More People Getting Sued By Sallie Mae
Posted by Plumrose15153@reddit | studentloandefaulters | View on Reddit | 35 comments
Hi so my PRIVATE student loans from Sallie Mae charged off I just got the letters today & I’m so scared I’m going to get sued by Sallie Mae. Has anyone gotten sued by Sallie Mae & can tell me what happened? I don’t know what to expect. I’m unsure if I’m judgement proof or not because I have no assets, I’m always in the negatives in my bank account & I actually didn’t graduate from the school I took the loan out from. I’m panicking because I don’t know where I’m going to get the money if I get sued.
Vigorously_Swish@reddit
They said they were taking me to court a decade ago. I completely ignored it and haven’t heard from them since.
Note: This is not advice, just my own experience
fieldstown@reddit
They had me going to court and a court date. They knew I never dropped out and was still in school. They are so annoying.
fieldstown@reddit
I have. I never dropped out of school as well.
Undercover_1234@reddit
How did this turn out for you?
mrsdoubleu@reddit
If it makes you feel any better I owed Sallie Mae almost 100k and they never sued me. It's now past the statute of limitations and off my credit report.
thunderling_x@reddit
Ahh I am freaking out over mine. I have one year until the SOL is up. I paid for years and then when COVID hit my life fell apart and I stopped paying. My only income is child support and I work about 10 hours a week. If I could afford to pay I would. This gives me a little hope. So you just never heard from them again? Or did they eventually charge it off?
ravenouslywondering@reddit
When it went past SOL, how long did you wait for it to fall off of your credit report?
justbeaunicorn@reddit
Did you see a boost in your credit score after it fell off?
nnezzyy@reddit
typically they’ll sell the loan off to a debt buyer. these companies are massive and buy thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of defaulted student loans. mine for example got sold to Rock Creek Capital LLC. who then hired a law firm in my state to pursue the debt. I believe they tried a collection agency first (my life was in shambles / i was homeless so it was hard to keep track of what was going on) I’m getting sued in the state of Minnesota, so the law firm sent me a letter stating I’m getting sued but they have up to a year to actually file with the court (pocket filing is a MN thing, not every state does it like that.) My debt is currently around $10,000. Although it’s pocket change to a million dollar company it’s still worth them pursuing since in MN they have 6 years to sue due to statute of limitations. I believe some loans can get charged off and forgotten (you’d have to pay tax on that I believe) but for the most part Sallie Mae does this because that way they can give out more loans to new supply. I’ve read other court cases of them seeking $50,000 + loans so i naively thought they wouldn’t bother with mine but i was wrong. I can only pray for the downfall of Rock Creek Capital LLC at this point, granted every state has different laws so regardless my wages will be protected if the lawsuit pursues.
Hope this helps
ravenouslywondering@reddit
Usually, if your loans are getting charged off then the collection agency now owns that loan. Sallie Mae should not be able to sue you anymore, because that debt is no longer owed to them — but the collection agency that bought the debt.
You should be hearing from a collection agency soon, or already. I see that this post is about 100+ days old 😅
sharkcrew1388@reddit
Fuck Sallie Mae. just sit tight. The system was flawed from the start
Plumrose15153@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much
KnopeKnopeWellMaybe@reddit
I did this years ago.
It didn't end well. After ignoring for years, payroll called saying I was being garnished.
The debt company F.H.Cann was contracted, took 15% of each check.
In a total of three and half years, they got $39,000.
I got myself out of arrears in Feb of 2018, and started paying $300 a month (repayment amount was $250) . At that time, my loan was $39,000.
As of today, I owe $36,000.
I would suggest reaching out.
wicket2003@reddit
so you ignored letters and the papers you were served? Thats the only way you wouldnt have a clue that you were being sued.
KnopeKnopeWellMaybe@reddit
So, #1, they don't serve you with papers. Just send letters.
If you are trying to imply I was an idiot, you were not walking in my shoes.
My ex-husband lost his job, and I had to pay his child support. He got a job, and then I lost mine. As I was digging out of it, we divorced.
Then, the crash of 2008 hit.
And at that point, I just felt deflated and beat up.
So, if you are judging me, please don't.
My loan was $30k. Since 2014, I have paid OVER $61,000 on this loan.
Gotten myself out of arrears, have paid on time every month, through COVID non payment times, and I still owe over $36,000.
I should have just let them hit me for the garnishment, and I would be done by now.
I plan on reaching out to federal student loans next week.
Did I mess up, yup. But I hope there can be some forgiveness.
The reality is that our loans are based on compound interest, not simple interest.
If it was simple interest, I would owe maybe $15k, and I would gladly pay.
wicket2003@reddit
Not saying either, but where I’m at, they have to serve you papers. Were these federal loans?
KnopeKnopeWellMaybe@reddit
Yes
wicket2003@reddit
That’s the difference, this is for private loans
Plumrose15153@reddit (OP)
So my plan is to respond to a court summons & let them know my school did mishandling and I was not even able to graduate with the degree or license I took the loan out for & tell them that I have a medical condition/disability so I’m unable to work a lot (schizophrenia) I got hospitalized in nursing school.
wicket2003@reddit
I agree with the first part, not necessarily the second part. The judge could really care less of the specifics. I'd say chance it and see if you get a court summons. If you do, then show up and tell them that you have a medical condition that impacts your ability to pay the loan.
stripedpixel@reddit
Yeah, when you default they cone after you. Are you surprised?
Plumrose15153@reddit (OP)
My co-signer is my grandpa. He’s in the icu right now & he has no assets either I think only a pension through CalPERS.
nobutokaywhatever@reddit
I would add that before any chance of getting sued, they will sell that debt to a collection agency and they would be the ones to sue after attempting to collect for a time.
nobutokaywhatever@reddit
I have been sued by Sallie Mae, or technically my cosigner (my mother) was. They sued her because she does have assets (a home). It sucked. But we all decided to do a strategic default together, my parents knew this could happen. They ended up borrowing against their house to settle. I have a lot of guilt over it, but from their point of view, they have now paid for my college which they are glad to have done even though it came about in a terrible way. By the time interest grew, they were suing for 83k. We settled at 50. We didn't have a ton of bargaining room because they knew they could get their money out of a judgement on their home.
You not having assets is definitely a strength. Idk if they ever would have come after me. They sued my mother specifically because they knew they could get something from her.
SettleBankDebt@reddit
I wouldn't push the panic button yet. A charge-off or chargeoff is a declaration by a creditor that an amount of debt is unlikely to be collected. This occurs when a consumer becomes severely delinquent on a debt. They will eventually send the debt to collections which could be an agency or an attorney. If they file suit just go to solosuit and file an answer and throw every smoke screen up as possible to buy you as much time as you can.
AB3D12D@reddit
No. I haven't. Sallie Mae/Navient have cost me more money than over my lifetime than I'll ever have at once in a lifetime. The sorrows of student debt go beyond a monetary number. Fuck em
ButtercupsPitcher@reddit
If you get sued, make whatever debt collector bought the debt prove you owe every cent. You can get a lawyer, but if you are moderately intelligent, you can just do it yourself. Just ask for proof of what you owe. Show up to court and ask for documents. Ask who their witness will be.
DisembarkEmbargo@reddit
To make sure I understand this: Sallie Mae sent you a letter saying that your have defaulted on your loan?
Did they send you any litigation letters?
Plumrose15153@reddit (OP)
No litigation letters yet but yes they sent letters saying my loans have charged off
DisembarkEmbargo@reddit
Unfortunately, we really don't know if you will get sued or not. There are many people here who did and many people here who didn't. You could get sued at anytime or never.
All you can do is prepare and focus your energy on other things in your life. Read all their letters. You can keep some if you like. BUT make sure to answer a court summons.
One way to prepare is to find a lawyer in your area that can give you advice or that you can potentially put on retainer. If you can't afford a lawyer look into legal aid for your state - their clients usually have a low maximum income requirement.
If you do get sued make sure to show up in court. Hopefully you can postpone a judgement or even be exempt from some punishments. At the very least you could gain more insight on your situation or find a lawyer.
However, if you get sued is that they can levy your bank accounts and garnish your wages. There are different laws about liens on property but in a lot of states they will not take your primary residency. Look this up.
Take some time exploring this subreddit. There will be a lot of experiences you can learn from.
ToeJam_SloeJam@reddit
Mailers for just such law offices arrived at my house a day or two before I got notice of filing. So, ya know, another facet of the dystopian nightmare we’re living through.
I didn’t use any of those attorneys; I pay for the group legal benefit at my job and got representation from that. We’re way past normal benefits enrollment, but I highly recommend checking it out to anyone in this sub.
--Cr1imsoN--@reddit
It will help to know what state you're in. Some states don't permit wage garnishment for private student loans. For example, my state of Pennsylvania.
Generally you have to be worth suing though. It often cost the servicer more to sue you than to just charge the debt off. Keep in mind that a judgement isn't a one and done deal. They also have to bother enforcing it, which is a huge pain (especially if you're chronically job hopping). So if you're not worth suing then it's unlikely to happen. But if it looks like you actually have something to lose such as a stable career or assets, then the chance of litigation increases.
ReturnOfSeq@reddit
The letters are scary, but sit tight. Sallie Mae knows what your finances look like too, and if they’re as you describe they probably won’t bother taking you to court, because IIRC they can only sue for a percentage of discretionary income. They’ll target defaulters who are actually doing very well for themselves
Plumrose15153@reddit (OP)
Is discretionary income income you have after taxes? Or is it income after taxes, housing, groceries etc? Bc honestly I don’t even have enough for groceries most of the time
ReturnOfSeq@reddit
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/what-is-discretionary-income