ineedhelp23
New member
What is the name of your state? California
I filed chapter 13 in 2012 because my attorney said that was my best option to stop a lawsuit for a student loan debt. She said that I couldn't get my student loans discharged, but if I filed chapter 13 I wouldn't have to make the payments for at least 5 years and that by then, there may be something I could do to get them discharged. I had both private student loans and federal student loans. My income was way below the median, but my repayment term was for 5 years. I did get a discharge, but as soon as it was discharged I had 2 accounts with Navient jump back on my credit report with a total amount due of $60,000 and a collections account for $35,000 for another student loan. My credit score went from 680 down to 550 within 2 months. I was on unemployment and couldn't make the payments at all. I was scouring all of the paperwork and researching online what my options were and I came across how to possibly have my student loan discharged through bankruptcy. However, for the courts to even consider that option,, my attorney was supposed to file a form stating that repayment would cause an undue hardship on me. I tried to contact my attorney several times to find out what was discharged and what wasn't when I got my paperwork stating the discharge, but only her legal secretary would call me. And all she did was state that no student loan could be discharged. So here I am now less than 2 years later, right back in my same predicament. I lost my job about 4 months before the end of my payment term. My unemployment ran out and I was trying to get a personal loan just to survive until I found another job. My father cosigned for a business loan, or so we thought, but it ended up being 30k credit line between 3 credit cards. I lived on these credit cards for almost a year. My plan was to get a low interest personal loan as soon as my chpt 13 was discharged because that was the only thing keeping me from being approved. I had a job and my credit score was 680. But the same month I received my discharge, I also had a $35,000 collections show up on my credit report along with the other 2 student loans. My utilization was only 11%, but my total debt went from 1k to 98k all in the same month as my discharge. I could no longer qualify for a personal loan high enough to pay off the credit cards in my fathers name. I hoped I could fix it while I still had no interest on the cards, but everything just spiralled out of control and now I am going to file bankruptcy again just so I can manage the payments on the credit cards, because I made a promise to my father that I would make the payments and not screw up his credit.
So the question is, did my attorney fail to do her legal obligation with regard to my case or did she just get her money and forget about the circumstances. Just to be clear, I have not spoken with my attorney since my case was filed in court. If she did indeed failed to meet her legal obligation to me, could I sue and receive damages? I assume that it would cost me an arm and a leg to even go that route.
I filed chapter 13 in 2012 because my attorney said that was my best option to stop a lawsuit for a student loan debt. She said that I couldn't get my student loans discharged, but if I filed chapter 13 I wouldn't have to make the payments for at least 5 years and that by then, there may be something I could do to get them discharged. I had both private student loans and federal student loans. My income was way below the median, but my repayment term was for 5 years. I did get a discharge, but as soon as it was discharged I had 2 accounts with Navient jump back on my credit report with a total amount due of $60,000 and a collections account for $35,000 for another student loan. My credit score went from 680 down to 550 within 2 months. I was on unemployment and couldn't make the payments at all. I was scouring all of the paperwork and researching online what my options were and I came across how to possibly have my student loan discharged through bankruptcy. However, for the courts to even consider that option,, my attorney was supposed to file a form stating that repayment would cause an undue hardship on me. I tried to contact my attorney several times to find out what was discharged and what wasn't when I got my paperwork stating the discharge, but only her legal secretary would call me. And all she did was state that no student loan could be discharged. So here I am now less than 2 years later, right back in my same predicament. I lost my job about 4 months before the end of my payment term. My unemployment ran out and I was trying to get a personal loan just to survive until I found another job. My father cosigned for a business loan, or so we thought, but it ended up being 30k credit line between 3 credit cards. I lived on these credit cards for almost a year. My plan was to get a low interest personal loan as soon as my chpt 13 was discharged because that was the only thing keeping me from being approved. I had a job and my credit score was 680. But the same month I received my discharge, I also had a $35,000 collections show up on my credit report along with the other 2 student loans. My utilization was only 11%, but my total debt went from 1k to 98k all in the same month as my discharge. I could no longer qualify for a personal loan high enough to pay off the credit cards in my fathers name. I hoped I could fix it while I still had no interest on the cards, but everything just spiralled out of control and now I am going to file bankruptcy again just so I can manage the payments on the credit cards, because I made a promise to my father that I would make the payments and not screw up his credit.
So the question is, did my attorney fail to do her legal obligation with regard to my case or did she just get her money and forget about the circumstances. Just to be clear, I have not spoken with my attorney since my case was filed in court. If she did indeed failed to meet her legal obligation to me, could I sue and receive damages? I assume that it would cost me an arm and a leg to even go that route.
