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Three or four years ago, when I was a student at a Washington, D.C. college, some friends and I started a monthly magazine. We had the magazine printed by a Northern Virginia newspaper, and sold advertisements to cover the cost of printing. Additionally, we received funding from the university's student activity fund.
Because we were a student group at the university, the university insisted that their accountants manage our finances and pay all of our bills. All of our magazine's funding was deposited in a university-managed account. All of our advertisers were to pay directly to the university. The printers were to bill the university, and the university paid the bills.
I graduated in 2001, and the magazine continued for a year and a half after that, using university funds. The publication folded because of financial problems that arose after I graduated. To my understanding, all of those problems have been mitigated.
Last year, the newspaper the magazine printed at in 2000 and 2001 decided that we owe them $7,000 from four years ago. I cannot dispute the debt simply because I was not privy to the financial records. From what our student accountant (who was horribly disorganized and had no records to show) said, we were always in the black. However, I cannot believe that the university allowed such a debt to accrue without at the very least notifying us that they could not pay our bills.
I was the person in charge of the publication during the time of dispute, and I have never been contacted by the university or the newspaper about this matter. I have told the people who were contacted to give out my telephone number and e-mail address. Because nobody contacted me, I assumed things had been worked out.
I just heard that the newspaper company sent one of my associates from the magazine (she graduated in 2002, but still lives in the D.C. area) a letter stating their intentions to personally sue for the $7,000 they claim to be owed. I don't want to be hit with a lawsuit for money I have no record of owing, but I don't want my credit to suffer either.
Here are my questions:
-Can a debt legitimately be "discovered" two to three years after the fact? Why wasn't the newspaper billing the university for this money when the debt was accrued?
-Did the university have a fiduciary duty to inform us that we were massively overdrawing our account? A bank will let you know if you are overdrawing, as will a creditor.
-Did the university have a fiduciary duty to pay off this debt when it was incurred? After I graduated, the university placed more money into the student group account that supposedly had this debt and used it to pay off costs incurred after the "discovered" debt.
-When does debt become the fault of the students who had no choice but to entrust all accounting to the university?
Any advice at all would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
--Megan
Because we were a student group at the university, the university insisted that their accountants manage our finances and pay all of our bills. All of our magazine's funding was deposited in a university-managed account. All of our advertisers were to pay directly to the university. The printers were to bill the university, and the university paid the bills.
I graduated in 2001, and the magazine continued for a year and a half after that, using university funds. The publication folded because of financial problems that arose after I graduated. To my understanding, all of those problems have been mitigated.
Last year, the newspaper the magazine printed at in 2000 and 2001 decided that we owe them $7,000 from four years ago. I cannot dispute the debt simply because I was not privy to the financial records. From what our student accountant (who was horribly disorganized and had no records to show) said, we were always in the black. However, I cannot believe that the university allowed such a debt to accrue without at the very least notifying us that they could not pay our bills.
I was the person in charge of the publication during the time of dispute, and I have never been contacted by the university or the newspaper about this matter. I have told the people who were contacted to give out my telephone number and e-mail address. Because nobody contacted me, I assumed things had been worked out.
I just heard that the newspaper company sent one of my associates from the magazine (she graduated in 2002, but still lives in the D.C. area) a letter stating their intentions to personally sue for the $7,000 they claim to be owed. I don't want to be hit with a lawsuit for money I have no record of owing, but I don't want my credit to suffer either.
Here are my questions:
-Can a debt legitimately be "discovered" two to three years after the fact? Why wasn't the newspaper billing the university for this money when the debt was accrued?
-Did the university have a fiduciary duty to inform us that we were massively overdrawing our account? A bank will let you know if you are overdrawing, as will a creditor.
-Did the university have a fiduciary duty to pay off this debt when it was incurred? After I graduated, the university placed more money into the student group account that supposedly had this debt and used it to pay off costs incurred after the "discovered" debt.
-When does debt become the fault of the students who had no choice but to entrust all accounting to the university?
Any advice at all would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
--Megan