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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
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    1

    Default How to Dispute a Debt for Tuition After Withdrawing from a College

    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Georgia

    I left Art Institute Atlanta after the fall semester ended in 2009. This was in December 2009. I didn't just drop out, I went through all the procedures to withdraw legitimately. I lived in the same address for a year afterwards before moving to a new house. I never received a final invoice for any tuition fees due. My tuition was handled through student loans.

    I took a look at my credit report on Friday, November 6th (2015) and noticed that there was a deliquency of $1800 owed. It brought my credit score down by 30 points! I was furious! It was brought on by Williams & Fudge (horrible name) with Art Institute stamped on it. So I called W&F immediately and asked them what this was about. I could never get a clear answer. She said it might have to do with the school not getting a refund for the government for my unused semester. This is impossible since I finished the semester. I made sure to say repeatedly that I had no knowledge of this debt and I had not see anything from Art Institute even during the year when they had my current address. I was rather upset and ranted about how they ruined my credit score. The woman on the phone actually laughed at that.

    So it ended with them planning to call me back today at 11am to talk out a settlement and a payment plan.

    After getting off the phone, I immediately sent a dispute request to the credit agencies (both online and faxed to their fax numbers) and started doing some research.

    First of all, if this debt is real, it's almost six years old. I would think that Art Institute would have given up or charged this debt off by now. So I have a feeling AI isn't even involved at this point.

    Second, if this debt came up when I withdrew, then statute of limitations is coming up in December. This would most likely be some sort of tuition bill.

    Last, this delinquency on my credit report reared it's head right after I secured a mortgage and bought a new house. So if this debt IS real, then this smells like a parking debt situation.

    I've already made up my mind not to send them a cent until they can send me all the documentation surrounding this debt and prove that I owe it. When they call, I'll make sure they understand that I'll be sending a certified letter asking for verification.

    Any advice? Should I contact Art Institute and ask them about a possible debt that's almost six years old?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: W and F Comes at Me for a Debt I Had No Knowledge of

    You might want to look at this:

    http://petapixel.com/2011/09/02/us-g...billion-fraud/

    And this:

    https://goodbyeloans.com/2015/05/the...ess-available/

    You also might want to google Art Institute Atlanta student loan fraud. There is more out there.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: W and F Comes at Me for a Debt I Had No Knowledge of

    It appears the debt is being collected by a collection agency. You have a number of rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in dealing with the creditor. You may inform the collection agency in writing that you dispute the debt and demand verification of the debt. The creditor must then cease communication with you about the debt until the verification is provided. You may also write the collector and tell them you refuse to pay and to cease contacting you about the debt. If you do that, the collector may only contact you to inform of you actions it is taking to collect the debt (e.g. informing you it is filing a lawsuit, etc). Nothing in the Act prevents the collector or creditor from suing you for a judgment on the debt. Nothing in this Act helps with the credit score problem.

    Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act you may dispute the reported debt with the credit bureaus. They must then investigate and remove the item from the report if the debt cannot be validated. Note that it doesn't take much to satisfy the validation requirement.

    While llworking linked some information alleging fraud by this chain of schools, it is not clear that whatever debt this might be has anything to do with those fraud claims. Indeed, you are not sure yourself what the claimed debt is. Until you know what it is that they say is the debt it is really not possible to say if you really owe it or have any defense should they sue you over it.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: W and F Comes at Me for a Debt I Had No Knowledge of

    The reason why my first thought was some kind of fraud on the part of the school, was because of the timeline the OP described.

    Tuition is paid at the beginning of a semester and financial aid is permanently released by sources about 2-3 weeks into the semester, after the period where one can withdraw and receive a tuition refund. Once financial aid is permanently released, even if the student drops out for the rest of the semester, the financial aid stands. In this instance the OP finished the semester and withdrew formally from the school. Therefore there is almost no chance that any financial aid could have been taken back.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: W and F Comes at Me for a Debt I Had No Knowledge of

    Quote Quoting llworking
    View Post

    Tuition is paid at the beginning of a semester and financial aid is permanently released by sources about 2-3 weeks into the semester, after the period where one can withdraw and receive a tuition refund. Once financial aid is permanently released, even if the student drops out for the rest of the semester, the financial aid stands. In this instance the OP finished the semester and withdrew formally from the school. Therefore there is almost no chance that any financial aid could have been taken back.
    That’s one possibility. But even the collector wasn’t evidently sure of the details of the debt (not all that surprising if the school simply sold off the debt to a debt collector) so at the moment it could be all sorts of things. The OP needs to pin down what it is before agreeing to pay anything in case it is bogus, of course, especially considering the problems that have been alleged with these particular schools.

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