Perkins loan..advice needed.

[roseblanch]

Hi everyone..I just learned of a Perkins loan I supposedly have in default and need advice. I stopped attending college in 2002. I went in default on my student loans and my wages were garnished, tax refunds held etc. Through the wage garnishment I paid in full in approx 2009. I remember being overjoyed and them even mailing me a refund of a small overpayment. Fast forward to last few years, paying off all debts and rebuilding my credit. I paid off all negs, prime credit territory and we just closed on our first home in March 2019. FHA loan. Things are good. So like a week ago, I attempted to get my college transcipt and get a prompt to call collection office. The collection office tells me that I owe 9k from a perkins loan and that they took me to court in 2006, said they served me in 2006 at an address i didnt live at. I was 100% unaware of this, there is nothing, never has been, anything about this loan on my credit. I mentioned FHA for our mortgage bc I read you wouldn't be eligible for FHA w a Perkins in default. I'm so confused..wasn't this paid w my garnishment? If they already got a default judgement, can anything else happen to me?? Please help..sorry for the long post. Any advice is much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

This unfortunately sounds like the difference in having a loan then and having a loan now. There were far less resources then to tell the actual status of your loan, etc. Some parts of this sounds really sketchy, such as the fact that they took you to court supposedly. I don't know if Perkins loans are different, but there is no need for the federal government (or any agency acting in their behalf) to take you to court, get a judgement or serve you. They have special power to enforce the debt, as you've already seen.
If it were me, I'd go back and reconstruct everything so I could see the full picture. Put together any and all paperwork you can get on all your loans. Statements, bills, receipts, correspondence, anything.
I'd start with going to the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS) website. This will last all your federal loans, and the status. You'll be able to see what's been paid off and what's in default. You can also check the gov student loans website and save any information from there.
Until then, if this is correct you'll be blocked from getting your transcripts. I don't think you'll be able to get a FHA loan because you won't clear CAIVRS. So hopefully this can be resolved easily.
Sorry you are going through this.
Check those websites (let me know if you need links) and update us here so we can help you further.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like she just closed on her house with an FHA loan two months ago, so that is another tricky thing. Because like Sabii said, you wouldn’t have cleared the system and been allowed to close (assuming a Perkin’s loan is no different than any other federal loan in this regard).

In addition to what Sabii said, I would contact the financial aid or student accounts office at the school you attended, explain what is going on, and see if you can get an itemized list of your loans for each term, the amount owed, and the date it was dispersed. You can compare that info to what is in the NSLDS and go from there.

I would also do a court records search for the county you lived in where they allegedly served you and took you to court. There should be a record listed with you as the defendant. If there is no records website, try calling the court clerk and see if s/he can look you up. If they opened a case there would be a record of that!

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I dropped the ball on this. If you already got a FHA loan then I highly doubt it's what the collection agency says it is. The only thing I can think of is maybe they were transferring it to a different servicer? Which doesn't make sense because it would still be in the database. I'm at a loss.
The NSLDS should also list what collection agency it's with. Sometimes it's behind but you can contact the agency listed and sometimes they can tell you who it's with.
Perkins loans are a bit different it turns out.
"Consequences of Defaulting on Perkins Loans

The consequences of defaulting on a Perkins Loan are similar to the consequences of defaulting on other federal education loans, but there are two key differences:

The collection charges on Perkins Loans are higher, in part because loan balances tend to be lower. Collection costs on a first collection attempt may be up to 30 percent of the amount applied to principal, interest and late charges (i.e., up to about 23% of the total payment). Collection costs on a second collection attempt may be up to 40 percent of the amount applied to principal, interest and late charges (i.e., up to about 28.5% of the total payment). Collection costs resulting from litigation may be up to 40 percent of the amount applied to principal, interest and late charges, plus court costs.
There is no statutory authority for garnishing the borrower’s wages administratively. Instead, the federal government may garnish the borrower’s wages after suing the borrower and getting a court judgment against the borrower."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.edvisors.com/college-loans/terms/default-federal/%3fgoogle=amp
If they already collected on some of your loans they already had one judgement. Could it be possible they divided them up when they went to court? Could there possibly be try different judgements? Excellent advice from Superawesomewow on how to find this information.
Another possibility is that you just owe the school fees or a private loan. The NSLDS results will at least reveal if it's a federal loan.

[roseblanch]

Thank you very much the info and replies. Much appreciated. I'm a little scared to go check that site, that I will be stirring a hornet's nest.

[Anonymous]

You're welcome.
The NSLDS is just a database. It contains the information on your loans. I has no connection with anything else despite being a government website. If you went on the student loan gov website and you updated your information that would be a different story. This is harmless.