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Institutional payment plans... HELP

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DustinHoward

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

In 2010 I made the mistake of enrolling in a culinary arts program at a for-profit (Career Education Corp.) institution in Boston. The whole place was very shady and felt like a sales atmosphere. My time there was short-lived since it became evident that academics were a complete joke. I am currently enrolled at a public university.

My question is about the "retail installment agreement" that I was issued to cover the cost of tuition after Title IV resources. The payment plan (which is no longer offered because of high default rates) has no mention of an interest rate; it only states the "cash price"(6183.00) and the repayment period 37 months.

The monthly bills are 178.00; as I am a full time student, I have called Career Education Corp. and asked for a deferment, which they said was not possible. They did allow me to make $50 payments for 3 months, which is not much help. My latest billing statement states that I have an interest charge, which is funny because they never mentioned anything about interest and never gave me any sort of final disclosure statement. They just said it was a "payment plan" Has anyone had experience dealing with this horrible company?

Also, when I obtained a copy of my credit report this year. There was no sign of this “loan” with any of the three reporting agencies. I can’t find much information about these kinds of loans and FCRA regulations.
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

In 2010 I made the mistake of enrolling in a culinary arts program at a for-profit (Career Education Corp.) institution in Boston. The whole place was very shady and felt like a sales atmosphere. My time there was short-lived since it became evident that academics were a complete joke. I am currently enrolled at a public university.

My question is about the "retail installment agreement" that I was issued to cover the cost of tuition after Title IV resources. The payment plan (which is no longer offered because of high default rates) has no mention of an interest rate; it only states the "cash price"(6183.00) and the repayment period 37 months.

The monthly bills are 178.00; as I am a full time student, I have called Career Education Corp. and asked for a deferment, which they said was not possible. They did allow me to make $50 payments for 3 months, which is not much help. My latest billing statement states that I have an interest charge, which is funny because they never mentioned anything about interest and never gave me any sort of final disclosure statement. They just said it was a "payment plan" Has anyone had experience dealing with this horrible company?

Also, when I obtained a copy of my credit report this year. There was no sign of this “loan” with any of the three reporting agencies. I can’t find much information about these kinds of loans and FCRA regulations.
The bolded is interesting. Its more than a bit odd that it doesn't appear on your credit reports. I think that you should take a copy of the contract and get a consult with a local attorney.
 

ShyCat

Senior Member
Also, when I obtained a copy of my credit report this year. There was no sign of this “loan” with any of the three reporting agencies.
That does not mean there is no loan. Creditors are not required to report to any of the credit bureaus. They are only required to report accurate information if they report something.
 

Humusluvr

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

In 2010 I made the mistake of enrolling in a culinary arts program at a for-profit (Career Education Corp.) institution in Boston. The whole place was very shady and felt like a sales atmosphere. My time there was short-lived since it became evident that academics were a complete joke. I am currently enrolled at a public university.

My question is about the "retail installment agreement" that I was issued to cover the cost of tuition after Title IV resources. The payment plan (which is no longer offered because of high default rates) has no mention of an interest rate; it only states the "cash price"(6183.00) and the repayment period 37 months.

The monthly bills are 178.00; as I am a full time student, I have called Career Education Corp. and asked for a deferment, which they said was not possible. They did allow me to make $50 payments for 3 months, which is not much help. My latest billing statement states that I have an interest charge, which is funny because they never mentioned anything about interest and never gave me any sort of final disclosure statement. They just said it was a "payment plan" Has anyone had experience dealing with this horrible company?

Also, when I obtained a copy of my credit report this year. There was no sign of this “loan” with any of the three reporting agencies. I can’t find much information about these kinds of loans and FCRA regulations.
Did you take the entire 6183.00 from the loan? Did it all go to the school, or some to you? If you were there only a short time, did you pay that WHOLE amount? Or only a portion?

Have you seen the lawsuits out of CA?

For-profit education company inflated job placement rates | California Watch
 

DustinHoward

Junior Member
That was the total amount that I borrowed from them, it all went towards "tuition". Since those schools charge by the "program" and not by the credit-hour, it is hard for me to tell how much I really owe. They make it nearly impossible to get an itemized tuition statement. I have made about 800 in payments.

I have been following the lawsuits in CA; I haven't read about anything in MA yet. However, they are under investigation for securities fraud based on the inflated job placement stats. and unfair recruiting.

The whole operation is very shady, another thing that should have been a red flag is that when filling out the FAFSA for this institution, there is no "school code" for a "le cordon bleu" campus, they tell you to use one from a campus in Pennsylvania with a different name. It seems like they are circumventing the rules that Dept. of Ed has set up for funding.
 
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Humusluvr

Senior Member
That was the total amount that I borrowed from them, it all went towards "tuition". Since those schools charge by the "program" and not by the credit-hour, it is hard for me to tell how much I really owe. They make it nearly impossible to get an itemized tuition statement. I have made about 800 in payments.

I have been following the lawsuits in CA; I haven't read about anything in MA yet. However, they are under investigation for securities fraud based on the inflated job placement stats. and unfair recruiting.

The whole operation is very shady, another thing that should have been a red flag is that when filling out the FAFSA for this institution, there is no "school code" for a "le cordon bleu" campus, they tell you to use one from a campus in Pennsylvania with a different name. It seems like they are circumventing the rules that Dept. of Ed has set up for funding.
Did the contract you had with the school for the program state that you had to pay the ENTIRE tuition up front? So they took the whole six thousand, and you dropped out, at what point? How much of the program did you complete?

I would get every single piece of paper you have from them, print out a few of the CA lawsuit articles, and contact a CONTRACT ATTORNEY. Someone who can review your contract, and see if you are on the hook for the whole thing. If you don't have a copy of the school or loan contract, ask the school and loan company to send you copies. If they don't have copies of your contracts, you may have a chance to save yourself some money here.

It might cost you a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars, but a contract attorney can review the contracts you signed, and tell you what you exactly signed to. They could point out any loopholes you may have in getting out of the whole tuition payment. You should do this ASAP. It would be well worth it.

And I can't tell you NOT to make your payments - but a contract attorney could give you some direction on where to go with your payments.

As per the bold, have you reported this through FAFSA? If they told you to mark a fraudulent school, one you were not attending, that may be your contract breaker right there. They CAN'T take federal money by misrepresenting themselves. That's FRAUD.
 

DustinHoward

Junior Member
Thank you so much for your help.

When I enrolled, I was in what they called the "Associate degree." When I decided to drop out, I had enough credits to earn the "certificate", so I essentially downgraded to the lowest program. I didn't consider it a total loss because I knew I was going back to school and figured that the credits could be used as electives. However, despite their "strict accreditation" none of my credits transferred to my current university.

As for the loan. The installment agreement that I signed was for the excess that wasn't covered by the fafsa programs. If I had stayed, I would have done the whole thing again for the following year. These loans where serviced directly by Career Education Corp. and not an outside lender.

I will contact an attorney.
 

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