The Student Loan Debate - They wont take my money

[ShawnaS]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

I graduated with my degree, and debt, when I was 19. Had it all together for about 5 years or so. I got married really young, and then divorced, at that time I also got laid off, was sleeping on the floor of my sisters studio apartment and resulted in defaulting on my loans. Everything fell apart.

I failed to begin to repay my loans because Sallie Mae would not work with me when I contacted them. They wanted a very large amount of money up front (what I was behind - 2+ years worth of payments) to start repayment of my Private, Career Training loan (not federal college - I paid that off), which I could not do. A few years went by, I decided to try repayment again, my lawyer contacted Sallie Mae, they sent me a letter back stating that they "No longer own this loan, contact the collections agency that does'" - great - But Who is it?? I have not been contacted in any way, by anyone, at all in 5 years for this debt.

My lawyer also requested "proof of debt" from them, with no reply at all.

The debt, that has doubled now, still shows on my credit report as Sallie Mae (Navient) but they wont take my money! Ive tried to send them payments, they just return it to me. Its the only negative mark on my credit. What do I do to get this resolved? My lawyers response was "just wait and see what happens" but thats not fixing the issue.

It has now been 7 years since my last accepted payment to Sallie Mae.

Thank you

 

[justalayman]

Has the amount owed increased on the Navient `report (on your credit report) since they stated they sold the loan?

 

[Zigner]

The original creditor doesn't have to respond to a "proof of debt" request - your attorney should (and likely does) know this.

 

[ShawnaS]

Has the amount owed increased on the Navient `report (on your credit report) since they stated they sold the loan?

The debt never changed names on my credit - has always been Sallie Mae and now Navient. The limit has gone up every single month since payments stopped. I still have the letter they sent me also.

Also, she is no longer my attorney....

 

[justalayman]

The debt never changed names on my credit - has always been Sallie Mae and now Navient. The limit has gone up every single month since payments stopped.

Also, she is no longer my attorney....

then navient needs to explain how a debt that is not owed to them can increase. If they sold the paper to another party, your indebtedness to them is gone and they cannot charge interest or fees on paper they sold to another party.

they can't have it both ways;

 

[ShawnaS]

then navient needs to explain how a debt that is not owed to them can increase. If they sold the paper to another party, your indebtedness to them is gone and they cannot charge interest or fees on paper they sold to another party.

they can't have it both ways;

How do I proceed then? Send them another request in writing? That has always been my question. If the debt is SOLD and no longer Owned by them as they stated, how can they continue to report this on my credit.

My federal loan still shows up as well - twice. One through Sallie Mae and One through the collections agency I did end up paying to. They both show a zero balance (after I had to dispute the Sallie Mae loan and show proof its been paid - they still reflected the original balance), but it shows 2 loans on my report. How can they do this?

 

[justalayman]

I would file a dispute letter with the three major credit reporting agencies (equifax, experian, and trans union) stating Navient has informed you that they no longer own the debt but are continuing to report the debt while adding interest or fees to it.

Then, either it gets verified by Navient, denied by navient, or no response which results in it being considered not verified.


If they verify it, use that and contact Navient and say; well, you just told the credit reporting agencies you still own the debt so let's talk about taking care of this.

If they refuse to verify the debt, then it gets dropped from your report. Until the new owner steps up and identifies themselves, you simply let it be.

My federal loan still shows up as well - twice. One through Sallie Mae and One through the collections agency I did end up paying to. They both show a zero balance (after I had to dispute the Sallie Mae loan and show proof its been paid - they still reflected the original balance), but it shows 2 loans on my report. How can they do this?

you should be able to determine by the dates when sallie mae sold the debt. It is the same debt/loan but owned by separate entities at different times. That is a legit reporting of the debt.

 

[ShawnaS]

I would file a dispute letter with the three major credit reporting agencies (equifax, experian, and trans union) stating Navient has informed you that they no longer own the debt but are continuing to report the debt while adding interest or fees to it.

I did try to dispute the claim. They did verify the debt. I will contact them again.
Will it ever "go away"? I know federal loans wont, but this is a "Private, Career Training" loan. It wasnt even a college I attended and the school has since even been discredited (Everest / Olympia Career Training Institute - who is also in the news for "screwing" over people.... thats another story)

Thank you so much for the advice.

 

[single317dad]

Will it ever "go away"? I know federal loans wont, but this is a "Private, Career Training" loan. It wasnt even a college I attended

If the loan was through Sallie Mae, it's very likely it's a "student loan" and will follow you for the rest of your life, even possibly surviving bankruptcy.