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I have a private student loan through American Education Services. As far as I knew, my loan was in a three month forbearance from Nov, Dec and Jan with my payments to resume in February. When I called last week to get my updated tax information on my student loan interest, I was informed that my loan was in DEFAULT and no longer with the AES office. I was then given about eight different numbers to call to track down who actually held my account and I still have not figured out how it went into default when it was in a 3 month forbearance. But AES won't give me any information because they said they no longer hold my account. The loan was originated through Lexington Student Loan Trust (which I cannot find a phone number to call them!) and is now held by MRS Associates out of New Jersey. Upon doing my research, it looks like MRS Associates is a shady collection agency and I do not want to do business with them if at all possible. But I can not figure out who I should pay for this loan! MRS offered me many, many settlement options but I cannot take any of them at this time. I am able to make the $120 a month payment to them just as I was to AES but nothing more. AES has already reported to my credit report as of yesterday as being delinquent 120 days but does not show as DEFAULTED, which they told me it went into default status on Feb 1st. I DO NOT NEED a $12000 collection account on my credit report! I'm trying to improve my credit, not destroy it more. What do I do? Pay the CA or try the original creditor? I do not want to agree to pay anything to the CA unless they agree not to report on my credit report. I know some places will do a pay-for-delete but I have never tried that. Any help and advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have no problem paying what I owe (which I realize will be awhile before I can pay it off) but I do not want this to destroy my credit even more. Thank you in advance!

I have a private student loan through American Education Services. As far as I knew, my loan was in a three month forbearance from Nov, Dec and Jan with my payments to resume in February. When I called last week to get my updated tax information on my student loan interest, I was informed that my loan was in DEFAULT and no longer with the AES office. I was then given about eight different numbers to call to track down who actually held my account and I still have not figured out how it went into default when it was in a 3 month forbearance. But AES won't give me any information because they said they no longer hold my account. The loan was originated through Lexington Student Loan Trust (which I cannot find a phone number to call them!) and is now held by MRS Associates out of New Jersey. Upon doing my research, it looks like MRS Associates is a shady collection agency and I do not want to do business with them if at all possible. But I can not figure out who I should pay for this loan! MRS offered me many, many settlement options but I cannot take any of them at this time. I am able to make the $120 a month payment to them just as I was to AES but nothing more. AES has already reported to my credit report as of yesterday as being delinquent 120 days but does not show as DEFAULTED, which they told me it went into default status on Feb 1st. I DO NOT NEED a $12000 collection account on my credit report! I'm trying to improve my credit, not destroy it more. What do I do? Pay the CA or try the original creditor? I do not want to agree to pay anything to the CA unless they agree not to report on my credit report. I know some places will do a pay-for-delete but I have never tried that. Any help and advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have no problem paying what I owe (which I realize will be awhile before I can pay it off) but I do not want this to destroy my credit even more. Thank you in advance!

1. who is the named plaintiff in the suit? National Collegiate Trust 2. what is the name of the firm handling the suit? Patenaude & Felix A,P,C 3. how much are you being sued for? 28,xxx.xx 4. who is the original creditor?(if not the plaintiff) Union Federal Savings Bank 5. How do you know you are being sued? (you were served, right?) I was served 6. how were you served? In person 7. was the service legal as required by your state law? Yes 8. what was your correspondence (if any) by the people suing you before you think you were being sued? I sent them a letter to three different addresses denying the debt in 2013 and asked them to stop contacting me because I believed it was included in my 2010 bankruptcy. 9. what state and county do you live in? Arizona: Maricopa County 10. when is the last time you paid on the account? (looking to establish if you are outside the statue of limitations) Never made a payment; the loan was taken out in 2007 and went into default in 2010 during my bankruptcy. I thought it was included so I started the process of rebuilding my credit. In 2013, I received a bill from them and sent them the letter I mentioned above. 11. What is the statue of limitations on the debt? 6 years 12. what is the status of your case? suit served? motion filed? Answered with a general denial of all allegations on 10/7/2015. Plaintiff filed 1st amended complaint on 10/13/2015. I filed a motion to strike 1st amended complaint on 11/2, citing it was filed without being signed by the attorney, it was not conformed, and plaintiff did not have leave of court (no idea if it was accepted?). Notice of Disclosure statement filed on 11/18. 13. have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus? (both the original creditor and the collection agency) Yes. I have disputed it every time it shows up on my credit report because I thought it was included in my bankruptcy. I found out recently (after talking to a lawyer) I would have needed to go through the adversary process when I filed bankruptcy, but the bureaus have removed it every time. 14. did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? No. 15. how long do you have to response to suit? I already responded. I am looking for advice on whether I should continue to fight this (it's subject to compulsory arbitration) or try and settle. I have been advised my current life situation makes me collection proof, but I have a little bit of a 401k I can cash out to settle this if I absolutely have to. I am in a master's program that will have me unemployed for the next 3.5 years, but I don't want to worry about a judgement following me around. I also don't want to cash out a protected asset to settle a debt I thought was discharged. 16. what evidence did they send with the summons? an affidavit? statements from the oc? contract? list anything they attached as exhibits. The first set of documents I received contained a summons, certificate of compulsory arbitration, plaintiffs complaint citing "breach of contract," "open account," and "account stated" with nothing attached. There was NO account number listed in any of this and the plaintiff referred to it as a "line of credit." ​The amended complaint just lists "breach of contract" and the description is changed to "loan for academic purposes." Attached was the "note disclosure statement" and "non-negotiable credit agreement" from the original creditor with my signature. They also attached what looks like a very generic "pool supplement" because none of the information is specific to my account. It lists three people as "witnesses" to the agreement but the names are typed out and there is no physical signature. The amended complaint was not signed by the attorney, it was not conformed by the court, and it was filed without leave of court based on the date I responded.