What one is suing me and should I pay them anything at all?
Date: Wed, 01/26/2011 - 17:30
In 2007 I enrolled in classes at a community college. I applied for and was awarded a pell grant and both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. My first semester all went well and both the grant and loans were disbursed. My second semester I dropped all of my classes. Because of that, the other half of my grant and both loans were never disbursed to pay the school for that semester.
I moved and didn't change my address with the school (because I was not going to be a student again) therefor never received the notices they sent. I was not aware of any of this until the state confiscated my state taxes in 2009. Again in 2010.
The school is claiming that they gave me a check for over $4700 based on the assumption that all of that money would be fully covered by the grants and loans. It was not. Now the school wants their money back and they also want $1,800 in tuition and costs for that semester because I dropped my classes after the drop/add date.
I was willing to pay them back, admitting that I did owe them something. The problem is just how much. Three different people gave me three different numbers when I went to the school. I argued that I shouldn't have to pay tuition again because I had used the money I was given to pay for the tuition the first time. I called an ombudsman with the federal aid office and he investigated and gave me yet another number. So now there were five different amounts of the debt being argued and no one could agree.
Fast forward to yesterday when a summons was slipped under my door. It states that I am the defendant and the plaintiff is "Central Collections Service, Division of Finance and Procurement, State of Colorado as agent for Front Range Community College, an agency of the state of Colorado."
It states that the attorneys for plaintiff are Machol & Johannes, LLC. There is no case number and it is not signed by the court. I called the court and no such case exists as of today. So I did some digging and it seems that these Machol & Johannes guys actually buy these debts for very little and then go after people in court for the full amount and outrageous fees. There was not one good thing said about them. Hundreds of posts calling them fraudulent scumbags who have several suits filed against them for fraud, unethical collections practices and harassment. They also have an F rating with the BBB.
They want $5,500 plus a collections cost of $1,400. Yikes...
Here are my questions:
Who exactly is suing me?
Should I respond and if so how?
So did they buy the debt from the school and are now coming after me for it in court
or are they just representing the school?
Would that money be considered a student loan and if so are there any special legalities associated with collecting student loans?
Any advice would be very appreciated on this one because I am a waitress, I make $4.85 an hour, I don't own anything and right now I have a whole $25 in my bank account. I'm pretty scared...
Something doesn't sound quite right here. It is definitely a me
Something doesn't sound quite right here. It is definitely a mess and you have every right to know exactly what you owe and what for. From what you typed it seems as if this Central Collection Service is the one suing you and using M&J to sue with. I looked up CCS and CO gov lists them as a collection agency that handles various state agencies and schools. It sounds like a private debt to the school itself, otherwise it would have been taken from the tax returns like the loans were.
You need to know for sure who owns the debt and the specifics about the debt itself...it will be interesting to see if they can provide any of that since it seems the school couldn't even properly figure out what was owed and for what.
Try calling CCS and give them your name and the last four digits of your social and verify they are the holders of the debt. Do not let them rope you into a conversation...simply confirm if they hold the account. If they do, get the account number and their mailing address. Then you hang up...even if you have to hang up ON them. DO NOT let them rope you into a conversation.
THEN you send CCS a debt validation letter. Keep an eagle eye on your county court to see what is happening. Curious....does your summons say where to file the answer?
If they don't know what you are talking about, then it must be M&J and I would complain very loudly to all authorities you can think of and send the M&J a DV letter, a VERY strongly worded DV letter.
Either way you will find out exactly how much you owe (if any) by forcing them to prove it either through the DV or discovery in court.
Do you remember getting a check from the college? I find that very strange because I was just recently in school and the financial aid does not give out money before your grants/loans come in....I have NEVER heard of them doing that! They only disperse the money once they have it,.
Oh...are you the same poster from the other thread? If so can we keep all the posts here from now on so nothing gets lost between the other posts and sometimes I have "duh" moments. :rolleyes:
I guess Machol & Johannes is a junk debt collector (JDC). if the
I guess Machol & Johannes is a junk debt collector (JDC). if the summons does not have a case number and if the court has informed you that there is no such case, then I guess it was an hoax attempt on their behalf to get back the dues. In my opinion, you should contact an attorney and take his help in this matter. He will go through the papers and let you know what you need to do in this case.
Ohh I definitely agree! It sounds like this M&J are true pieces
Ohh I definitely agree! It sounds like this M&J are true pieces of work. They sure need to be *itch slapped by a lawyer....but the OP is on a very limited budget....but perhaps find one on contingency? Pro Bono? Something needs to be done. A fake summons is just lower then low...they can sue if they have legal grounds to do so.,..so why fake one?
I third that, that's underhanded and deceptive and actually may
I third that, that's underhanded and deceptive and actually may be barratry as they are attempting to use the power of the court as their own without actually going to court. Think I mispelled barratry, so sue me, lol.
You've probably heard about, I forget the firm(s) name, in the East I believe, they actually had fake courts set up, that's taking it a step farther, bad boys. ;) Yeah, I found this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXCUI2-qJi0
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FznZGUT4QA"][/URL]
Yes. I am the same girl from the other thread. Thank you for all
Yes. I am the same girl from the other thread. Thank you for all of your help! I will give them a call first thing on Monday. This whole site has been very helpful, I've been finding a lot of information on these M&J guys. They're pretty evil.
