Student Loan Fraud

Skuzzanator · #1 08-31-2009, 12:19 AM

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of:

CA

Hello,

Recently, my wife and I were hit with the harsh reality that a student loan was taken out under her name as a co-signer...by her own father.
My question is, what can we do?

We've already filed for a loss & prevention and the end results were that her signature too closely matches or resembles the signature on their documents stating her as a co-signer.

Now, the only way we can think of this happening was at the time when my wife PLANNED on attending [a particular college], but never did. She went through pretty much all the steps, filled out some paperwork (she was letting the dad handle everything as she didn't know anything about the whole loan process). Eventually, she decided not to go and her and her father's relationship got strained.

Not too long after her father passes away, we stat receiving letters from Sallie Mae to pay up! We of course do not have $20,000 nor should we have to pay since the loan was never suppose to have been taken out.

My wife called the school and canceled everything in advance, notifying the school to not let anything go through and to make sure she wasn't charged anything.

My wife keeps receiving phone calls trying to get us to pay.

We hired a lawyer to mail out a letter, but on the last phone call my wife got, they read back the letter to her and it sounded like a 10 year old wrote it. We'll be asking for a copy of the letter tomorrow to review it and possibly try and get our money back.

In essence, they refer to my wife as Mrs. and Ms. and her last name goes from her real last name to something completely different.

Does anybody have any advice or a direction they can send us in? we're desparate. We have 2 children and I myself am dealing with 2 of my own student loans (that are actually mine). How can we get Sallie Mae off our backs?

We have papers with her fathers handwritting stating that he spoke to a rep. and was told that "she needs to be 18 to qualify for the loan". The school I'm sure has their records of her NEVER attending that school.

HOW was that loan even granted when my wife told the school in advance "I'm not attending"? Why do should we pay for the systems flaws?

Please, what can we do? We're in fear of them garnishing our bank account and my paychecks (both of ours). The loan is ready to go into default within the next two weeks or so....

If we close our current bank account and I re-open with just my name and not hers, will they still garnish my bank account since we are married and live in CA? Or will our money be safe without my wife's name on the bank account?

Again, please-- any options? Any confusion on my behalf? We need help!

525601minutes · #2 08-31-2009, 12:31 PM

Quoting Skuzzanator

We have papers with her fathers handwritting stating that he spoke to a rep. and was told that "she needs to be 18 to qualify for the loan". The school I'm sure has their records of her NEVER attending that school.

HOW was that loan even granted when my wife told the school in advance "I'm not attending"? Why do should we pay for the systems flaws?

Unfortunately, people apply for college, get the loans to attend and then withdraw, drop classes, or even fail to register for classes altogether. It is not up to the school to ensure each student attends classes.

Was your wife under the age of 18 when/if her father forged her signature on these loan documents?

Skuzzanator · #3 08-31-2009, 03:55 PM

My wife was under the age of 18 when he intitially tried to take out the loan, hence the his handwritten note on a doc. stating "she needs to be 18 to qualify" and once she turned 18, he tried again soon after and that's when the loan was granted.

Quote:

Unfortunately, people apply for college, get the loans to attend and then withdraw, drop classes, or even fail to register for classes altogether. It is not up to the school to ensure each student attends classes.

I'm hoping the school kept a record of her phone call. I'm sure they must have some type of record stating she applied and then withdrew from her classes, either through a phone recording or a paper trail.

Thank you so much for the response and for your help.

aaron · #4 08-31-2009, 04:26 PM

Was her father's estate probated? Did/does he have any assets in his estate that could be applied to this debt? Was he still married to her mother at the time he died?

Skuzzanator · #5 08-31-2009, 05:49 PM

Aaron,

Unfortunately her father didn't have anything of value and when he left, not only did he leave in presence, but he left nothing but a mountain of debt for my wife and his wife (over 6 months of rent past due). He had no will. The only thing he left behind was some money that he received from his fathers death and that money was dispursed accordingly to his wife and 3 children (including my wife). That money has since come and gone (and wasn't much or not even enough to consider it the tip of the iceberg).

Not only did he not have any assets, he was receiving help from the Government to pay his rent (Section 8 among other Gov. aid). And yes, he was still married to his wife at the time of his death. She herself didn't know about this ordeal.

One piece of important information- he also did the exact same thing to his other Daughter. In total, he got over 30k between both daughters using the same scheme.

Mr. Knowitall · #6 08-31-2009, 06:03 PM

I don't see that school records (or the lack thereof) will help you. The money was borrowed.

The question to me appears to be twofold:

1. Is your wife's signature on the note; and

2. Did your wife know, or should she reasonably have known about the loan before her father passed away and defaulted.

Your wife is clearly arguing that it's not her signature on the note, so she would want the loan application investigated for fraud. The lender will not be happy about this prospect, as if they confirm fraud they're effectively stuck with an uncollectable loan balance.

If the signature is disproved (and, honestly, a conclusion that "it's not her signature" is not the same thing as "she didn't make whatever mark appears there instead of her signature" - they may argue that she disguised her hand), they are likely to argue that your wife either knew about the loan and chose not to act sooner, such that she should be held responsible even if she did not actually sign, or that she should have discovered and reported the problem at a much earlier date.

Skuzzanator · #7 08-31-2009, 08:47 PM

Quote:

1. Is your wife's signature on the note; and

They claim it is. We know it can't be hers.

Quote:

2. Did your wife know, or should she reasonably have known about the loan before her father passed away and defaulted.

We found out after he passed away, after which the mom handed us mail and we saw a Sallie Mae loan.

525601minutes · #8 08-31-2009, 09:39 PM

Unless you can get a handwriting expert to testify that the signature was not that of your wife - she is almost certainly going to have a judgement against her when the loan company gets to the point where they want/need to start garnishing her wages and bank accounts.
And even IF you can show the father forged his daughter's name - if her parents were married at the time of the loan, then her mother is going to be held responsible for the money he received.

Time for your wife to have a serious sit down with your mother in law. Sorry.

Skuzzanator · #9 09-01-2009, 02:30 PM

Looks like we have our work cut out for us

Thank you all for the help and all of your insight.

sevalc · #10 10-16-2009, 01:37 AM

You might as well send them a letter stating to stop contacting you and that you refuse to pay and take your chances in court. For that amount of money they certainly will take it to court if you dont pay and even if you get a bad outcome its probably better to get it now.