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chucker99 · Apr 28, 2007, 09:42 AM

I was just served papers about my student loan going to small claims court and I was wondering what will happen from this point.
It does not say I have to go to court but it does say I have 20 days to file papers against it.
Does anyone know what usually happens in these types of situations.
I am basiclly looking for a way not to go to court and to just make payments to get rid of the loan.
What can I do?

Fr_Chuck · Apr 28, 2007, 10:00 AM

Well I will guess you have not been making payments and they are tired of it. So you can contact them and see if you can make arrangements that they will agree to. Remember if this is a valid debt and they go to court they will get a judgement, if they get a judgement ( depending on your state in the US) or national laws if outside the US, they can garnish your pay check, ( normally for about 25 percent of your pay) and they can garnish or attach or freeze all of your checking and savings account at the bank.

So they know this, and if they know you make a certain amount, they have little reason to agree to 10 dollars a month at this point, so your payment offer will have to be good enough to be accepted. Next they may get a judgement anyway, that way if you stop making your agreed to payments they can still come after the money.

Not wanting to sound preachy but the time to work out a deal and arrange payments was a long time ago.

Dabidosan · May 13, 2007, 11:00 PM

First off- always dispute the loan (even if you know you took out the loan). Yeah, it's kind of cheesy but it will buy you some time- at least an additional 30 days. All you do is send a request in writing (certified mail or fax would be quicker) saying you wish to dispute the validity of the loan and you require proof (this is the law!). In which case they will send you a promissary note- if by pure luck they can't find it, congrats you're off the hook. If they do find it and get it to you, then you may want to consider your legal right to consolidation through the William D. Ford program- sure you'll still owe the loan, but the Gov't will lift the loan out of default in 30 days, give you 25 years to repay back on it, give you you're title IV rights back (rights to deferment, transcripts, credits, add'l financial aid,etc).

girlse · Dec 4, 2012, 11:59 PM

I am in the same boat, but this was a while back. After 2 months I have been unemployed and been unable to make the payments. Will I get sued again, I am out of the country and I will be unavailable to attend. Will there be a bench warrant? Also I plan to pay as soon as I get a job!

AK lawyer · Dec 6, 2012, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by girlse;

I am in the same boat, but this was a while back. After 2 months I have been unemployed and been unable to make the payments. Will I get sued again, I am out of the country and I will be unavailable to attend. Will there be a bench warrant? Also I plan to pay as soon as I get a job!

Again? Were you sued on this student loan before? Did they get a judgment? If so, they don't need to sue you again. They would try to collect the judgment they already have.

And no, bench warrants are not issued in civil matters for failure to appear. The remedy for failure to attend a civil action is a judgment against you which can be collected by seizing your property.