Truth in Lending/Fair Credit Billing

[GraceUnderFire]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? - Kentucky

I do hope that I have posted in the correct forum, if not please forgive me and let me know where I should have posted.

I have a private student loan that was taken out 05/98. All payments have been made electronically from my checking account- never refused; never dishonored.

I am fighting with the lender who states that the loan is in default. They state: pmt #1 was late; pmt #2 didn't include the late fee for pmt #1 and as such was late; pmt #3 didn't include the late fees for either pmt #1 or #2 and as such the loan defaulted.

I have never received any billing statements and have lived at my residence since 1997. They claim "our database says we mailed them."

Since I have paid all my bills electonically, I have never worried about whether or not I received any billing statements.

The only way I found out that they had put me in default was the record showed up on my credit reports while trying to get a security clearance. It is the ONLY bad thing on my reports.

I honestly don't know what my rights are in this matter. I am still paying them electronically and they are accepting the payments. I want the "default" gone off of my reports. Yesterday I received a letter from them stating not to send any more letters about this matter as they wish to do all business over the phone. This scares me...

[cmorris]

Letters should be the only way to go. It gives you proof of what they are stating. Just send them certified mail, return receipt.

Did you pay late and not include a late fee? Have you read your contract? A lot of your questions can be answered right there.

If you did NOT pay late:
Print out your electronic payments and send them to the company, CMRR. Request that they fix your tradeline, as it is in error.

If you DID pay late:
Send a "goodwill" letter, begging for forgiveness. Be sure to include a check/money order completely updating your account. Explain the circumstances. Ask if you pay on time for X months/years, that they will remove the default, or at least replace it with a late.

Regardless of which instance this is, send it to a "higher-up." You can find this information either through google, [URL=http://www.bbb.org]bbb.org[/URL], or [URL=http://www.planetfeedback.com/consumer/]planetfeedback.com[/URL]. Send it CMRR.

Also visit [URL=http://www.creditboards.com]creditboards.com[/URL]. There is a forum on student loans.