Student loan actually not mine, what to do?

[Rich]

I've been looking for this situation here, but can't find anything relevant. I got a letter yesterday from my good 'ol payroll department telling me the Department of Education is taking money out of my check. Now I got a letter from Van Ru telling me about this "loan" in October '04 and wanting money, claiming they represent the Dept of Ed. I'm very skeptical to begin with because they are a CA, but I respond with a request for validation, no CMRRR. Didn't hear anything until Dec '04 with basically the same letter. 'We want money for the Dept of Ed'. So I send another validation request letter with the copy of the first letter, this time CMRRR (got the green card back). Have yet to hear anything from Van Ru or the Dept of Ed. But I now have the letter from my payroll dept saying they will take money to give to the Dept of Ed in March two months later.

The thing is, this same situation happened to me about 6 or 7 years ago, got letter from payroll saying they were gonna take money. I sent a pic of my drivers license with my signature to whoever it was that was saying I owed money (don't remember who), and hadn't heard anything about this until now. I guess I first have to find out if this is the same as that. That loan was originated way back in 1984, I think.

But my question is, who do I contact about this? Van Ru? Seems like the Dept of Ed would be the correct group. Doesn't Van Ru or the Dept of Ed first have to validate before wage attachment? I know normally a creditor would, but with a governmental agency you never know.

I know there is no SOL for student loans, or I'd just claim that and be done with this.

I probably should be more worried than I am, because I don't actually have any student loans, but this is apparently a governmental organization and only god knows what they are doing.

[Guest]

You need to call the Dept of Education.. You can get the number off of their website.

I cant believe you are takign such a so hat attitude.

Student loans are based on your social security number and that is what your account number is.

Either someone took your identity or you are lying about the loans.

I think I would be a little more proactive and do something to get this taken care of.. right away

[Rich]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I'm really not being cavalier about this, but probably like a lot of people here, so much crap happens in everyday life and credit that you simply can't become outraged at everything that happens. Otherwise you'd drive yourself nuts. I am being proactive, letter came in mail on Friday, I got it Saturday, looked for advice here and a couple of other places on the same day. Couldn't really do much over the weekend, had to wait until today when my task begins in earnest.

But tell me something, if I jump up and down, and scream and yell and claim how I've been taken advantage of, will that solve my problem? If so, I'll be happy to raise all types of hell, but I don't think it helps as I have tried it before, even here. So, I'll focus all that anger and frustration on getting this crap resolved.

But really, thanks for the advice, that's why I come here, it's almost always useful.

And no, I didn't lie about the loan(s) being mine, what would be the point?

I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be judged by you, right? And even if you, or anyone else did judge me, should I care? No, I didn't think so either.

If anyone else is aware of any similar situations as I have originally described, all input is appreciated.

Thanks!

[Rich]

Okay, I have new questions about this. I contacted the Dept of Ed and explained my situation to "Walter". He told me I needed to contact the CA, (Van Ru) and I told him I had already sent them two letters to which they had not responded. I informed him I sent the second one CMRRR and had the green card back.

He looked up my info and said they had received my dispute but didn't show any response to my dispute. Hmmmm. Then he looks some more and says, I was sent a letter informing me of garnishment and other bad things on Dec 11, but they didn't receive my dispute until Jan 19, and that I didn't get in the 30 day window, and that's why my wages were garnished. So I told Walter I have a green card that says it was received on Jan 3! Hmmmmm no. 2.

Now Walter says, 'That certainly is interesting'. I say, yes it certainly is isn't it. Now what the F**k do I do about this S**t!?! He tells me to mail, (I can't fax this info, and no reason given why I can't) copies of my letters and green card to the Dept of Ed and Van Ru. Van Ru is actually responsible for garnishment action, the only thing the Dep of Ed does is collect and track the money (basically service the debt) as I understand it. I find that to be very interesting, because I believe this makes them subject to a few FDCPA violatons, and when I mentioned this to Walter, he got very quiet, and eventually repeated I need to send copies of my letters to them.

So, my debt was never validated, Walter said he would request this. And the date my dispute was received was somehow changed. Without the CMRRR (which I learned here, many MANY thanks!) I would be screwed, big time.

Since Van Ru is the driver of this mess and they are a CA should I respond to them informing them of thier violations with an ITS? I'm not really sure what to do, besides telling them stop the garnishment.

Suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Rich]

Okay, I have new questions about this. I contacted the Dept of Ed and explained my situation to "Walter". He told me I needed to contact the CA, (Van Ru) and I told him I had already sent them two letters to which they had not responded. I informed him I sent the second one CMRRR and had the green card back.

He looked up my info and said they had received my dispute but didn't show any response to my dispute. Hmmmm. Then he looks some more and says, I was sent a letter informing me of garnishment and other bad things on Dec 11, but they didn't receive my dispute until Jan 19, and that I didn't get in the 30 day window, and that's why my wages were garnished. So I told Walter I have a green card that says it was received on Jan 3! Hmmmmm no. 2.

Now Walter says, 'That certainly is interesting'. I say, yes it certainly is isn't it. Now what the F**k do I do about this S**t!?! He tells me to mail, (I can't fax this info, and no reason given why I can't) copies of my letters and green card to the Dept of Ed and Van Ru. Van Ru is actually responsible for garnishment action, the only thing the Dep of Ed does is collect and track the money (basically service the debt) as I understand it. I find that to be very interesting, because I believe this makes them subject to a few FDCPA violatons, and when I mentioned this to Walter, he got very quiet, and eventually repeated I need to send copies of my letters to them.

So, my debt was never validated, Walter said he would request this. And the date my dispute was received was somehow changed. Without the CMRRR (which I learned here, many MANY thanks!) I would be screwed, big time.

Since Van Ru is the driver of this mess and they are a CA should I respond to them informing them of thier violations with an ITS? I'm not really sure what to do, besides telling them stop the garnishment.

Suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

You need to contact the Dept of Education again and ask them who handles complaints against CA's. Tell them you have a SERIOUS problem that needs to be looked at.

If the loan really isn't yours. you need to immediately file a police report on this matter and contact the dept of EDU and tell them that your SSN has been fraudulently used to obtain a student loan and find out their procedure to get it taken care of.

Call the office of the Omsbudsman of the Dept of Edu.. they are the big dogs and will take you serious

You can't take a sit back attitude on this.. call on it every day... makei it a priority in your life.. make sure to keep it at the top of your list.

Tell them that they must recall the debt from the CA immediately and if they dont then they may be held liable for their actions.

I think you might really want to try and get in touch with a lawyer about this.

Hope some of that advice helped

[Guest]

You need to contact the Dept of Education again and ask them who handles complaints against CA's. Tell them you have a SERIOUS problem that needs to be looked at.

If the loan really isn't yours. you need to immediately file a police report on this matter and contact the dept of EDU and tell them that your SSN has been fraudulently used to obtain a student loan and find out their procedure to get it taken care of.

Call the office of the Omsbudsman of the Dept of Edu.. they are the big dogs and will take you serious

You can't take a sit back attitude on this.. call on it every day... makei it a priority in your life.. make sure to keep it at the top of your list.

Tell them that they must recall the debt from the CA immediately and if they dont then they may be held liable for their actions.

I think you might really want to try and get in touch with a lawyer about this.

Hope some of that advice helped

[Rich]

This whole thing is just stupid. I have spoken to three different people at the Dept of Ed and one Ombudsman(woman). Not to mention the CA who claims just to be a 'call center'. The CA says they will send out a form for some kind of hearing. They also say they don't initiate garnishments because it's a federal procedure.

The D Of Ed says they can but they cannot stop it. The D Of Ed also says I have to send in a dispute in writing to the Debt Collection Service Center. They tell me it could take 30 days OR SO to send me a copy of the promissory note. The Ombudsperson tells me it will take 10-14 WORKING days before I will be contacted, and If I get a lawyer involved they can no longer handle anything.

The Police department says that since this happened so long ago without proof of the crime there is not much if anything they can do. Oh, did I mention this thing occurred in Jan of 1984 at some school that is no longer in existance? Yeah, found that out too. 21 years ago, Geez.

So I've sent letters to both the CA and the D of Ed basically disputing the debt, telling them that they've violated at least 3 statutes of the FDCPA and listing them for them because I'm not sure all of them even know about the thing and demanding an immediate stay of garnishment.

Shoot me now, why make me suffer?

[KentWA]

You could likely get a stay of garnishment from a local court. Since the Dept of Ed is a federal agency you may have to seek the stay from federal court.

[Rich]

Okay, now I'm ready to sue somebody. After nearly 2 months of haggling with the DOE and Van Ru, I finally got them to stop taking my money and am in the process of getting the money that was taken, back. I couldn't get anything accomplished until I was finally contacted by the Ombudsman’s' office. Whenever I would call the DOE they would just tell me dispute was being "reviewed" and it would probably take 4-6 weeks to finish. I kept telling them that my dispute was sent in January 05, and it had already been 4-6 weeks, PLUS a couple of months.

Anyway, the Ombudsman sent me a copy of the application for the loan (which didn't impress me), and gave me a number I could fax all my correspondence plus copies of my birth certificate, drivers license, and social security card. This was the hearings branch, and the lady I spoke with was actually nice and helpful, as was the Ombudswoman. I told her my story, and that I had yet to be given the alleged promissory note, and she told me that they hadn't received any money on my account, even though it had been taken out of my check. She said she had the note, compared the sig to the sig on my correspondence and said "hmmm, this isn't even close, I don't suppose you have anything with your signature from around this time, (1984) do you?" I told her no, even the IRS only requires you to keep your tax returns for seven years, and they are the standard bearer for keeping historical financial records, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway to wrap this up, the signature on the promissory note doesn't even match the signature on the application, neither match mine, nor have I ever lived at the address on the app and the note. So who can I sue? VanRu? The DOE? Both? I really feel as though I've been violated, they just ignored the rules altogether, and proceeded with impunity, and had I not sent correspondence CMRRR I think I'd still be very much bent over at this point.

Hope all you mothers (and fathers who are also mothers) had a very happy mother’s day.

[Guest]

You have the CA dead to rights on not validating the debt and continuing to collect on a fraudulent account.

You need to notify the credit bureaus IMMEDIATELY and you also need to get a letter from the DEPT of EDU telling you that this was not your account.

They need to be aware that they may have caused your CR significant damage.. thus FCRA requirements need to be met and you might have them on FCRA violations if it is on your CR.

I think I would also call a lawyer who knows a little about Federal Law.. usually the Feds are untouchable but sometimes they screw up and are willing to pay.

The CA however... I would NAIL their butts to a tree!!!!!!

[Rich]

They need to be aware that they may have caused your CR significant damage.. thus FCRA requirements need to be met and you might have them on FCRA violations if it is on your CR.

I think I would also call a lawyer who knows a little about Federal Law.. usually the Feds are untouchable but sometimes they screw up and are willing to pay.

Oddly enough, there hasn't been any credit report activity. Maybe it's because this is such an old debt? Or maybe they just hadn't gotten around to it yet. On another judgement/garnishment that I had vacated from Sherman Aquistions, the judgement showed up on my CR about 2 months AFTER it had been vacated, so that may be the case here.

As for finding an attorney familiar with federal law, I assume this would be in relation to the FDCPA, of which I've only been able to find one guy (he helped me with Sherman) and I literally knew as much as he did, I just didn't know the legal process needed to accomplish my goals. He is also slow, or so it seems. He's still working on the case for Sherman in terms of damages for FDCPA violations, and this happened back in Nov. of last year. And he's expensive, so I will try to wrap this mess up completely, and get a letter from the DOE about the loan not being mine (thanks for that, duh, hadn't even occurred to me), and proceed from there. But yeah, VanRu is gonna rue the day! Sorry, very bad pun. Though I'm sure they will try to absolve themselves of all responsiblility saying they are only a call center and the DOE makes all the decisions.

Life is not supposed to be this difficult.

Thanx!

[Guest]

Send me a PM and I will email you the name of my lawyer that is SUPER versed in FDCPA and FCRA.

Hope that helps

[Rich]

Sky, I don't think I thanked you for your attorney info, so.....

Thanks!!

Okay, this part is kinda funny. Yesterday, I kept getting calls from an unknown number, about 6 or 7, most of which I couldn't/didn't answer, but one I did and was hung up on. Well last night about 7pm I get a call from an "unknown number", I answer, and they hang up. 10-15 seconds later they call back, I answer, and some guy starts babbling about he's from the Dept of Ed and he wants to know how I'm going to resolve my debt to them.

I ask him to repeat himself because I'm sure I'm not hearing him correctly. He repeats himself, and I ask him if he's calling FROM the DOE or on BEHALF of the DOE, and he then says he's calling on BEHALF of the DOE. He again starts babbling about resolving my debt even though HIS records show I'm currently in active garnishment, and he's actually rude about it. I stop him and ask him who HE actually works for and he says "Van Ru Credit Corp. on behalf of the DOE, I'm Mr. Hansen". I burst into laughter and tell him he absolutely HAS to be Shi**ing me!

He gets very condescending at this point and tells me this is no laughing matter and I need to take responsibility for my obligations (or something to that effect, I'm still laughing, so I can't be exactly sure). After I'm somewhat composed, I ask him if he has my file in front of him, he says of course, why else would he be calling? I ask if he sees what must be a small phone book of correspondence from me, and he puts me on hold (the soft kind, where they can hear you, but you can't hear them). So I say out loud to myself because I know he can hear me "Do these people know I'm gonna sue them and could use some extra money, and are trying to help me out by continuing to rack up FDCPA violations?"

So he comes back and says "Oh, I see your information now, and your garnishment has been released, and we're not violating anybody." So I'm asking why he's calling me, and don't you people talk to each other, and why are you continuing to harass me?. He says they call 50,000 accounts per day (yup 50K!, I find this hard to believe), and don't have time to look at all that information, to have a good day and he was going to hang up now.

Again this is just stupid. I wish I could record on my cell phone. Okay maybe this isn't funny but sad.

Sorry this was so long but some things just never cease to amaze me.

[DocDon]

Now they're deciding on their own when they violate the law? LMAO!!!

He misrepresents himself (in violation of the FDCPA) right out of the chute and "they committed no violations".

whatever.....