The Statute Of Limitations For Student Loans

[Almosthome]

There is no statute of limitations for collecting on a loan.

Sallie Mae legally owns your loan. You are obligated to pay Sallie Mae, regardless of who owned your loan previously.

Hi - this is a pretty broad statement. Do you mean there is no SOL for any student loan or one that is just backed b the Fed. Gov. or some agency?

[Almosthome]

I'm confused and angry. If these were truly private loans that were bankrupted back in 1994 they should remain bankrupted. The law that eliminated private student loans from bankruptcy did not become effective until 1998. Furthermore Sallie Mae was a govt agency collecting only federal loans until about 2000 when they went private. Of note, since Sallie Mae went private their profits have skyrocketed. See studentloanjustice.org.

I have the same problem as you with one after another collection agency calling me for very old private student loans. I send the cease and desist letter with a demand for validation. They never respond. But every 6 months a new agency appears. My loans are too old to appear on my credit report. I have maintained that private student loans are subject to your state's statute of limitations but no one has ever responded to my argument with any concrete evidence or case law to refute it. My thoughts are if they could collect this debt they would have sued me by now. But they haven't and it just goes through the dark underworld of the collection agencies. I guess I will keep sending cease and desist letters and checking my credit report forever. I have even dared the collection agencies to sue me in my letters but they don't. So I think they don't have the legal right to collect these debts and are trying to intimidate and harass me into paying. I will not give in and I hope you don't either!

If the loans were discharged, then attempting to collect on them is a violation of the permanent injunction under sec. 362 of the bankruptcy code. But I believe that an adversary action to determine dischargeability had to have been filed in the bankruptcy case to be discharged. Was it? If so, send a copy of the discharge to the creditor and tell them that next time you will seek sanctions for violating 362.

[aaron]

Hi - this is a pretty broad statement. Do you mean there is no SOL for any student loan or one that is just backed b the Fed. Gov. or some agency?

I think that was already covered:

I understand that Hemar is a subsidiary of Sallie Mae, and that they do act as a guarantor under an agreement with the Department of Education, such that their loans are non-dischargeable.

[Almosthome]

I think that was already covered:

Not really - my question concerns non-federally backed loans. SOL for them?

[Rosa19]

Yes state SOL laws apply to private student loans that are not made under the loan programs specified by the relevant federal statute. You need to research the particular program that your loans were made under to determine your particular case. Private student loans are just like any other consumer loan, other than the fact that they are generally non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

[Almosthome]

Yes state SOL laws apply to private student loans that are not made under the loan programs specified by the relevant federal statute. You need to research the particular program that your loans were made under to determine your particular case. Private student loans are just like any other consumer loan, other than the fact that they are generally non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

That makes sense. But how to research? If the loan were federally backed it should be disclosed in the loan docs, right?

[Rosa19]

It might be listed in the loan documents, or it might not. You might ask the school financial aid office where you attended if this is a federal loan or not and go from there.

[Almosthome]

Well, simply put, they're saying it is, I say it's not and they have not provided anything to support that it is. I was trying to muddle through the regulations to see if there is a disclosure requirement - I expect there must be one but I may be wrong. If it's a federally backed loan, the borrower is on the hook, if not, the creditor is barred by the State SOL - so that's where we are - a Mexican standoff as it were.

[Rosalynn200]

20 USC Sect. 1091-a(a)(2) preempts State limitations periods in suits where a guaranty agency (within the scope of 1091(a)(2)(B)is seeking repayment of a student loan MADE UNDER part B of 1091(a)(2)(B),( ie., on behalf of the US Dept. of Ed.). This section, therefore, does not apply for private "guaranty agencies" collecting on their own behalf. See, Education Resources Institute (TERI) v. Piazza, 17AD3d 513 (2005)(Supreme Court of State of New York); HEMAR v. Ryerson, 108 S.W.2d 90 (2003) (see also same case on appeal in MO in 2006). THe National Studen Loan Database (FSA) lists only the loans covered under the HEA in which Sect. 1091 applies. Call 1-800-433-3243 if you do not have access to the NSLD. Also check your credit report to see if the US Dept. of Ed is the holder.

[Almosthome]

This is very very helpful, thank you, but I still would like to know whether there is a disclosure requirement for the loan to be federally backed. Again, the creditor says it is federally backed, but offers nothing to support the claim that it is federally backed, I say it is not federally backed and cannot find any mention at all in the loan documents of it being federally backed. I tried to check the database on line to see if it's there but I have no PIN. The loans are so old (1991) that I did not get a PIN so that is no help. A collection agency on behalf of the school and the school itself are trying to collect on the debt and work out a deal before it assigns the account to the Fed. Gov't. There is no mention of it at all on my credit report. Although I do not have the answer yet, your info is very helpful. THank you.