present your case to the judge (you've been paying it, you made multiple payment plan offers, etc). A judge would likely throw out exhorbitant fees and just hold you responsible for the original debt. The collection agency would NOT likely take you to court, the original university would probably have to push for that. Either way, garnished wages would only happen if the judge deemed there was no other way to collect from you. If you were taken to court, you would get 30 days notice or so, and could probably defer at least once. So let's say you had 60 days to save up. What kind of payment could you make at that time? I agree that a credit counseler might be able to work better angles with the collection agency. Be sure to go to a reputable one. Check the FTC website above. Someone has provided you a direct link. In the meantime, send every single payment plan offer you come up with to the collection agency via certified mail. Keep copies of your letters. If I were you, I would also send a cease and desist contact by phone letter. This way they are FORCED to send you all offers (and threats) in writing. They'll be less likely to put shady shit in writing than they are by phone. This protects you, it's not just to get them to stop pestering (though that is very nice, as well). Good luck to you. |
Anonymous
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PP here. One last issue. Wage garnishment is not the end of the world. I never had a collection agency garnish but I *did* have a former landlord garnish wages once (which was a completely different story involved with a lawsuit where she said I breached my contract and I said she breached hers, and her lawyer failed to serve me with proper notice, I missed a court date due to being out of the country, etc etc). Without getting into that debacle, all I can say is that the judge found me liable to pay (i was not there to present my side of the story) and garnished my wages immediately for the amount of two months rent (about 2k). I believe my monthly payment was no more than 25 percent of my takehome, which was steep, but not too bad, for about 4 months or something (and that paid the debt). Had I been able to defend myself it would have never been so bad. I could have probably revisited the issue in court but i was so beat down by dealing with her for months and months that i just figured who cares. I got a note from HR that my wages were being garnished due to a judgment against me -- it was not nearly as embarrassing as i thought it would be, and she said that many many employees have htis happen for various reasons; it's not always financial.
So please don't lose more sleep over this. It will work out. |