National Collegiate Trust Collecting on Student Loans
I received 4 letters from Weltman Weinberg and Reis on 11/16/15 stated that I had 30 days to verify that the student loans were valid before they took action. The loans total $19,000 but they stated that their client would settle for $16,000 National Collegiate and Trust.
I don not have $16. I work for a mental health center and make $32,000 per year here in Mississippi and have 5 children one is in college.
I contacted the company when I received the letters to attempt to set up payment arrangements and the representative named Vicky would not hear of it she told me that she was done with me and that she was going after the cosigner which is my mother who is 81 years old and now has credit issues herself.
It was 2005 when the loans were first taken out. She told me that she had talked to my mother and that my mother stated she did not know about any loans (she told her this to get her off the phone because she has kidney disease and was not feeling well) she went on to tell my mother to go to the police department and file a report on me for false identity but she told me that she was processing the paperwork to have me arrested as we spoke; which was true?
She went on to tell me to cash in my retirement but with the state of MS you have to retire or resign in order to cash in your retirement which is a no no with me.
Where do I begin in responding to National Collegiate Trust or the law firm collecting?
—Denice
First things first, does Vicky work for Weltman Weinberg and Reis or National Collegiate Trust? My feedback will change slightly depending on the answer.
There is no way a debt collector at National Collegiate Trust (or at the Weltman Weinberg firm) was processing paperwork to have you arrested. Any debt collector making such claims is out of line and can be sued for that.
But, I am getting ahead of myself, until you identify who Vicky works for.
Weltman Weinberg and Reis are Attorney Collectors
Weltman Weinberg and Reis are a debt collection law firm. Their primary business is collecting on defaulted debts, and they often will rely on the courts to do that.
The Weltman firm, at least in my opinion, is much like any other collection outfit, in that they rely on the economy of scale and collection lawsuits to go uncontested so that they can meet profit goals.
The debt collectors you can connect with at Weltman Weinberg and Reis are willing to negotiate settlements. The $16,000 offer may not be as low as you can get. I have seen private student loans settle for under 50% of the balance owed. Can you get creative and come close to raising half the $19,000 Weltman is trying to collect? If not immediately, how long would it take?
Because the Weltman collection law firm is involved, your risk of being sued for the student loans is high. If you do not settle, being sued is part of an all too common progression from here.
If you are sued, you have options. You will preserve your options best going forward after that by defending the lawsuit initially. Your goals in doing so may include successfully getting the case dismissed, or buying the time you need to raise more money to get a settlement through that they will accept.
National Collegiate Student Loan Trust
Regardless of whether the debt collector (Vicky) you spoke to was working at National Collegiate Student Loan Trust or the Weltman firm, I would encourage you to sit down right now and put in writing (to the best of your ability) all that occurred during that phone call with Vicky.
Try to put down things like:
- The date of the call.
- Time of day.
- The caller ID, if you received the call.
- The number and extension dialed, if you placed the call.
- Vicky’s last name.
- Anything offensive or out of line that was said to your mother.
All of those details will come in handy when you post your answers to my questions in the comment section below. You should also make notes about any and all collection calls with National Collegiate Student Loan Trust regardless of who you spoke with.
Besides the questions above, also post answers to the following questions in your comment reply below:
Did you make any payments on these student loans? If so, when was the last payment made?
What state are you in?
Anyone dealing with private student loans with National Collegiate Student Loan Trust, or that Weltman Weinberg and Reis are collecting, is welcome to post in the comments below for feedback. If you would prefer to talk about your situation off line you can reach me at 800-939-8357, option 2 rings to me.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I am getting sued by national collegiate and they have put a Motion for summary judgment. i have like a week left to respond and i have been desperately looking for anything that can help me. I paid was contacted by waltman weinburg and reis back in 2015. same story as everyone else, and I entered into an agreement with them to pay off my student loan. in 2022 I finished paying it off. felt great. fast forward and im being sued by national collegiate saying I havent payed sincee 2022. I have a letter from waltman saying I finished paying off my debt. I dont know what to do? how can they be saying I still owe? any help or direction on this is very appreciated.
You may want to contact an experienced debt collection consumer law attorney in your state about how to proceed from here.
My mom only got two loan she has been asking for document since 2009 with nothing in return. They put judgment in 2014 in Iowa and now they are saying she has 4 loans and they are sending loans to different places where everything shr get a hold of someone they say another place has it. My mom been trying to get this taken care of since 2009 and now they are trying to do another judgment in tennessee. She also doesn’t have 4 loan instead they took the 2 loans My sister did under her name and put it on mom. We ask where they was cashed at and they said they don’t have to tell her. My mom has talked to miesha davis multiple time and alot of other people. She has told them that she only has two loans and they don’t care. The 2 under the judgment only one is hers. This place has been sued multiple time bc of them doing iT to other people and mom is finally done trying so she is going to take them to court plus she naming everyone she spoke to and taking them to court as well. She has documents from the only bank she had at that time and they said she only cashed 2 check and she has something from my sister saying saying those other loans was her and she has something from the co-signer that she only co-sighned for 2 loans. The student loan only does up to 30,000 and that is it but yet they are saying mom did 66 000 in loan and that makes no sense since no one can even borrow that much. This place is a scam..
Mr. Bovee
I took out a student loan back in 2003 through AES American Education Services, I defaulted and was to a local small claims court. I didn’t show up so I was ordered to pay them back, I had to call the law firm that sued me and was asked to pay half or get into payments which I did. The loan amount was originally 10K but the firm asked for 16K and the court approved it. So I’ve bee paying a monthly payment of $140 since 2013 or 2014. Currently the balance went from 16K to 8K, is there anything I can do at this point I’ve almost paid what the original loan was?
I forgot to mention its now under National Collegiate Student Loan Trust 2003-1
You can try to settle the balance for less than what is still owed.
I typically find you have to be late on the payments you have been making to get them to agree.
That is an issue with a judgment, as they can try to enforce the judgment.
I would want to be ready with the cash to settle quickly in a scenario like this.
I am currently having my wages garnished by national collegiate and would like to know if my federal refund will be garnished as well .
Probably not. NCT is involved in private student loans. Federal loans in default can lead to an IRS refund intercept, but private ones do not.
I have three accounts with Weltman Weinberg and Reis. I wonder if they would settle one of my accounts that I owe 4800 for 2,000? I have been paying on time for several years. I might get close to take with my tax return but not to sure yet.
Did they sue on the account?
Are the other balances with NCT as well, or different creditors, and did they sue on any of those?
all my loans are shown on federal student and navient , which they show my balance etc. Now why is NCT suing me trough gurstel law in az. nct is showing balance of 22,000 but i make all my payment through navient. When I call navient they have no clue who is nct and when I call this law firm they don’t have a clue. Can you tell me whats going on. BS
all my loans are shown on federal student and navient , which they show my balance etc. Now why is NCT suing me trough gurstel law in az. nct is showing balance of 22,000 but i make all my payment through navient. When I call navient they have no clue who is nct and when I call this law firm they don’t have a clue. Can you tell me whats going on. BS
Currently in Ch. 13 Bk and NCT Loans were not discharged. Who do I contact about working a settlement with them as this is loan will still pile up interest???
Does anyone have the contact information for NCT? My servicer has turned my loan over for default, I haven’t heard anything from NCT, and the phone my servicer gave me doesn’t have any of my information. I am concerned that it is stalling so that they can turn around and sue me, when I’m trying to remedy the situation. But I cannot get a hold of anyone.
Thanks for your help.
Hi, please see my comment below with information on how to contact customer service for NCT accounts. It is normal for accounts to take a month or two (sometimes longer) to be transferred to a collection agency after they default. NCT usually sends accounts to a collection agency like Transworld Systems prior to them sending it to a collection attorney.
I specialize in settling NCT accounts, and many borrowers have a lot of trouble trying to negotiate with them directly. They are one of the tougher lenders to negotiate a good settlement with, in terms of both effort and time involved. If you’d like to set up a consultation to discuss settlement negotiation, feel free to dial in to the CRN hotline and press Option 4 to be connected to my office.
Hello Michael,
I am currently trying to move and ran my credit report. The number one item on my report is a collection notice from National Collegiate Trust via collection agency Transworld Sys Inc/926 507 Prudential Rd. Horsham, PA 19044, 888-446-4733, comments were, account assigned to collections reported June 2013 balance $7,197.
When I spoke to them, they wanted full payment, I of course did not have $7k and they took action and garnished my wages. At the time, I worked for Intel Corporation in Folsom, CA. My wages were garnished and my account became paid in full in April 2016.
I contacted Transworld Sys this morning 2/14/2017 at 7:20am PST. They told me they no longer have this account that it was transferred back to NCT and I must contact them. I am having difficulty retrieving a phone or mailing address for them. Then I see all these posts about NCT is fraud.
This of course is showing as a collection on my account that isn’t paid. I need assistance on how to resolve this issue. Can you or someone you know assist me?
Thank you,
Kellee Ross
Hello, NCT is the largest debt buyer in the private student loan industry. The reason you’re having a hard time finding contact info for them is because the National Collegiate Trust is an actual set of trust funds. The company that owns the NCT is called Goal Structured Solutions/Turnstile Capital Management. You should be able to find information on either of those companies and I believe they have an 800 number for NCT borrowers to call into.
You can also request a paid in full letter from Transworld. You may need to provide documentation of the garnishment amounts if Transworld did not properly document them.
Hello,
I can no longer afford my private student loan pmts. Every month about a little bit more than half of my income goes to giving the monthly pmt. I have checked an all the loans I have, list TERI as the guarantor and NCT as the owner. For two of the loans it shows RBS Citizens bank as the owner. If I default on the loans will they sue me right away or try to negogiate first?
Thank you
Perla
There will be quite a bit of time to negotiate, but NCT is the most aggressive private lender in the game and in my opinion, someone doing it on their own for the first time is no match for the seasoned debt collectors they contract with. I regularly settle with NCT and can usually get you a better settlement than what you can get on your own.
If nothing happens within 3-6 months from default, they usually do sue especially on larger balances, so if you hire a negotiator you’ll want to make sure you don’t wait too long. Some attorneys are also beating them in court when they do sue people. If you’d like to call in for a free consult, just call Michael’s Debt Relief Hotline and press option 4 to be transferred to my office, for a free consultation,
I just contacted NCT about my student loan trying to see who I need to pay to resolve this. They said my account was on hold due to me reporting fraud. What does that mean? I did not report this as fraud.
Did you send any written requests of any nature to NCT, or to a credit reporting agency?
I have received a letter from National Collegiate for 5,902.53. I had breast cancer surgery on Jan. 4, 2017 and this letterwas sent on Jan. 3, 2017, with a promise to file a judgement has come at a very bad time. I paid a loan from
these people of 6500 dollars in 2014 and I have notified this people of my condition. I am on sick leave and this could not have come at a worst time. I have medical bills due to my surgery and I don’t know what to do at this time. I’m fighting to live first.
I have been enrolled in Northcentral University since July , 2016. All the other loans companies have verified this and have put payments on hold. I thought they did too, but obviously not.
I’m in bed trying to recover and now NCT is coming after me.
Do you know for how long National Collegiate Trust has had your loan?
Who was it with originally?
It might still be difficult, but you could make payments of $100 or so per month to them to try to prevent them from taking further collection action. Aside from borrowing some money from a relative, that seems like the only option on the table.
Hello,
Glad I found your site. I’ve been having a hard time trying to deal with my situation. I received a summons from an attorney on behalf of NCT. I tried contacting the attorney but never got a call or email back. So finally, I did some research and responded with an “answer” to their claim (denying). Now I received documents back, requesting production of documents, etc. but I am completely at a loss with what to do at this point. In my answer I did assert a few defenses, including statue of limitations, lack of standing and doctrine of laches, just in case. I believe it was 2010 or 2011 since there’s been any activity on this account so at this point I have little to no supporting evidence of when the last payment was made. And I honestly don’t remember if I ever even made a payment after graduating in 2010. I’ve tried checking credit reports, etc., but everything I’m seeing is contradictory as far as the dates go.
So I guess my question is: what should I do at this point? Can I still settle this debt outside of the courts and if so, what is the best way to go about doing that since I can’t get in touch with the lead attorney? I really want to avoid any kind of wage garnishment and I’m willing to work to try to settle the dispute.
Please send any advice or help you can, it would be so much appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
What is the balance of the debt National Collegiate is suing for? What law firm are they using? Can you raise more than half to settle quickly?
You may want to consider hiring an experienced private student loan attorney. The stage you are at now is where a lot of people get tripped up when trying to represent themselves in these cases.
MJ- What ever happened? I’m about to be in the same position.
Good Morning!
I’m glad I found this forum, as I need help. I took out a $30K student loan in 2007 for school from AES. I originally started with a low payment of $150 which I was making for over a year before I lost my job and could not make payments. I then made payments when I could then later the monthly payments ballooned up to $350 which with my then low hourly paying job I could not pay the full amount but I would attempt to make either $50 or $100 payments or what I could afford to show I was trying to help pay off this debt. This past June the account went into default and was under Transworld when I talked to the representative they offer me a settlement which I couldn’t pay or put $10K down for a lower payment of $250 a month. I can make the $250 a month now but could not get the $10 together and asked them if I could simply just be making monthly payments to start bringing down the debt they said no and I hadn’t heard from them since.
Yesterday I get a voice from WWR saying they are now attempting to collect this debt, I have not called them back yet, but I really want to make payments to put this on a more positive path, however I do not have $10K or more to put down as a payment to get these monthly payments. How can I try to get these monthly payments without putting a ridiculously amount of cash up front in order to get payments I can afford? I really do not want to go to court or have my wages garnished, but do want to make the effort to start proactively paying off this loan. Help!
Putting huge lump sums down just to be able to make payments on the full balance is a common debt collection tactic that is somewhere between the lines of unethical behavior and a scam. If you start sending WWR $200 – $250 payments per month, trust me, they will cash them.
That will not be a long term solution to your problem though. Hiring a professional negotiator to settle the balance for 50-60% could be a better option. AES is just a third party loan servicer, and WWR is just a third party debt collector. The owner of these loans sounds like it is the National Collegiate Trust. They are the most difficult lender to negotiate with and also the most aggressive in filing lawsuits. It would be a good idea to work out a settlement sooner or later, but don’t expect it to be easy – especially if trying it on your own for the first time.
If you’d like to talk to a certified student loan counselor, feel free to call the hotline and press Option 4 and we can talk further.
Hi I received a call on behalf of NCT. I am told I owe 19,400+ on a loan from AES. My last payment was in May and I don’t have calls from AES from from May til now. They turned My account over to NCT. Of course they want the entire payment or $600 a month which I cannot afford. I offered to pay $100 a month which I can barely afford and they said no. I don’t want to be garnished or get sued for this so what should I do? I have the names of all that I talked to. One lady in particular was extremely rude to me. I asked to her supervisor. When I spoke with him I asked him for proof that I owe this in the form of a promissory note. He said I will receive it in 2 weeks. Any ideas on how I should proceed?
NCT is actually the company that owns your loans and AES is just a servicer they hire to do customer service and collect payments. Under the right circumstances, NCT loans can be settled for 50-60% of the balance, although they are extremely aggressive especially when dealing with borrowers directly. If you’d like to talk further, feel free to call the hotline and press Option 4 to be connected with my private stuent loan debt negotiation company.
Thank you. I have a lawyer who is now assisting me. We’ve asked them for proof that they own the loans but so far have not received the proof nor have they called my lawyer regarding the matter. I’m nervous about them trying to pull me into court. My lawyer and I have responded to the calls and we’ve both asked them for the proof to be sent but so far nothing.
NCT cam usually meet the requirements of validating the loan through a promissory note or bill of sale. However they sometimes cannot produce all of the SEC documentation for the sale of the loan during litigation which usually gets the case dismissed. We’d be interested to hear how this turns out- please come back and post in the comments and let us know how it goes.
I am rescheduled to appear before the magistrate next week, i would very much like to settle, but I am not sure who to contact. I received info in the mail from an agency about settling, but not sure if it was legit.
Who is representing National Collegiate in court? You typically have to work out any arrangements with the attorney NCT hired.
How much is owed? Did you already file an answer to the complaint?
I have been dealing with both of these entities- they are currently suing me and garnishing my wages for 25% every check- I have paid over $22,000 already on a $18,000.00 loan- I could use some help getting this dismissed and possibly some of the money back I have paid on something that I am now reading and seeing is not correct with these two firms.
Please help me, I have been in financial distress since this has happened and has been going on now for 2 years.
Can you provide more details as to why you believe the debts, and collections, are not correct?
I have also been told that the garnishment should be 30 days prior to actually taking place, and according to this they had this to my employer on Oct 20th and going to be withdrawn from my check on Nov 3rd. I have replied to them answering their questions, they had advised that they would start the process if I did not get back with them in 30 days which I did several times, and called. them as well. I was under the impression that these were private loans and they could be lumped in with the bankruptcy that i have had to end to having to do? my original loan was for 18k, and I have asked them to settle and they are refusing to even talk with me about it. It has went through so many collectors and hit my credit report so many times I stopped counting. I am already paying a bankruptcy lawyer, and she advised me doing chapter 13, but I am really wanting rid of everything and start fresh. What can I do? I’m in Ohio
It is not easy to discharge student loans in chapter 7. You have to meet strict qualifications. If you do, you also need to have the right attorney with the experience to push that through. And there are not that many… unfortunately.
Talk to your existing attorney about your options. If you think you qualify to discharge the student loan, and they cannot help you with that, I would look for a different attorney to help you.
If there is no realistic path to discharge on the private student loan, you may be stuck getting rid of all the other debts in a chapter 7, and resolving the student loan differently.
Thank you for your help, The attorney that I have now said you can’t discharge it, BUT I did have an attorney that needed 2k and he did have experience dealing with them.
Question, IF I go with the attorney I have right now for Chapter 13, In a few months ( after tax time) can i file for chapter 7? OR should i just go with the other attorney?
Also does it sound right that them asking for the garnishment on the 20th and it will take effect on my Nov 3rd check?
I am bit confused about the bankruptcy situation and feedback you have been given. Fill in the talk to Michael consult from in the right column of this page. I will email you to set up a phone consult when I get that.
So I originally ha. Private Loan with Bank of America the received letters from AES I guess collecting for NCT. I have defaulted on the loan as my husband was battling cancer. I called Aes who I had made payments to only to find out it was given to transworld. Transworld has never sent any correspondence to my home. So I had no clue it went to a collection agency. My credit report says charged off. Transworld states they go after the cosignor which is my mom. Never called me or sent a letter. They claim they don’t have my address or phone number. They offer my mom a settlement which she didn’t have the funds. So they took it declined to pay. They will accept a payment or a settlement. Loan is 18k and would settle at 14k. I’m trying to refinance my home but I need to take care of this. My issue is they will not send me a correspondence on company letterhead for settlement. I would like it in writing and refuse to send them money until I have something. Why can’t they send me a letter? I would like to resolve it ASAP. I feel like I’m getting scammed.
Call in for a consult about settling with Transworld on your National Collegiate collection account, at 800-939-8357, ext 4. You can likely settle for a much better savings, and get the documentation.
My mother-in-law, upon running a credit report, states she took out a gov student loan for $25,ooo. in 2007. As my mother-in-law is an old 82 years and has never been to college and did not take out this loan, how do we get this off her credit report.
We do know that the loan is now in the hands of National Collegiate Trust .
It appears that she may be a victim of identity theft. Have her follow the tips and advice found on this FTC site: http://www.idtheft.gov
I live in Florida, and my checks are being garnished 25% by NCT. They have a continuing writ of garnishment. My employer has a piece of paper with the information, and it’s dated July 2014. Just a few months ago it was only like 15%. I don’t know where they’re getting their figure, but I definitely can’t afford to have a quarter of my check garnished every 2 weeks. I had a debt with Allied Interstate, LLC, but they sent a letter to my employer just recently in June 2016 stating that there is a release of order of withholding from earnings, and I no longer am in debt to them. I had turned in documents to Allied about a year ago showing financial hardship, and they had lowered their garnishment to 5%. I really need to get this obscenely high 25% garnishment down.
Contact the court National Collegiate Trust got the judgment and find out the steps you can take to contest the judgment. If you go through that process and meet either partially, or full meet the exemptions, you can limit what they take from your check.
You can file bankruptcy and stop the garnishment.
There are some instances where you can negotiate a lump sum pay off even though you are being garnished, but that can often be at the rate of 80%-ish, and has to be paid all at once.
You could leave the job.
Hello, reading through the comments and i am in the same place, should i settle directly with them or should i go to court. They filed the judgement against me in the state of Il and i now live in fl.
How long ago were you sued, or when was the judgment entered in the court?
What if any efforts has the attorney for National Collegiate Trust made to collect from you after the judgment?
How prepared are you to pay a lump sum settlement?
Hey Michael
My ex husband received a summons from NCT and a law firm. They said if we do not respond in thirty days they will take us to court for garnishment. I have tried calling everyday this week to get information on these to loans. On my credit report the loans have been charged off. I called the original lender who is AES and they told me the loans were sold in 2013 to NCT; she gave me a phone number to NCT, in which was disconnected. I called again to try to speak to someone at the law firm and the secretary continues to transfer me to voicemails. Thirty days are up on the 30th of this month. My ex is worried they will come after his paycheck since I am not working and I am in school. Any advice on how I should proceed? Should we wait until they take us to court? Side note: I had no idea I had this debt bc it was showing up on my credit report as charge off, and I never received any correspondents at all.
I would look at filing an answer to the complaint in court. You can preserve your options that way. I can email you contact details to attorneys in your state that specialize in this type of thing if you like? Just post the state you live in.
What are the balances on the loans as of today?
Hi
I received a letter from a collection agency for NCT. They said they will not sue me because of statue of limitation. But they offer me a pay out that’s 70% off my balance. I really do not have the money for the settlement. Do I have to pay?
No. But it may be a good idea. When did your payments stop? If you have credit goals (like a home loan), and National Collegiate Trust is still going to show on your credit reports for a few more years, it make sense to settle. If not, there may be little reason to try to stretch to take them up on the settlement offer.
They said it will not be on my credit report. I really cannot afford the settlement .
Check to make sure National Collegiate is not on your credit credit reports now.
With no money to take advantage of the offer, and no real reason to (avoid being sued or for credit goals), there is little to consider if I were in your shoes.
Hello There,
I took out two student loans through National Collegiate Trust and my mother Co-signed for the loans. A few years ago, my mother had to file Chapter 13 and these loans went to NCO Financial. Her bankruptcy settlements are paying towards the two loans I have with NCT. I tried to call NCO to get a statement of the account and now it is Transworld Systems. Once my other is out of bankruptcy (about one more year), I am assuming these loans are going to start getting collection calls and then turn into a lawsuit. It seems as though they have been passed around to a few different companies and I do not know where to start trying to solve the issue. Every time I try to call they tell me they can’t see a lot of the information on the account. Before my mother filed bankruptcy, the loans were being paid on time and without issue. I do not see them on my credit report at all, which worries me as I am afraid of a huge hit once my mother is out of Chapter 13. Do you have any suggestions on how this situation should be handled? I currently have about $19K due on both loans combined.
I am not clear on what your goals are. Are you looking at setting up payments when the loans come out of the chapter 13, or are you looking at settling for less than the balance on the loans?
Hello! My husband took out a loan with Bank of America in 2007 and his father was consigner. I believe the amount was $25,000 if memory serves me right. He defaulted on it in 2009. We’ve been through many different messes trying to pay it. Even spent a year paying $1,200 a month only to get a letter a few years ago saying no such payments were received. So national collegiate trust was talking with me on the phone. We set up a pay amount and monthly withdrawal. It is steadily paid and has been since 2013. We received a call earlier this year wanting to see if we would increase our payment amounts and I told them we were preparong to consolidate debt and would be soon making an offer to close it out. When we started the heloan process this summer, I called a number I had been given for the account. It was transworld systems. I’m not sure when they took over because I wasn’t notified. Anyways, the outstanding amount currently is a little over $26,000. I offered $10,000 and they refused it. I waited a bit and called and offered $11,000. They countered with $11,965 but demanded it be paid within a 15-20 day time period or they would increase the amount. I was in the process of getting the loan completed so I could pay it. The timeframe they gave me has ended (by a few days) but I stayed in touch with them through the process so they would understand I couldn’t make the loan close any faster. It has now closed and I will receive the funds next Monday. I received a call today and the lady tried to quote me a higher price and I declined. I told her I was sticking with the counter of $11,965 as previously agreed. And she agreed. As I was closing the conversation, I told her that we would like the file closed as “paid as agreed” (something I have seen is very important for future credit bureau notes.) She said they would not do that but mark it as “settled”. She said their client is the one who it is up to about what the notes for the credit bureau will state. I asked who the client was and she said national collegiate trust. I asked her is transworld was not the company who owned the debt or had purchased the debt and she said no, they are only the third party. Now I feel like everything is fishy for some reason. I’ve tried finding the national collegiate trust number and cannot find one. Every number I have found is either disconnected or is answered by a transworld systems employee. Do you have any tips here that could help me know the right way to take with this? I understand getting them to accept below 50% is a deal. But, I want this to go through properly so my husband’s credit reports it properly. Side note: for a few years, this loan was listed twice on his credit report. Of course in default, but it was showing it as two loans which was an error. We challenged it this year to the credit bureau and when we had his credit pulled this summer, the loan doesn’t even show on his credit report anymore. Again, something fishy/a blessing??? Please help if you have any advice or suggestions! Thank you for your time!
Transworld collects for National Collegiate Trust. They cannot impact how NCT will show on your credit reports. You stand no chance of negotiating a pays as agreed with NCT. But it is not showing on his credit now, which is because it originally defaulted in 2009, so the 7 years for negative reporting to drop off his credit likely expired.
Great job getting the deal together and in writing.
Ok. Thank you so much! I guess we will proceed with our pay off and hope for the best! I appreciate the info. That makes sense now about the credit report. Thank you again! : )
Hi Michael,
I came across this post in doing research on NCT. I co-signed on a student loan for my husband in 2007 through Bank of America. We started paying off the loan in 2010 and 6 years and $8k later, the principle amount went from $19k to $21k. NCT now owns the loan and I’ve been doing research on how to get some help. We cannot continue to pay $175 per month and have the total amount increase by $2k every 6 years; we’ll never pay it off. We don’t have a lot of room to pay more per month either. I received a letter from Certified Document Center (3rd party) to help consolidate and they said for this private loan, they would refer me to an attorney who would help me through the process after I default and NCT sues. They said it would also be fee-free, but I was skeptical and wanted to do more research before going that direction.
Do you have any suggestions? I’ve read suggestions to default and get a lawyer involved once NCT sues, but I don’t want to go down the wrong path. Are you familiar with Certified Document Center?
Thanks,
Ashleigh
Certified Document Center does not ring a bell, but scams offering to eliminate credit card and student loans with some legal theory does.
What exactly is it that Certified Document Center is proposing they, or the attorney will do? What is the name of the attorney or law firm that works with you?
You are generally better off trying to settle with National Collegiate Trust for a reduced lump sum, than using some debt elimination approach.
Certified Document Center offers to help consolidate federal loans but I think they only put the paperwork together and fill out the forms. The only thing they do for private loans is the attorney referral and I guess the way they make money on that is just on the referral. I don’t have the name of the attorney – when the rep asked me for my SSN I stopped the process to do more research.
I am traveling today, but give me a ring tomorrow after 8 am pacific at 800-939-8357, ext 2. You can also fill in the talk to Michael form in the right rail of this page so that we can email each other to determine a good time to connect on the phone.
i would love to talk to you Michael regarding my situation
NCT started sueing me in 2014, claiming that they sent me documentation regarding the court, i never got anything, next thing i know,my check was being garnished, So i filed bankruptcy and put off the payments. They are now trying to sue me again for the $27000 and also not willing to send any documentation ,just gave me a court date. I lost my job and just working as a contract worker right now.Lawyer suggested chapter 13 for the debt, i wanted to see if i was able to get the debt eliminated in court,any suggestions.
You can fill out the talk to Michael form in the right column. When I see that I will email you to set up a time to talk on the phone. Things are getting scheduled for after Christmas right now.
I am being sued for a private Student Loan I received in August 2006. The amount owed states almost $8000, which I do not have to pay. I live in MS. What are my options in dealing with this?
Call in to go over some details and your options Keldrich. Call 800-939-8357 and press option 4 for a student loan consult.
Hi Keldrich, if you’re being sued and have been served a Summons to court, you’ll want to hire an attorney as soon as possible to avoid getting a default judgment which can result in wage garnishment.
As Michael mentioned, if you call in and press option 4; you will reach me and I can review your situation and help you find an attorney in your state. Keep in mind that I cannot provide legal advice, and the first thing you should do would be to try to find an attorney ASAP since there is only a limited amount of time to prevent a judgment after you’re sued.
I just recently received letters from Weltman/Weinberg stating that I had a National Collegiate loan for the amount of $8000 from February 2007. It is a personal loan apparently, which is completely impossible since I already have a federal loan from that same semester with a balance of $5000, and it is consolidated. I asked for proof from a company that contacted me last year and what they sent me were some random scanned loan papers, that looked like they were from my federal loan, and when I argued with the woman she immediately said is was a private loan through a bank (again not making sense since the papers were from EdFinancial). I denied that the loan was valid, and now I have Weltman contacting me wanting $8000, I have never made a payment on this. I live in PA, and this loan was for classes in Tennessee in 2007. What should I do?
Hello, this can probably be settled eventually for around 50-65% through extensive negotiations, but if you don’t think you ever took out this loan or received funds for it, then that is probably not something you want to do. Depending on what state you are in, WW+R may not be able to take you to court (since they only have lawyers licensed in certain states, but collect on accounts for borrowers in many other states outside of their jurisdiction).
I would recommend looking for a good debt validation lawyer. Beware of outfits that want to charge a huge part of your loan upfront – I would look to an organization like NACA , link here: https://www.consumeradvocates.org/
I’ve not personally seen any EdFinancial loans that weren’t federal loans either. It’s possible they may have originated private loans in the past, but I have never come across evidence of that either.
NCT has bought up a lot of private loan portfolios over the last several years, so there may be a chance that you took out a private loan and it was bought by them, but usually you would remember something like that. However, the financial aid process can be a little murky and sometimes people don’t know for sure whether the loans they signed for were federal or private.
It sounds like an attorney would really have to dig through a lot of paperwork and evaluate your state laws as well as federal collection laws to see what the options are here. Without more info it would be tough for me to evaluate, but I think this is more of a legal issue rather than a potential debt negotiation issue, so it would make sense to start looking up some attorneys. You may also be able to try to request debt validation on your own, but often times when borrowers themselves do that, they get the basic info in photocopies or statements like you received.
Hi, I am hoping you could help, I have 5 NCT loans that were with AES and have defaulted despite me paying them $500-$600/mo in order to “catch up”. They actually took my payment of $575 received May 2 and applied it to 3 small loans I have with them that are actually paid ahead, and took the other 5 and defaulted them the very same day.. A rep from WWR contacted me by phone yesterday and offered a settlement amount of 80% of what I owe ($44500 is the total owed) but has to be received by May 16 (less than a week from them first contacting me) I have been rolling late on these loans for awhile so the credit damage is done and I would actually love to settle and move on with my life. The most I can come up with is $20,000 and that is with draining everything. I have the settlement offer via email but have reviewed nothing else from them. He claims they mailed me letters- I don’t yet have them. At this point, should I call back and offer the $20,000? It would take me 4-6 weeks to get this money from mine and my husbands 401s. Should I wait and request debt validation? Obviously I would like to avoid a lawsuit. Thanks for any tips!
Hi Amy, I just left you a message and sent an email, but I wanted to reply here as well. Your situation is pretty common, but it’s unfortunate that they mis-applied your payment to the accounts that were already paid ahead and defaulted the others.
When negotiating on a private loan, especially a National Collegiate Trust private loan with an agency like Weltman Weinberg and Reis, you’re in for a difficult negotiation process. You don’t want to offer them $20,000 because that’s the most you can offer and is your target range for settlement. When negotiating private student loans, I start out at much lower than the settlement goal and work my way up through offers and counter offers.
In many cases, I can get better settlements than borrowers are able to negotiate for themselves, due to my experience and also my personal contacts. I’m currently negotiating on 3 different accounts with Weltman Weinberg and Reis, and have also settled another account with them earlier this year. On that account, they hardballed my client and would not accept less than 80%. It was only when I got involved that we were able to get them down to 50%.
On most recently defaulted NCT accounts, it’s going to take months of negotiations and the best outcome is a 50% settlement. NCT is aggressive and does try to litigate against borrowers within 12 months of the default occurring. Since WW+R has an office in Michigan, there is the possibility that they could attempt a lawsuit. Immediately prior to litigation, it’s common for them to only accept a 65% settlement, so the window to negotiate a 50% settlement prior to legal action occurring is relatively small.
For an account of $44,500; a 50% settlement would be $22,250. However it would not need to be paid all at once. You could pay them $17,000 down, for instance, and then make payments of $437 per month for 12 months. This is known as a structured settlement. Besides negotiating the dollar amount of the settlement, it’s important to execute the settlement in a way that everything is documented, and to make sure that the settlement letter contains the appropriate language to make it a valid settlement.
This is why people sometimes choose to hire a professional negotiator to settle for them. In my experience, they are going to make it very difficult to settle for 50% when you’re negotiating on your own, and you may unintentionally provide them with information during the negotiation process that will make getting down to 50% impossible.
Since the account has recently defaulted, it would be a good idea to start negotiating with them on your own or with a professional negotiator now, before they get closer to attempting litigation. NCT is one of the most aggressive private lenders in that regard, but settlement is possible. A lot of times, they will agree to 50%. In the instances when they only accept 65% prior to litigation, I’ve seen them willing to structure that amount out over several years.
Also it should be noted, they take a fast and aggressive approach, but they have lost lawsuits due to issues surrounding how they acquired their private loan portfolio. It can be possible to settle for less than 50% during litigation if you’re represented by a consumer defense attorney who has experience defending NCT lawsuits. Prior to litigation, the best they will do is usually between the 50-65% range.
Wow, Michael. Your column is a breath of fresh air – and an even bigger lifesaver! I’ll get back to you later about my whole situation, but my initial inquiry is this: I thought there was no SOL on being sued for student loans. My loans are 35 (first round) and 25 years old (yep, 10 years for a 4-year degree) and I think my last piddly, minimum-wage status payment was maybe made in 2001, having never really had enough money to pay on it prior to that either or since. Please advise. Thanks! ~ living In Perpetual Fear of “The Knock On the Door”
The loans remain for agencies to collect on, but not to legitimately sue you.
Call in for a consult when you are ready and I can cover more of the details.
Hi Maria, I would just add that for federal loans this is true; however the Dept. of Ed. rarely sues borrowers on federal loans. That is because they can garnish wages, and offset tax returns and Social Security payments without having to first go to court.
Private loans do fall under SOL according to several consumer defense attorneys I’ve spoken with about the issue. Your description sounds like federal loans to me though.
Vicky does work for Weltman Weinberg and Reis I reside in Mississippi. I was able to talk to someone else today and he apologized for Vicky and asked if she gave me payment arrangements and I explained that she did not he went on to tell me that if I didn’t want to go to court for a private loan I need to try to come up with at least 20% about $3800. Where is the world can I get that from I don’t have $38. Wat can I do….
Thanks. I do have a healthy amount of feedback to offer, but still need to know if you made any payments on the loans National Collegiate is trying to collect on since you took them out in 2005, and when those payments were last made. Ask your mom if she sent a payment in at all too (just in case).
I want to establish whether your state statute of limitations to legitimately sue you is expired.
Yes. I made my last payment about 3 months ago and the 4 loans actually went into default on the 7th of November
Thanks.
I look at this two ways. The offer to settle the balance is actually good… really good. I would first look at any and all options to pull that amount together and settle the debt with National Collegiate Student Loan Trust and get it out of the way for good. I would even put that on a credit card if I had room.
That prevents the lawsuit, which I suspect is coming.
I would then want to consult with an experienced FDCPA attorney in my general area and talk to them about any violation of your rights committed by Vicky at Weltman Weinberg and Reis. I will send you an email with contact details to any I know of that would be a good fit. All would typically offer a no cost consult and potentially work your file at no fee too.
I would just add that the offer they made you is pretty typical for NCT accounts that are just recently charged off. It can be possible to settle for lower, but it takes more time and therefore increases the risk of legal action. A lot of times it’s best to take the offer on the table (after trying to negotiate it down) from a collection firm that has attorney’s licensed in your state.
Also you may be able to have the settlement broken up over 1-2 years, which is available for NCT loans but not something they will actively tell you about. If you bring it up, and offer a decent down payment on the settlement with the remaining payments split up over 23 months, then they may go for it.