School, loans and going back to school

[Ankornawestru12]

Several years ago I attended a college for one semester that ended horribly. I later got my undergrad degree somewhere else. I now want to go to graduate school. Unfortunately I let my dad handle that pesky loan from college #1 and it long ago was charged off. I should have been more responsible but I had no clue about finances. The problem is my potential grad programs are requiring all transcripts which I obviously can't provide since they won't release accounts with a balance. For the first time I can actually pay the nearly $9000 bill but it will wipe me out half my savings. The even bigger problem is I don't know where this loan is. Neither my dad nor I has any idea of where it is. I am obviously concerned about my credit too and feel dumb for letting one semester alter my entire future in bad ways.

What can I do? All I know is it was likely a private loan (it doesn't come up with my other federal loans) and it was transferred years ago to a collection agency. I am stuck trying to get away from jobs that are just above the poverty level but I don't know what to do about this.

[SCF]

Do you owe money to the school or to a lender?

A defaulted private loan won't put a hold on your account with a school, they got their money when the loan was disbursed to them on your behalf.  The party looking for the money after disbursement would be the lender.

Have you contacted the school and asked them to clarify what you owe and who you should pay to remove the hold on your account?

[Rikku]

I am also confused. I see a couple potential issues:

1) If the school is refusing to release your transcripts, then you owe money directly to the school. Have you verified with the school that they will not release your transcript, or are you assuming? If you have not verified this with the school, call them. Schools do not normally refuse to release transcripts due to SL default (they've already been paid), but they DO refuse to release transcripts if you owe THEM money, even if it's a very small amount like a library fee. If you do owe the school money, it might have nothing to do with the SL. To resolve it, call the school and find out what you owe and how to pay it. Once you've paid, they'll release your transcripts.

2) Are you sure that the SL was a private loan? If you went to your school's financial aid office, I'm sure they would have advised you of federal loans. There is a website where you can look up your federal SLs - I'm sure someone here can tell you the exact website, or try googling 'national student loan database'. If it is a federal loan, it can be rehabilitated. There is a lot of info here on the rehab process.

3) If it is a private loan, does it appear on your CR? Or your dad's, if he cosigned?