"Money Owed"

[rphillip24]

Ok Hello so this is my situation. The previous school that i had attended in 2007 has recently sent my account to the collection agency. The school is saying that i owe them 2000$ for forming. The situation is i was dorming at the college for the semester of fall 07 and did not for spring of 08 they are charging me for spring of 08. i left because the conditions i was paying for were unacceptable. Also i did not have the money so i told the housing representative at the time and she said if i had not paid that i would not be able to dorm. I lived with a roommate of campus and left the college with a transcript in 2008. In 2011 i attempted to obtain another transcript to leave the other college i went to. The 1st college said i had an outstanding balance of 2000 for dorms. Upon checking in with the bursar office, registar office and the athletics office . i was told the they was no evidence of me forming but i would have to obtain a reversal by the vice president, i emailed and called him no response. It is not 2014 and i receive a collection notice so once again i call the school i get the run around i speak to his receptionist she tells me he's getting the calls and emails if he choses to answer thats his decision. So i speak to the bursar office again they tell me about my itemized bill. They tell me that it shows i didn't dorm in the fall, theres no record of me there and its there fault they forgot to charge me for the fall, also they tell me that they have no records of giving me a transcript. No records of anything so i call the bank but they only keep up to 7 years of information.

If anyone can provide any insight it be appreciated.

 

[quincy]

Ok Hello so this is my situation. The previous school that i had attended in 2007 has recently sent my account to the collection agency. The school is saying that i owe them 2000$ for forming. The situation is i was dorming at the college for the semester of fall 07 and did not for spring of 08 they are charging me for spring of 08. i left because the conditions i was paying for were unacceptable. Also i did not have the money so i told the housing representative at the time and she said if i had not paid that i would not be able to dorm. I lived with a roommate of campus and left the college with a transcript in 2008. In 2011 i attempted to obtain another transcript to leave the other college i went to. The 1st college said i had an outstanding balance of 2000 for dorms. Upon checking in with the bursar office, registar office and the athletics office . i was told the they was no evidence of me forming but i would have to obtain a reversal by the vice president, i emailed and called him no response. It is not 2014 and i receive a collection notice so once again i call the school i get the run around i speak to his receptionist she tells me he's getting the calls and emails if he choses to answer thats his decision. So i speak to the bursar office again they tell me about my itemized bill. They tell me that it shows i didn't dorm in the fall, theres no record of me there and its there fault they forgot to charge me for the fall, also they tell me that they have no records of giving me a transcript. No records of anything so i call the bank but they only keep up to 7 years of information.

If anyone can provide any insight it be appreciated.

What is the name of your state, rphillip24, or, if not in the US, what is the name of your country?

 

[rphillip24]

What is the name of your state, rphillip24, or, if not in the US, what is the name of your country?

New York is the name

 

[Mark Maroon]

Ok Hello so this is my situation. The previous school that i had attended in 2007 has recently sent my account to the collection agency. The school is saying that i owe them 2000$ for forming. The situation is i was dorming at the college for the semester of fall 07 and did not for spring of 08 they are charging me for spring of 08. i left because the conditions i was paying for were unacceptable. Also i did not have the money so i told the housing representative at the time and she said if i had not paid that i would not be able to dorm. I lived with a roommate of campus and left the college with a transcript in 2008. In 2011 i attempted to obtain another transcript to leave the other college i went to. The 1st college said i had an outstanding balance of 2000 for dorms. Upon checking in with the bursar office, registar office and the athletics office . i was told the they was no evidence of me forming but i would have to obtain a reversal by the vice president, i emailed and called him no response. It is not 2014 and i receive a collection notice so once again i call the school i get the run around i speak to his receptionist she tells me he's getting the calls and emails if he choses to answer thats his decision. So i speak to the bursar office again they tell me about my itemized bill. They tell me that it shows i didn't dorm in the fall, theres no record of me there and its there fault they forgot to charge me for the fall, also they tell me that they have no records of giving me a transcript. No records of anything so i call the bank but they only keep up to 7 years of information.

If anyone can provide any insight it be appreciated.

First off, you need better information from the school AND you need that information in writing. Call the bursar's office and ask them to snail mail, fax, or e-mail you a copy of any and all financial accounting information that they have for you. In other words, you want a copy of (or at least an accounting for) all of the bills that they sent you and all of the payments that they received from you, etcetera. Of course you want a copy of your current outstanding bill, but you also want more than JUST your current or outstanding bill. Why? Because you want to know how they got to the current outstanding bill, and you won't know that unless you can see what the previous bills and payments were. (BTW, many institutions of higher education allow you to access this information online).

Second, it sounds like the written documentation that you will ultimately receive from the school will support their position that you signed up to live in a dorm during the fall of 2007, and that you didn't live in a dorm during the spring of 2008, and that they are charging you $2,000 for the dorm during the spring of 2008 (that you didn't use). If that is the case, then first you need to find out what their policy was at the time on dorms and canceling dorm reservations. For instance, some schools require that you live in a dorm your freshman year, and some require that you make a year long dorm reservation at the beginning of the school year. So the fact that you didn't live in a dorm the second semester (spring of 2008) may or may not be relevant to whether or not you owe the school $2,000 for a dorm room during the spring of 2008.

If the documentation that they send to you confirms that they charged you for a dorm room for a semester that you didn't live in a dorm, and that they were not supposed to do that, then you have to keep at them until they correct their mistake, and note your account as paid in full, and allow you to receive an official copy of your transcript. There's nothing that we can do to help you with that process. Just keep hounding them by phone and mail. Don't do a little, then get frustrated and give up for a few years, then do a little, etcetera. Just keep at it. For instance, if the bursar's office tells you that you need to get a "reversal" from the vice president, and the vice president won't return your calls, then send a letter to the vice president AND the bursar explaining the situation in simple terms (eg. I was charged for a dorm room incorrectly and the bursar's office told me that I need to contact the vice president so that they can reverse this mistaken charge).

 

[quincy]

How odd. I responded to this thread in the early a.m. hours and someone apparently reported my response.

I, like Mark, had recommended that rphillip obtain from the school the itemized billing. I mentioned that, after all this time, having corrections made is bound to be a challenge.

I also asked about rphillip's WINTER term, because he mentions living in the "form" (which I assume is the dorm) in the Fall Term 2007 and how he did not live in the dorm during the Spring Term 2008. He makes no mention of the Winter Term 2007-2008. The winter term is second semester, not the spring term.

IF he lived in the dorm during the winter term, he would be charged for his room and it could very well explain the $2000 that is being billed. That is why he needs the itemized billing, to see where the error could be (if there is, indeed, an error).

AND, if he still has one copy of the transcript from the college already (and hasn't lost it or misplaced it), he can make his own copy of the transcript and send it to the college along with his request for the itemized billing, so they can better locate his college records.

Again, I am puzzled by the reporting of my post. If it is because I mentioned that rphillip's post was hard to understand (which it is, due to the misspellings, punctuation errors and grammar), I apologize. That is not really a reason to report a post, though.

 

[Ohiogal]

How odd. I responded to this thread in the early a.m. hours and someone apparently reported my response.

I, like Mark, had recommended that rphillip obtain from the school the itemized billing. I mentioned that, after all this time, having corrections made is bound to be a challenge.

I also asked about rphillip's WINTER term, because he mentions living in the "form" (which I assume is the dorm) in the Fall Term 2007 and how he did not live in the dorm during the Spring Term 2008. He makes no mention of the Winter Term 2007-2008. The winter term is second semester, not the spring term.

IF he lived in the dorm during the winter term, he would be charged for his room and it could very well explain the $2000 that is being billed. That is why he needs the itemized billing, to see where the error could be (if there is, indeed, an error).

AND, if he still has one copy of the transcript from the college already (and hasn't lost it or misplaced it), he can make his own copy of the transcript and send it to the college along with his request for the itemized billing, so they can better locate his college records.

Again, I am puzzled by the reporting of my post. If it is because I mentioned that rphillip's post was hard to understand (which it is, due to the misspellings, punctuation errors and grammar), I apologize. That is not really a reason to report a post, though.

Actually at many schools there are only TWO semesters (Fall and Spring). Therefore there would not be a winter term. Ohio State does have a quarter system with fall, winter and spring, but various other universities only have a fall and spring semester.

 

[quincy]

Actually at many schools there are only TWO semesters (Fall and Spring). Therefore there would not be a winter term. Ohio State does have a quarter system with fall, winter and spring, but various other universities only have a fall and spring semester.

Ah. Well, if that is the case here, the $2000 for a full semester at a dorm seems like an awfully good (low) price, even for 2007.

 

[LdiJ]

Ah. Well, if that is the case here, the $2000 for a full semester at a dorm seems like an awfully good (low) price, even for 2007.

Not that good...we are talking about a max of 5 months, maybe even just 4, so that would be 400.00 to 500.00 a month with a roommate or roommates paying the same. That isn't THAT good of a deal.

 

[rphillip24]

First off, you need better information from the school AND you need that information in writing. Call the bursar's office and ask them to snail mail, fax, or e-mail you a copy of any and all financial accounting information that they have for you. In other words, you want a copy of (or at least an accounting for) all of the bills that they sent you and all of the payments that they received from you, etcetera. Of course you want a copy of your current outstanding bill, but you also want more than JUST your current or outstanding bill. Why? Because you want to know how they got to the current outstanding bill, and you won't know that unless you can see what the previous bills and payments were. (BTW, many institutions of higher education allow you to access this information online).

Second, it sounds like the written documentation that you will ultimately receive from the school will support their position that you signed up to live in a dorm during the fall of 2007, and that you didn't live in a dorm during the spring of 2008, and that they are charging you $2,000 for the dorm during the spring of 2008 (that you didn't use). If that is the case, then first you need to find out what their policy was at the time on dorms and canceling dorm reservations. For instance, some schools require that you live in a dorm your freshman year, and some require that you make a year long dorm reservation at the beginning of the school year. So the fact that you didn't live in a dorm the second semester (spring of 2008) may or may not be relevant to whether or not you owe the school $2,000 for a dorm room during the spring of 2008.

If the documentation that they send to you confirms that they charged you for a dorm room for a semester that you didn't live in a dorm, and that they were not supposed to do that, then you have to keep at them until they correct their mistake, and note your account as paid in full, and allow you to receive an official copy of your transcript. There's nothing that we can do to help you with that process. Just keep hounding them by phone and mail. Don't do a little, then get frustrated and give up for a few years, then do a little, etcetera. Just keep at it. For instance, if the bursar's office tells you that you need to get a "reversal" from the vice president, and the vice president won't return your calls, then send a letter to the vice president AND the bursar explaining the situation in simple terms (eg. I was charged for a dorm room incorrectly and the bursar's office told me that I need to contact the vice president so that they can reverse this mistaken charge).

Thankk you Mark for this information this really did help.

 

[rphillip24]

How odd. I responded to this thread in the early a.m. hours and someone apparently reported my response.

I, like Mark, had recommended that rphillip obtain from the school the itemized billing. I mentioned that, after all this time, having corrections made is bound to be a challenge.

I also asked about rphillip's WINTER term, because he mentions living in the "form" (which I assume is the dorm) in the Fall Term 2007 and how he did not live in the dorm during the Spring Term 2008. He makes no mention of the Winter Term 2007-2008. The winter term is second semester, not the spring term.

IF he lived in the dorm during the winter term, he would be charged for his room and it could very well explain the $2000 that is being billed. That is why he needs the itemized billing, to see where the error could be (if there is, indeed, an error).

AND, if he still has one copy of the transcript from the college already (and hasn't lost it or misplaced it), he can make his own copy of the transcript and send it to the college along with his request for the itemized billing, so they can better locate his college records.

Again, I am puzzled by the reporting of my post. If it is because I mentioned that rphillip's post was hard to understand (which it is, due to the misspellings, punctuation errors and grammar), I apologize. That is not really a reason to report a post, though.

Hello Quincy

I apologize for the grammar and other errors in my long rant. Terms go for the fall to spring. The transcript I talked about before, was and official transcript that was given to the school I transferred to. With that said I could not make copies of that. I do have an itemized copy of the billing. In this itemized copy it shows no record of me being in the dorms for the fall 07 year or receiving a copy of my transcript. From the itemized bill it would show I never was at the dorm until the spring 08 and never received an official transcript.

 

[quincy]

Hello Quincy

I apologize for the grammar and other errors in my long rant. Terms go for the fall to spring. The transcript I talked about before, was and official transcript that was given to the school I transferred to. With that said I could not make copies of that. I do have an itemized copy of the billing. In this itemized copy it shows no record of me being in the dorms for the fall 07 year or receiving a copy of my transcript. From the itemized bill it would show I never was at the dorm until the spring 08 and never received an official transcript.

No need to apologize about the rant. It can be horribly frustrating to try to correct errors of the sort you are dealing with, especially after several years have passed.

And my post was pickier than usual about grammar so I apologize to YOU for that.

You could try to get a copy of your first school's transcript from your second school to start things off. They should have it on file. Having the transcript could help you in getting your first school's records corrected.

Other than that, Mark offered you a good plan of action. I would follow that. Good luck.