Expert: Michael Brotherton - 6/6/2007

Question
QUESTION: Upon opening the mail today we find that an out of state attorney has failed suit against my wife for a student loan debt from almost 15 years ago. This was some 5 years prior to meeting her so I do not have perfect clarity to the issues but have been with her over the last ten and know we have had a great deal of trouble trying to get information on these issues.

We have been paying on what we thought was the only remaining school debt she had and are unsure if this is the same loan but know that it is from the same school. We have also received other recent billing statements from the same school for a 3rd total (and once again different amount) asking for payment as well.

In short we are now faced with a court date a bit less than a month away and have no idea of the validity of either of the two loans aside from the one we have been paying on to this point.

We would like to be accountable to any real dept my wife has from this school in question but we find it very odd that we have had multiple recent contacts with nothing showing up in the last several years of credit reports aside from the dept we have been addressing. We have recently refinanced our home and find our selves to be in a much better financial situation than at any time prior in our marriage and wonder if increases in income and savings have simply made us a more attractive target for collection from previously unknown sources.

How should we proceed now that we face a court date and what is the most respectful but legally prudent manner in which to defend ourselves at this time?

ANSWER: I assume you received a summons and the courts are allowing you a short period of time to respond. I would write the courts and "answer" the complaint. State your objections to the suit as you did with me and plead your case. The courts will normally schedule a hearing so you may be heard. Make sure you demand they provide proof of the debt. Contact the school and ask for all account records. Gather as much evidence as you can to substantiate you have been paying the account. Could it be that your wife actually had more than one loan? This is not uncommon. Try to trace the history of these accounts taking toke of the account numbers and date of inception, payment histories etc... You may subpoena those records at no cost to you. Plead your case. YOu may have a good chance of winning.

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QUESTION: It is indeed possible that she has another loan but if this is the case it has not shown on her credit reports that we check yearly nor have we had any contact aside from the loan we had been paying.

If this is in fact a legitimate dept we are happy to be accountable but do not care to have it served as court papers with over 1000$ in legal fees added to the 3000$ claimed loan amount.

To answer this suit do we need to find a lawyer or is simple honest communication without legalese sufficient? Anything else that may be a possible pitfall or area of worry that comes to mind?

Answer
You may wish to consult an attorney to get any specific legal recommendations. I would file my own answer and try to dispute the debt until they can prove their case. Try to follow the courts format for filing the answer. If you can convince the judge you have a potential legal defense you may get your day in court. Worse case, go to court and try to get the interest reduced and fees waived. See if the judge can mediate an agreement with the creditor. You may do this prior to your answer if they can verify the accounts, make a payment proposal in writing. If you need help with this I am available.

Good luck.