Hello, I hope someone will be able to give me some advice regarding collections of a debt after bankruptcy.

1994 - I attended a college in Oregon, and left after only 1 term.
1997 - Chapter 7 'no asset' bankruptcy
2008 - I have been contacted by Williams & Fudge regarding a 1994 debt to the college for the sum of about $4800.

I have contacted my original bankruptcy attorney about this, but she said it would cost $1000-$2500+ for me to use her services, which I definitely cannot afford, so I am hoping to be able to take care of this issue myself.

I had read that in the Ninth Circuit (which includes Oregon) that a Chapter 7 'no asset' bankruptcy does not require a creditor to be listed for the debt to be discharged, if the debt would have been dischargeable had the creditor been listed in the bankruptcy.

So here are my questions:

- Would this qualify as being automatically discharged? This is not a school loan, but tuition fees, meal plan, dorm housing, etc, that the college has charged to me. I had listed one of my other college loans in the bankruptcy, and have paid off the other, but this other debt is different.

- I want to file a dispute letter on grounds of my bankruptcy, and for a SOL, which in Oregon is 6 years. How would I go about writing this? I have seen a number of sample letters, but none involve both, and I want to make sure to do this right so it doesn't bite me later. From what I understand, I have 30 days to file a letter of dispute, but I only have about 14 days left to do so, so I am starting to get into panic mode.

- If the agency tries to take me to court, would it be an Oregon court since that is where I attended college, or would it be in Florida, where I currently reside?

- Would the laws/rules/etc regarding my bankruptcy and my debt go by what was in effect in 1997, when I filed, or would they go by what is in place now?


Thank you very much for any help you can provide!

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If this was a public school, the debt would be nondischargable.

There is no SOL on public or non profit school debts.

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Thank you very much for your reply SOAPLADY.

Yes, the college is a public school.

I just read something similar to what you said, but it is still a bit confusing to me...

Even though I did not actually sign into a student loan, my debt to the college is still treated as a student loan and is non-dischargeable?

I had thought that basically any non federal student loan was dischargeable, or is that how this type of tuition based debt is treated?

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Ok, I have combed through so many articles and posts that my head is spinning.

I am still confused by whether an public tuition debt is dischargeable or not, since I have read accounts saying yes and no, especially since this happened so long ago and rules have changed.

I did have two federal loans, but they have both been paid off (2000), and I have a letter giving evidence of satisfaction and that I am clear apply for future Title IV loans.

I also looked up my college's financial guidelines and came across this:

(pdf)
OSBHE FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION STANDARD OPERATING MANUAL
Section 06.25 COLLECTIONS AND WRITE-OFFS (Last Revised 03/93)
C LEGAL COLLECTION EFFORTS AND BANKRUPTCY

"... Institutions must comply with federal regulations concerning bankrupt debtors. No collection efforts may be made while a bankruptcy case is pending. Institutions should file proofs-of-claim on all Chapter 11 and 13 cases, and those Chapter 7 cases with assets. Cases requiring motions, such as for relief of stay, objections to plans, dismissal of case, etc., must be forwarded to the Credit and Bankruptcy Section of the Department of Justice. Institutions should promptly write off receivables discharged in bankruptcy and immediately resume collection efforts on receivables not discharged."

Also, I recently looked at my Equifax credit report and found this listing, by a different company:

RC Services Inc
Loan Type: Open Account
Remark: placed for collection
Date placed for cllection: [10/2002]
Estimated date that this ietm will be removed: 08/2009
Balance: $2,352
Date Updated: 12/2002
Original Balance: $2,299
Original Creditor: (***college***)
Past Due: $0
Pay Status; Collection Account
Account Type: Open Account
Responsibility: Individual Account

I have two questions I would love to find some answers to:

1) What does the information in the credit report listing mean?

2) Is this college tuition debt cleared through my bankruptcy, as it sounds like the OSBHE guidelines in force in 1994 say an institution has to abide by a bankruptcy?

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Public school debt whether it be tuition or housing is generally considered public debt....debt to the state.

Schools have to abide by the BK laws in terms of the stay...but if this was deemed non dischargeable, collections resume. You might wanna call the school directly and talk to the financial collections department there.

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