I took out a student loan in 1992. Yes, I was stupid like a lot of people and defaulted on it. TSAC was the guarantor. They garnished my IRS refunds from 2000-2002 and got their money. I was relieved to be rid of the matter. Six years later, I get a letter, not from TSAC, but from a COLLECTION AGENCY, telling me I owe TSAC $178.80. I get in touch with TSAC and they tell me it's for other fees that had to do with collecting the money and it's something they are not allowed to get from the IRS. They tell me they cannot prove it on paper because the agency that charged THEM the fees is one they no longer deal with. Instead they send me what appears to be a computer print-screen that shows the charges, dated in 1996 and 1997.
My first question to them is why didn't they tell me in 2002? I became disabled in 2002 and had to declare bankruptcy in 2003 and would have included this charge in my bankruptcy. Why did it take them six years when they had my address the entire time, and why did they not send me a letter or bill themselves instead of going immediately through a collection agency? No answer.
Well, I found out why. They had reported this debt to Experian Credit Bureau in 1995. Experian contacted them in 2005 because they had not updated the account in 10 years. In 2005 TSAC themselves told Experian that my account balance is ZERO. From the paperwork TSAC sent me, all monies, the loan principal, interest, and all penalties and fees are under the same account.
So I have a copy of my credit report that I myself ran last November and which shows that TSAC reported the debt cleared in August of 2005. The reason they sent this other debt straight to collection is because once you report a debt paid, you cannot report old debt under the same business name and account. A collection agency can report it under THEIR name though, and this is what TSAC was threatening to do. I called Experian Credit Bureau and explained and they said that if TSAC or the credit bureau (Regional Adjustment Bureau, Inc) reported this old debt, I can certainly use my copy of my credit report to successfully dispute the debt and have it removed.
Experian was completely astonished that TSAC would even try to do this. They recommended I contact the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs. They also pointed me to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which states that TSAC may not report negative information that is more than seven years old. Since TSAC claims this debt occurred in 1996 and 1997, it is more than 10 years old now.
I am getting threatening phone calls and letters from Regional Adjustment Credit Bureau. How they got my phone number I'll never know. TSAC will not return calls or answer letters. TSAC, since their hands are tied by the fact that they reported the debt as paid in 2005 (to clarify, the debt was paid off in 2002, TSAC didn't report it until 2005, when Experian asked them about it - they never voluntarily reported), so TSAC used one of its sister companies, Guarantec, to check my credit and noted that they were checking my credit for a student loan. This shows up on my credit report to the public. In the first place, for Guarantec to report they were checking my credit for the purpose of a student loan is a lie, because I have not applied for one. I consider this outright fradulent access to my credit report. The only way they could legitimately use that as an excuse to check my credit is if they are the guarantor of the loan, or a collection agency for it, which they are not.
I'm trying to buy a house this fall and the last thing I need on my credit report is for some stupid student loan company to put a black mark on it. What's more, if they do not drop this, it may affect my daughter's chances to go to college. TSAC is also the manager of the HOPE scholarship program (state lottery for education) in Tennessee, and she will need this scholarship to go to college. After my discussion with Experian, I asked them to mark this account as closed (since it's status still reads open even though the balance has been zero for 6 years). Experian sent me paperwork that showed both that the balance was reported as zero by TSAC in 2005 and that I reported the account as closed. I sent a copy of this report with a letter from me to TSAC and cc'd the Collection Agency. But they still will not drop the matter. They have even looked up my ex-husband of 14 years and bugged HIM about it! How do I get these people off my back??
