Complaint Review: Van Ru Credit - Des Plaines Illinois

Vanessa, 1. You said you are in financial means to help your mother. Have you checked with other siblings or relatives? 2. Assuming a debt was taken care of did not erase the debt or the consequences of non payment of the debt. Your Mother signed a contract, It was her responsibility to be certain the debt was taken care of. 3. She can't work more hours in order to pay a qualified payment on her defaulted student loan because she doesn't want her Section 8 government payment to be affected. Not a very strong argument for not making required payments on a defaulted government debt but you apparently missed the irony of it. 4. Her disability problem which prevented her from taking the course she agreed to take when she signed for the loan doesn't alleviate her responsibility for the loan. The school was paid. The window of opportunity to contest the payment closed after seven years. 5. If her tax return was taken and not applied to her defaulted loan, she may have another forgotten federal debt which offset her refund. It generally takes about 6 weeks for an offset to post to an account. Unless mom owes the IRS or has child support payments in arrears, the money should post to her defaulted student loan. 6. You are upset that, after many years of non-payment, the government requires a pre-determined percentage of the debt to avoid involuntary payroll offsets. Try to remember that your mother isn't the only citizen that is in default. The rules weren't put into place to keep her from making ends meet, they were put in place to recoup the funds she borrowed and promised to pay back. What is right is her promise to pay back the loan voluntarily. What's wrong is that she assumed the loan was paid yet somehow missed monthly letters informing her it wasn't. Student loans aren't government "entitlements" like Section 8. They must be repaid. 7. You came her seeking advice on how to dictate the terms on the amount of money your mother is required to pay on the loan she failed to pay years ago. I never said your were an ungrateful child, I merely suggested you attempt to help your mother pay the debt. If you feel you have a right to dictate the terms of the loan why not find another lender to pay off the debt for your mother and dictate the terms of repayment to that lender? Asking me to stay out of the discussion because the facts aren't what you hoped for isn't rational. This isn't about Van Ru. They are following the contractual terms they agreed to for collections on this government account. Shooting the messenger has never solved a problem. Perhaps you should go over mom's mail with her to be certain there aren't other forgotten bills.

To Christian, I understand your experience in this situation, #1. I am in no financial means to assist my mom #2. My mother had assumed that this debt was being taken care of, however she is making attempts to correct the problem, not running away from the situation. #3. She is not allowed to work more hours because she is Under Section 8. They have guidelines that they need to follow, just incase you didn't know. #4. I would get into the whole situation she was in, however somethings are very personal, she had a disability problem for her to take the education course. #5. We also found out that they have recently taken her Tax return, which she does not have a problem with. She asked that be credit to account, which they have refused...? after two weeks she has been on the phone, they say they wont credited her account, How is that possible? #6. I am upset as they way this company is handling it, yes understand its federal, so basically take as much as you can from someone who can't make ends meet, that is suppose to be right? #7. Its as though you indicate I am an ungrateful child, and not willing to assist, you don't know me, you have no idea who I am....For X-Employee, stay out of it...I have right to say what I need to say, as the others who are on here...as you are as well, but please this is for Van u credit Not you!! Stay out of it...

To Christian, I understand your experience in this situation, #1. I am in no financial means to assist my mom #2. My mother had assumed that this debt was being taken care of, however she is making attempts to correct the problem, not running away from the situation. #3. She is not allowed to work more hours because she is Under Section 8. They have guidelines that they need to follow, just incase you didn't know. #4. I would get into the whole situation she was in, however somethings are very personal, she had a disability problem for her to take the education course. #5. We also found out that they have recently taken her Tax return, which she does not have a problem with. She asked that be credit to account, which they have refused...? after two weeks she has been on the phone, they say they wont credited her account, How is that possible? #6. I am upset as they way this company is handling it, yes understand its federal, so basically take as much as you can from someone who can't make ends meet, that is suppose to be right? #7. Its as though you indicate I am an ungrateful child, and not willing to assist, you don't know me, you have no idea who I am....For X-Employee, stay out of it...I have right to say what I need to say, as the others who are on here...as you are as well, but please this is for Van u credit Not you!! Stay out of it...

To Christian, I understand your experience in this situation, #1. I am in no financial means to assist my mom #2. My mother had assumed that this debt was being taken care of, however she is making attempts to correct the problem, not running away from the situation. #3. She is not allowed to work more hours because she is Under Section 8. They have guidelines that they need to follow, just incase you didn't know. #4. I would get into the whole situation she was in, however somethings are very personal, she had a disability problem for her to take the education course. #5. We also found out that they have recently taken her Tax return, which she does not have a problem with. She asked that be credit to account, which they have refused...? after two weeks she has been on the phone, they say they wont credited her account, How is that possible? #6. I am upset as they way this company is handling it, yes understand its federal, so basically take as much as you can from someone who can't make ends meet, that is suppose to be right? #7. Its as though you indicate I am an ungrateful child, and not willing to assist, you don't know me, you have no idea who I am....For X-Employee, stay out of it...I have right to say what I need to say, as the others who are on here...as you are as well, but please this is for Van u credit Not you!! Stay out of it...

To Christian, I understand your experience in this situation, #1. I am in no financial means to assist my mom #2. My mother had assumed that this debt was being taken care of, however she is making attempts to correct the problem, not running away from the situation. #3. She is not allowed to work more hours because she is Under Section 8. They have guidelines that they need to follow, just incase you didn't know. #4. I would get into the whole situation she was in, however somethings are very personal, she had a disability problem for her to take the education course. #5. We also found out that they have recently taken her Tax return, which she does not have a problem with. She asked that be credit to account, which they have refused...? after two weeks she has been on the phone, they say they wont credited her account, How is that possible? #6. I am upset as they way this company is handling it, yes understand its federal, so basically take as much as you can from someone who can't make ends meet, that is suppose to be right? #7. Its as though you indicate I am an ungrateful child, and not willing to assist, you don't know me, you have no idea who I am....For X-Employee, stay out of it...I have right to say what I need to say, as the others who are on here...as you are as well, but please this is for Van u credit Not you!! Stay out of it...

Aaron, I did work for Van Ru. I don't anymore, but I am still "in" collections. (SLMA or Sallie Mae) The collection industry is one in which employees deal with people who have chosen to ignore their financial responsibilites for a long period of time. (Up to two years for Federal debts) While the IRS can place a lein against her mother's home, DOE cannot. Her mom's excuse for not paying her bill is that she thought her husband paid it and she missed all the letters sent to her explaining it was not paid. The conditions of her loan allowed for possible garnishment if the debt was not voluntarily paid. Her debt wasn't paid and she is currently living (Section 8) with the help of the same government she hasn't paid for many years despite her promise. The government files thousands of garnishments daily for non payment of education loans. Van Ru had an AWG department that did just that. Their contract with the government requires that they process garnnishment for those debtors who were employed and not paying.. and they were paid to do so. To suggest that garnishment is an idle threat is a cruel comfort to those who are avoiding their debt. Once it has begun, a promise of a $25.00 monthly voluntary payment will not make it go away. A garnishment can take up to 15% of total earnings weekly after tax deductions. According to the rules of the FDCPA, any action that is a possibility can be used in order to collect a debt. The possiblity of garnishment to an employed debtor is a clear and present danger, not "extreme intimidation" as you suggest. Suppressing this fact is cruel and unusual punishment Aaron. If indeed you ever worked collections on Federal debts you would understand that. Federal debts don't go away after 7 years, nor can they be included in bankruptcy Aaron. Unless a borrower is 100% disabled with a doctor's letter detailing why, the debt can be collected, in some cases from disability or SSI payments. The Supreme Court made a ruling on this situaion in December of 2005. A qualified monthly payment of a $9k debt would be 1.2% of the total or about $110.00 a month. Rather than suggesting the woman find a way for her mother to run away from the debt (she requested for her education), you might urge the daughter to help her mom meet the monthly payment in order to do the right thing. Perhaps helping her mom financially will cause a bond between them which is based more on respect rather than escape. That how we are supposed to raise our children. Your thoughts Aaron?

Van Ru uses hardcore collection tactics and they most certainly operate within the grey area of the FDCPA (Christian knows what I am talking about). I am a former collector and know the ins and outs of the business. Don't be intimidated by the collection tactics that associates of Van Ru, like Christian might use(ex-employee...ya right) If they file for garnishment both they and your mother will have to appear before a judge. I would advise you to prepare for this event. What you need to do is prepare a financial statement for your mother. Income and outgo, you need to display your mothers inability to make the requested payment, and why she only works part time. If your mother is really under financial duress like you say then more than likely a judge will allow you to make a $25 payment and deny the request for garnishment. They can however file a lien against your mothers home if she owns. If she does own, see if you state has a homestead act. This will prevent collectors from filing a lien and taking your home. Collectors like Christian don't want this information out because they have the best chance of getting you to pay by extreme intimidation when they really have little or no intention of ever filing a garnishment anyway. Good luck and godspeed

To the person that responed, so called EX-Employee, First of all that was the first notice that my mother recieved back on April 2006, she was not aware of actions they were taking because, she knew that her husband was taking care of the bills, she never recieved any notices up until the first week of April, I am putting the blame on the lack of respect to understand the situation, the customer service is very rude and not listening to her, YES she would love to make a payment, but it has to be within her budget, YES she was to correct the problem, but how can she when they refuse to help her and work with her, that is what I am upset about. She can't give anymore that she doesn't have? Does that make sense to you? Vanessa - Hayward, California U.S.A. Venessa, Your mom recently learned that her husband didn't pay off her loan. She wants the government to "work with her" by accepting a payment plan that would take more than 30 years to complete. As per the terms of her loan, garnishment is a consequence for not making qualified payments. Perhaps you could help her make qualifying payments or find a bank that is willing to lend her the money for the same terms she is requesting from the government. You are blaming a collection agency hired to collect on a defaulted loan for a situation your mom's husband failed to remedy or chose to ignore. Your mom took an unsecured loan for her education. When she took the loan she agreed to the terms of the loan as well as the consequences. If you believe that paying less than a required monthly payment on a debt is a valid alternative, make that arrangement with your landlord or mortgage company and pay less monthly than what is required for your housing in order to help your mom pay her debt. It's that simple. Christian

To the person that responed, so called EX-Employee, First of all that was the first notice that my mother recieved back on April 2006, she was not aware of actions they were taking because, she knew that her husband was taking care of the bills, she never recieved any notices up until the first week of April, I am putting the blame on the lack of respect to understand the situation, the customer service is very rude and not listening to her, YES she would love to make a payment, but it has to be within her budget, YES she was to correct the problem, but how can she when they refuse to help her and work with her, that is what I am upset about. She can't give anymore that she doesn't have? Does that make sense to you?

Your mom took out a loan for her education years ago. Over the years she has received letters regarding that loan. If she had made payments of any amount the loan wouldn't have been turned over to collections. It takes two years of non-payment before the DOE sends the account to collections. Over the years her account accrued interest and collection costs. If it went from 3K to 9K, "mom" has been ignoring this bill for years, not two weeks. For more information ad a handle on the facts, ask her how long it's been since she took out her school loan. If she had signed for a loan on a car it would have been repossessed, if it were a home it would have been in foreclosure after 6 months. So many people believe the government should forgive loans after years of non-payment simply because they ignored them for years or the individual now depends on the government to live. According to the terms of the loan your mom signed when she agreed to borrow the money, her taxes could be offset and her wages garnished if she refuses to make voluntary payments. Your mom didn't honor her part of the agreement and she is now upset because the government is going to honor theirs. If you're concerned, you might want to help her out yourself in order to help her make qualified payments. For every inaction with the government, there is a reaction. Paying $25.00 on a 9K bill would take 30 years to pay... even without interest. She can ask for a settlement that would remove half of her interest and nearly all of the penalties. Help your mom find a bank who will lend her money to pay off this bill for the same terms she expects the government to accept. Rather than blame the collection agency hired by the government to collect on your mom's defaulted student loan, you could help her to fulfill her obligation. Student loans are not an entitlement nor a gift. Your mom asked for a loan on her signature when her signature was worth nothing.. and the government agreed. Her signature is now worth $9000.00 Sincerely, Christian