Tuition Debt...Filing BK...CAN I GET MY TRANSCRIPTS?

[JFelix]

Hey All!!....I live on Ohio..(just in case the state matters)...Okay, so here is the deal..I went to a college for 1 week...but I didn't officially drop out...in the week I was there I received grants and sub and unsub loans...I had every intention of staying until I heard some comments being made about me from 2 of my professors...I was so pissed I stormed out of that school and never returned...this was in 2008...I have been going to a different college since then but I wanted to transfer to a community college so that I can get into a nursing program....So naturally I had to order transcripts...Upon ordering them the college that I attended for a week told me I owed a balance and they would not give me my transcripts...this was the 1st time i heard about this...EVER!!! However...They sent my loans back but i guess because I never withdrew properly by the time they found out I had not been there...I was unable to keep the loans..but I was able to keep the grants...but the college is charging me tuition for the time i was there until the "official drop date" which was a month later...Now here is the issue...I need those transcripts and I am planning to file BK...I want to put them on there but they claim that I signed a promissory note with the college and that it is a education loan even though it is not a loan at all...Does this matter? Can I still get them discharged on BK and receive my transcripts??? On top of that...They are sending me to collections....Now this is another question I have...seeing as though they are sending me to collections...doesn't that null and void any agreement I had with the college? considering it is sent to another party...wouldn't this allow me to put them on BK..get them discharged and then go and get my transcripts...Please help me!! any advice would help!!! the lawyers i spoke to said i could put them on BK and get them discharged but I forgot about the supposed promissory note i signed with the college!

[thereshope]

Hi JFelix, Welcome,
Student Loans aren't necessarily dischargeable (mine wasn't). But, it sounds like your issue is that the college sent the sub, unsub student loans back but is charging for tuition because you didn't properly drop the classes. You should discuss with your BK attorney specifically to determine whether the debt is dischargeable. It may be that dischargeable debt you can get the transcripts but undischargeable you can't, depending on the bankruptcy code and case law for your state.

[JFelix]

Okay...Yeah...it isn't a loan at all...it is a tuition debt...and how they came to even be able to charge me is still not being explained to me where it makes sense...if anything...i should have been charged for the money i used...but the amount they are charging me is the same amount as the loans they returned to financial aid...its really weird....I still need more advice on this...so I can have an idea of what the BK lawyers are going to tell me! Thanks Thereshope!

[keepmine]

Prehaps this thread will help.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=58015

[Exployer1234]

I would first contact the bursar's office of that school to see if the hold can be lifted just to transfer your transcripts. If you did not withdrawel properly then you still may be held accountable for the balance.

With schools it is all in the paperwork. You have to officially withdrawal from the courses. Otherwise it will even say on your transcript WF (withdrawal fail). Which means you did not properly withdrawal from the course. I know this seems confusing, but I have a couple of things on my transcript that are similar from 10 years ago.

As for getting the debt discharged I would first discuss with your attorney on what the chances are since you did not properly withdrawal from the courses. Since you did not actually attend the class then, you should not be charged, but then again if you did not follow their "proper steps" you may be stuck with the debt.

I can tell you something funny about the school I just graduated from...I asked to have my transcripts forwarded to the new school I am attending in the fall. The college I was graduating from stated they could not release my transcript because my address is invalid. I said that is funny because I have lived here for 6 years. So after 1 hour of back and forth I had to fill out an address change with my "new" address. My "new" address was the same as my "old" address. I had to laugh at that one!

[JFelix]

I would first contact the bursar's office of that school to see if the hold can be lifted just to transfer your transcripts. If you did not withdrawel properly then you still may be held accountable for the balance.

With schools it is all in the paperwork. You have to officially withdrawal from the courses. Otherwise it will even say on your transcript WF (withdrawal fail). Which means you did not properly withdrawal from the course. I know this seems confusing, but I have a couple of things on my transcript that are similar from 10 years ago.

As for getting the debt discharged I would first discuss with your attorney on what the chances are since you did not properly withdrawal from the courses. Since you did not actually attend the class then, you should not be charged, but then again if you did not follow their "proper steps" you may be stuck with the debt.

I can tell you something funny about the school I just graduated from...I asked to have my transcripts forwarded to the new school I am attending in the fall. The college I was graduating from stated they could not release my transcript because my address is invalid. I said that is funny because I have lived here for 6 years. So after 1 hour of back and forth I had to fill out an address change with my "new" address. My "new" address was the same as my "old" address. I had to laugh at that one!

Okay...I will surely look into all of that...Thanks for the advice...and as far as the change of address thing...WHAT?!!!! Did they or did they not look like idiots!! It's things like that, that you have to choose to laugh at even though the time wasted is frustrating!

[Exployer1234]

Oh they did have to do a double look at the address, but they said they would enter the "new information". I said well have fun with that since it will be the same thing as before. I would not stress to much, it will all work out!

[JFelix]

Oh they did have to do a double look at the address, but they said they would enter the "new information". I said well have fun with that since it will be the same thing as before. I would not stress to much, it will all work out!

Oh okay...lol....I have been a little but I believe it will work out...thanks!

[JFelix]

Okay...Another Question!!!

Don't mean to be a bother...but it's like the more I think about this situation the more questions I come up with...I wish it wasn't on the weekend cause then I can just ask my lawyer....However...Seeing as though my tuition debt is supposedly being sent to collections...If I put that collections company onto my BK case...and it gets discharged..How will the college find out about it and what will it say..meaning: will is say BANKRUPTCY DISCHARGED or something like that or will it just say RESOLVED....Just really curious about this...I just want to make sure if the debt it discharged..I can go and get my transcripts...I have a really huge problem playing for something that I did not use...I wasn't even there! regardless of me not dropping properly...

[dumpinmydebt]

So naturally I had to order transcripts...Upon ordering them the college that I attended for a week told me I owed a balance and they would not give me my transcripts...this was the 1st time i heard about this...EVER!!! However...They sent my loans back but i guess because I never withdrew properly by the time they found out I had not been there...I was unable to keep the loans..but I was able to keep the grants...but the college is charging me tuition for the time i was there until the "official drop date" which was a month later...Now here is the issue...I need those transcripts and I am planning to file BK...I want to put them on there but they claim that I signed a promissory note with the college and that it is a education loan even though it is not a loan at all...Does this matter?

First, you have to pay back the Pell grant you received. If you do not pay them back, you will not be eligible for aid at the new school you want to go to.

As far as whether or not tuition can be discharged, you will need to ask your attorney. I've heard that since you signed a promissory note, even though the loans were sent back, the school can consider the amount owed as a loan. But I've also heard that is not true. So you need to check with your attorney.

They can hold your transcripts as ransom. But once your BK is discharged (if their debt can be included), they must release those transcripts.

Oh and a debt going to another party for collections does not "null and void" any agreement you may or may not have had with the college.

Last, off topic. What area of Ohio are you going to nursing school in? My wife is attending a nursing school at a community college (with a nasty 2-3 year waitlist). We are in the Cincy area.

[JFelix]

First, you have to pay back the Pell grant you received. If you do not pay them back, you will not be eligible for aid at the new school you want to go to.

As far as whether or not tuition can be discharged, you will need to ask your attorney. I've heard that since you signed a promissory note, even though the loans were sent back, the school can consider the amount owed as a loan. But I've also heard that is not true. So you need to check with your attorney.

They can hold your transcripts as ransom. But once your BK is discharged (if their debt can be included), they must release those transcripts.

Oh and a debt going to another party for collections does not "null and void" any agreement you may or may not have had with the college.

Last, off topic. What area of Ohio are you going to nursing school in? My wife is attending a nursing school at a community college (with a nasty 2-3 year waitlist). We are in the Cincy area.

See! That is the part that I do not understand....Why can't I just pay back the money that I borrowed which is only about $1000 vs paying like $4000...$4000 that I didn't even benefit from AT ALL....I am so annoyed by this...I can completely understand paying what I used but to pay for what I didn't and it was returned is ridiculous to me...The financial aid department told me that the reason I was able to keep the grants was because they say they didn't find out about my withdrawal until a month later...So it was in enough time to keep my grants but not in enough time to not send my loans back...causing me to i guess have to pay...But I feel like that is so freaking unfair...I wonder if I can work out something with the college...I really shouldn't have to pay for something I had no use of!!! Ughh!

And for your "Off Topic" Question....I am in Cleveland...The community college I plan to go to has a session every Fall semester!!! Ohio State has a nursing program and they have like 4 locations...Columbus...Lima...Marion and I think like 2 more locations...you might want to look into those

[Exployer1234]

How much money from the loan did you actually keep? If you did not attend school, but kept the loan that means you still have to pay it back. I am guessing that is what happen. If you kept 4000 dollars, but did not go to school and did not give any money back when you figured you were not going to school then that is the amount you owe, plus interest on the loan.

If you signed a promissory note then it is considered a student loan and not a tuition debt and it will be hard to get that discharged.

A friend of mine 8 years ago had the same thing happen. He has been paying the school 20 dollars per month and it will finally be paid back this year. He has not been able to have his transcripts until the money is paid back.

[Exployer1234]

I just read about you giving some money back. My next question is the school charging you interest on the loan? I would look on your loan papers and see if the school actually is classifying this as a strafford loan or another type of student loan. To me it does not sound like a tuition debt.

[JFelix]

THEY SENT THE LOANS BACK...ALL OF THEM...I DID NOT KEEP $4000 IN LOAN MONEY...The only amount that was not sent back was $74.00 and that is deferred until 2015... that is the only loan amount that I have to pay back from going to that college is $74.00...The money they are wanting me to pay is not a LOAN it is a TUITION DEBT...I spoke to financial services and that is what they told me...That it was not a loan but a tuition debt...This is why it's so damn confusing to me...It's not a loan...I was only there 1 week...I think that there are somethings that just aren't adding up...and it's aggravating me!!!

[Exployer1234]

I would fight then. If you gave all the money back and kept nothing, then there is nothing that should be paid to them. I would go up to that school and speak with them about this. If they refuse to hear your side go see the president of the school. I would bring all your paperwork and explain that you will be seeking an attorney for the help to have this reversed.

Even though you did not withdrawal correctly, the money was sent back and nothing is owed. I would pay the 74.00 dollars, but not a cent more if it was me.

Believe me I know how frustrating schools can be. I am in my 30's and still in school. The new university I am attending in the fall seems to have a different person for every thing. I am still trying to get my financial aid for the fall. I have been going back and forth with the school since January.

Like I said I would go up their and personally speak to someone if I was in your situation. There is no money owed if you gave all the money back.