Question:
Dear Steve,
I defaulted on my private student loans in 2012 after being unemployed. A company called Performant Recovery took over, and I set up monthly payments with them, of which I have made faithfully for over 4 years now. These show up on my credit report as 3 different collections (they were different lenders), all with the name Performant attached. Now, a different collection company called Cavalry is suing me for the full balance of one of the loans (nearly $20k). At this time, I do not have the paperwork to show which original loans Performant took over.
Can they do this when I’ve been making payments for over 4 years? Why have I never heard from Cavalry until now? I don’t have $20k to pay them!
Jasmine
Answer:
Dear Jasmine,
What we have here is a mystery.
It sounds as if an error took place. If you had a mutually agreed payment plan with Performant Recovery and you made the payments and were current there should be no reason Calvary Portfolio Services is suing you.
That being said, I can see how such an error could happen. Creditors and collection companies are not perfect and certainly make mistakes.
If you can’t afford an attorney to represent you who is licensed in your state, then I would urge you to call Performant Recovery and ask them to help you figure out a mystery. There is no need to get upset and nasty with the person who answers the phone at Performant. Before challenging them with blame what we need most are the facts about what happened.
I would pay close attention to the account number Calvary claims to be suing you over and see if you can match it with one of the Performant accounts you’ve been paying on. For all we know at this point it’s another loan account that was overlooked by everyone.
Looking at what it says on your credit report is helpful but that’s not the kind of data you need.
Contact Performant, get some more facts, and then update me in the comment section below.
Steve
