Unpaid Tuition/Judgement, SOL

[theseus]

This is my original post, which includes (too many?) details. Please see my post after seniorjudge for the BRIEF summary.

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What is the name of your state? MA (state of debt), OH (state of residence)

This is a long/convoluted story, but I'll try to briefly summarize:

I attended college in MA for one year ('94-95). I paid a portion of my tuition through scholarships, grants, loans and direct payments; and understood (through verbal communication with Financial Aid) that the remainder of my tuition would be "taken care of" when the PLUS loan came back denied (which it did). Naturally, Financial Aid denied all knowledge of any such conversation and said I still owed the remainder of the tuition. I refused to pay and in the meantime moved to TX, where I continued my education at another institution. I was placed on suspension at that school, pending receipt of my transcripts from my first college (who was withholding them until payment of the tuition I "owed" them). I now live in OH.

I received a couple calls off and on every year or so, but the past 4 years have been relatively quiet, until I receive notification from a debt collector about 6 months ago. It turns out my first college took me to court and got a judgement against me [in MA] for the unpaid tuition.

I've had reasonably good credit, though I have had a couple settlements of accounts, but was recently turned down for credit because of Delinquent Payments of Debt (or something similar), and the judgement is the ONLY thing that could even REMOTELY be what that's referring to (so far as _I_ can tell, anyway).

To complicate matters, there _was_ a $700 Perkins Loan included in the judgement against me. I never received any notice to collect against that specific debt as I thought all my loans went through Sallie Mae and I finished paying all of those off last year. The Perkins Loan _is_ a legitimate debt, so I (wrongfully, perhaps?) paid THAT PORTION of the debt to the collector.

So, I have several questions, all relating to my situation. They're in relative importance from most to least:

1) I don't feel I morally "owe" the unpaid tuition. I never signed anything agreeing that I would pay that, and I did everything the Financial Aid Office told me to do before they said it would be "taken care of". I understand the judgement against me probably means I _legally_ owe it, but what's the statute of limitations on that kind of debt/judgement? It's been 10 years already and this thing is still showing up on my credit report and mucking up my credit.

2) Is there a way that my paying the Perkins Loan does NOT "legitimize" or otherwise "acknowledge" my unpaid tuition judgement? What does it do for my credit report?

3) Would submitting a letter to the Credit Bureaus explaining my situation be of any value? If I've somehow "screwed up" and put the bad debt on my report for ANOTHER 7+ years, is there any hope that a letter would be read and considered when applying for credit? (My wife and I have revolving credit lines totalling > $10k that we are able to pay off IN FULL every month -- though there's usually only a $3-4k balance -- yet this judgement is the biggest mark against my/our credit. Given the EXACT same application, my wife can get credit but I get denied. Is there a way to "fix" that?)

4) WithOUT paying the unpaid tuition balance, is there ANY hope that I could continue college? (I fully don't expect to get a transcript until they are satisfied that the tuition is completely paid.) I _do_ have a job right now, so it's not THAT pressing, but there have been several opportunities for advancement that I've been passed over simply because I don't have a degree.

Any words of advice would be most welcome. Thank you!

"...This is a long/convoluted story, but I'll try to briefly summarize:..."

Summarize your summarization.

[theseus]

State of Judgement: MA
State of Residence: OH

Ok, if it'll help:

6 months ago I received notification by a debt collector that there was a judgment placed against me for unpaid tuition nearly 10 years ago. Included in that judgement was a Perkins Loan. I paid the Perkins Loan _portion_ to the collector, but feel the unpaid tuition is NOT something I owe and I have no intentions on paying (if at all possible).

1) What's the statute of limitations on the unpaid tuition/judgement?

2) Did I "screw up" by paying the Perkins Loan portion and somehow "validate" the remainder of the judgement? What effect, if any, does my paying the Perkins Loan have on my credit report?

3) Why would my credit be better/worse than my spouse's when giving the same information on an application? Would submitting a letter to the Credit Bureaus be useful?

4) Do I have any recourse for possibly completing my education since the college is refusing to release my transcript?

If you need any details NOT included in my original post, let me know. Thank you.

[Tayla]

Originally Posted by theseus

State of Judgement: MA
State of Residence: OH

Ok, if it'll help:

6 months ago I received notification by a debt collector that there was a judgment placed against me for unpaid tuition nearly 10 years ago. Included in that judgement was a Perkins Loan. I paid the Perkins Loan _portion_ to the collector, but feel the unpaid tuition is NOT something I owe and I have no intentions on paying (if at all possible).

1) What's the statute of limitations on the unpaid tuition/judgement?

2) Did I "screw up" by paying the Perkins Loan portion and somehow "validate" the remainder of the judgement? What effect, if any, does my paying the Perkins Loan have on my credit report?

3) Why would my credit be better/worse than my spouse's when giving the same information on an application? Would submitting a letter to the Credit Bureaus be useful?

4) Do I have any recourse for possibly completing my education since the college is refusing to release my transcript?

If you need any details NOT included in my original post, let me know. Thank you.

My Reply:
Answer to #1: Research the State of Massachusetts on judgements. The state website should have the answer for you. Research which court made the decision on this judgement then request a copy of said judgement. This will help you understand the decision,how you were served, and the amount.
#2: The plaintiff received a "default" judgement against you. (If indeed one was actually entered). Its irrelevant if you validated or not. The judges decision was for the plaintiff since you didnt show. If you have evidence that you did pay the one loan off you'll need a lawyer to confer on how to handle it still showing up on the judgement.
#3:NO. A letter to the Credit bureaus is worthless in making a statement on your credit file.. You may want to let them know that your judgement is hitting its time frame for being reported, and should soon fall off. (Depending on what month the judgement was rendered and commenced)
4:One option is to satisfy the judgement or appeal it. Only an attorney could tell after reviewing the judgement papers on what recourses would be available thru the court systems. Lets just hope the judgement wasnt moved to your new state of residency.

Im sure someone will chime in with a more accurate method to handle this matter, so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

[theseus]

Originally Posted by Tayla

My Reply:
Answer to #1: Research the State of Massachusetts on judgements. The state website should have the answer for you. Research which court made the decision on this judgement then request a copy of said judgement. This will help you understand the decision,how you were served, and the amount.
#2: The plaintiff received a "default" judgement against you. (If indeed one was actually entered). Its irrelevant if you validated or not. The judges decision was for the plaintiff since you didnt show. If you have evidence that you did pay the one loan off you'll need a lawyer to confer on how to handle it still showing up on the judgement.
#3:NO. A letter to the Credit bureaus is worthless in making a statement on your credit file.. You may want to let them know that your judgement is hitting its time frame for being reported, and should soon fall off. (Depending on what month the judgement was rendered and commenced)
4:One option is to satisfy the judgement or appeal it. Only an attorney could tell after reviewing the judgement papers on what recourses would be available thru the court systems. Lets just hope the judgement wasnt moved to your new state of residency.

Im sure someone will chime in with a more accurate method to handle this matter, so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

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Thanks for responding.

1) I received a fax copy of the judgement from the debt collector. I clearly understand the amount, but the decision is what I don't understand. I was never served (I'm guessing you mean by a process server). There was no contact made telling me that I even was "supposed" to be in court if I wanted to defend myself!

2) Ok, this is a terminology thing: what do you mean by "default"? I can "default" on a loan, meaning I've stopped making payments against it, or "default" could mean literally a "loss due to not showing". Since I WASN'T present (I kind of think I'd need to know about it to be present!), I'm guessing it's the latter definition. I never entered into any agreement with the college to pay the tuition, so I find it hard to believe I could have "defaulted" on repayment. But that's another thing: how is it possible that I have a judgement against me when I wasn't even notified of a court date? It really irks me that they can pull that kind of stuff!

3) That's something I don't really understand... There's a "last activity" date that shows "something" having been done roughly every 6 months or so... Given that, it means it will NEVER go off of my credit report, right? What causes the "last activity" date to be adjusted? When is 7 years actually 7 years?

4) To my knowledge, it's still a MA judgement (per the fax I received). Appealing the judgement won't force the college to release my transcripts (will it?).

Thank you again for any insight.

[Tayla]

To stress more firmly to you: Get the Court papers directly from the courthouse. Huge mistake in relying on the debt collector to supply you with the papers. Since you have the alledged papers then call the courthouse to confirm the docket number and amount.
Its a kicker to learn that the serving process can be done thru a local newpaper or various means that you may not be fully aware of. Thus why it was directed that you research this matter.
Your questions would best be answered by a local attorney's office or legalaid rep.

[JETX]

[quote=theseus]What's the statute of limitations on the unpaid tuition/judgement?[quote]
The SOL in Massachusetts for a judgment is 20 years, so it would still be valid and enforceable.

Did I "screw up" by paying the Perkins Loan portion and somehow "validate" the remainder of the judgement?

Nope. The SOL isn't an issue.... so no 'refresh' problem.

What effect, if any, does my paying the Perkins Loan have on my credit report?

It would not be positive.

Why would my credit be better/worse than my spouse's when giving the same information on an application? Would submitting a letter to the Credit Bureaus be useful?

No one can answer that... since we don't know anything about your spouses credit history.

Do I have any recourse for possibly completing my education since the college is refusing to release my transcript?

Yep. You can take your 'pre-Parsons' transcript and transfer the credits, if any, to another school and enroll.