Owe money to college and need transcripts

[somnolence]

Hi again. I owe about 750$ to the college I previously graduated from with an A.A., though I think it has been sent to collections by now. I am thinking about transferring to another school in the next year or so to complete a bachelor's program. My previous school won't release the transcripts until the debt is paid. If I file chapter 7, how will that affect the debt with the school? Will it be effectively erased or will I have to affirm it and pay it in order to release my transcripts? thanks.

[juststupid]

I hope someone knows the answer to this. I have the same problem.

[wrinkleigh]

They can maintain the hold on your account, but, if you file ch 7, the school MUST release a copy of your transcript. Failure to do so violates the automatic stay.

They will argue with you, and you probably will need to go higher than the person you are talking to, say department director, or even Vice President of Administrative Services (some schools also call this VP Business and Finance).

Good luck to you.

[lrprn]

At this point, each university and college implements its own policy regarding non-payment of fees, and refusal to issue transcripts until the fee is paid is a typical consequence. If you need the transcript now, it's not likely you can get it without paying the $750 you owe.

If you are filing soon and can wait to start school again until after your case is discharged, you can include this debt on your creditor list. Just be sure to find out from your lawyer (or ask during your free consultations with bk lawyers in your area) if your bankruptcy district will discharge student fees owed. There have been rare challenges in a few districts with the university going to court stating that student fees fall under the same protection for student loans and are also non-dischargeable. It's a murky area of the law right now, so do find out where you stand.

[cso5@]

"Fee" or old tuition?

Hi,
I am in somewhat the same boat, only I am in a 13.
The college I owe the $$ to was listed in the creditor matrix, as an unsecured creditor, and they did not file a claim.

Whoo hoo, I thought.

But no. My whoo hoo was short lived.

When checking into it further, they did not need to file a claim, because what I owed was for old tuition, which is a de facto "student loan" and was therefore not dischargeable.

I owe about $650, and it would cost more to hire a lawyer and fight it than to just pay. It's a private college, so they can just say, too bad -- maybe it would be different with a state school.

AND, the worst part is, since I am in a 13, I can't just <<somehow, somehow>>> <<someday, someday>>> scrape up the money and pay them and finish my stupid degree -- because they were part of the case, that would be paying them differently than the rest of the creditors, which I guess is a no - no.

So it will be delayed until the end of my 13, almost 4 years from now!

Grrr.

Hope this helps, and this is what I have found out in NY.

Cat

[somnolence]

Thanks everyone. I don't need transcripts right now, but I wanted to make sure I'd still have the option of getting them if I do decide to finish school. I suppose I can just include them in the discharge and then if they decide to push the issue it would not be too late to just pay it back at that point. It's not money I have, but if that is what it takes to get back into school and I decide that I really want to go then I'm sure I can work it out somehow.