Student loan debt that’s 12 years old with a debt collector.
In 2000, i went to a private university in California. Last week I got a letter from a collection agency advising I am responsible for a debt that is approximately 11,000 dollars.
Tomorrow I'm going to send them a Debt Validation Letter to confirm that the debt is legitimate per your advise. This brings me to my two questions.
1. If this is in fact a student loan from said private university, isn't it past the Statutes of Limitations? I understand some loans are federally guaranteed by the government... but is there a chance that mine isn't and is now a 'zombie debt'?
2. Why isn't this debt on my credit report from all three credit bureaus?
I know some student loans may be federally backed, but how do I determine if mine actually is? Or are they all federally backed by the government? But if that's the case, then wouldn't they have garnished my wages by now? It's been twelve years.
I do have one last (silly) question. I don't recall stating "i admit to the debt", but it was more or less, "how do i verify who you are, and where the debt comes from?". If i did slip, and get confused with a different debt matter and said perhaps the debt is mine or something to that effect, does that constitute admitting to the debt and reinstating it's validity despite it being passed the 7 year statue of imitations?
Thank you for your time.
Patrick
Do I need to worry about a student loan that's 12 years old if it's off my credit report from all 3 agencies?
—Patrick
It wont matter if the student loan is government backed, or fully private investor backed. Student loans don’t go away and do not have a statute of limitations in the same way debt, like an unpaid credit card debt does.
I cannot recall having answered a prior question you have posted where it was suggested that you request validation of a debt on a student loan. You certainly can request validation of the debt. The result may even be that a third party debt collector wont obtain validation and will let the account go back to the debt owner. This may lead to another assignment of the account (the debt gets placed with another collector). You may even be able to start a game of “hot potato” by sending repeated debt validation requests. To what end though? Student loan debt can follow you longer than taxes.
Student loan debt does not go “full zombie”. Student loan debt could have the shelf life of a couple Twinkies – as far as how long it remains collectible.
The student debts not being on your credit report is a plus. You will have easier access to credit at fairer prices than if the debts were still reporting.
You can log in to the federal student loan database and check for your loan and confirm whether it is considered federally backed.
As far as admitting to the debt inadvertently – that is mostly done by more than a brief telephone call in most jurisdictions. You should speak with an attorney practicing consumer law and debt collection defense in your area to put this concern to rest.
Two informative on line resources for student loan debt would be:
Anyone with questions about really old defaulted student loans is welcome to post in the comments below for feedback.