Expert: Kathleen Eads - 6/28/2006

Question
I attended a private college for one class that lasted one month and decided to change my course of study toward the end of that month so I finished the month and got out of the school this was in 2004 about a year and a half later I got my first letter that notified me that I owed the school about 3,300 dollars I called the school and asked how I could owe that much when I had a pell grant and had only attended one month for one class they said the price of the classes went up sometimes two or three times a year and they had to send back the grant so it is right amount I kept calling and kept getting different answers from two different people for about a year I kept getting different answers from these two people but all of their answers had contradicted what they had said before I told them over and over that I would pay as soon as I had a job but I was having a hard time finding a job I got a letter from a collectiong agency that said I owed about 3,600 so I paid fifty dollars the day I got that letter and called them on a day I had off he put the account on some kind of freeze until I could find out why I owed the school this amount the collector told me to keep in touch so I did and about a mounth later he told me I had to set up a payment plan with him or he was going to send it to his lawyers and garnish my wages and this would happen in one week he also told me that I had to make one hundred and fifty dollar payments which I can't do with me working part time I told him I couldn't and he said they would not accept less than that then when I told him I couldn't not and then he told me he could take eighty no less but I am being charged about thirty dollars in intrest a month so it's going to be hard to make enough of a payment if they take it all out of one of my checks but if I don't tell them a date they can take payments out of my account they are going to send it to their lawyers they have put a bad mark on my credit already and I'm afraid to go to court because thier lawyers wont accept payments is there anyway to get the intrest taken off or am I screwed  

Answer
Marni,

Send a letter NOW disputing the amount based on the fact you were only in class a month.  If you continue to pay on the balance, they will assume you acknowledge the bill and take the whole thing to court.  

If you dispute the amount, but know you owe something, put that in writing.  See if you can get a settlement amount and start paying toward that.  

I personally wouldn't pay something I don't feel is owed.  The collection agencies usually have some room to work on the amount, but I'm sure your original contract allowed for interest, that will continue to accrue until you pay this off.  

Hope you get it worked out.  The amount in question is worth taking to court, so you need to work out something amicable for you and them to avoid being sued.  Work on an amount you feel is fair, based on the amount of time you were in class.  I'm not sure how much the tuition was, but a month in class shouldn't result in a bill over $3000.00.  

Kathleen Crabtree-Eads