I Have No Confidence the Amount They Say I Owe Education Finance Partners is a Real Number

Question:

Dear Steve,

My past credit history has been a rocky road. I’ve had a few accounts closed/charged off due to having unreliable employment. I finally have stable employment and am finally able to start mending my broken credit.

While I was in college, I had taken out a couple of private student loans to help fund my education. These are the accounts that I’m struggling with now. I have been making payments on a student loan account through AES, which I thought was my only remaining account, for about a year now.

Then recently, I received a call on my work phone from Asset Recovery Solutions. I’m not allowed to take personal calls on my work phone so I returned the call the next day. They informed me that I have a debt of $17,000 with them that originated from a Turnstile Capital Management. I have never even heard of this company so I requested some sort of validation that this was a valid debt.

About a week later, I received a letter from ARS stating my balance was just shy of $9,000 and listed the original creditor as Education Finance Partners. Then I started doing my own digging and found tips for requesting validation. So I sent ARS a certified letter requesting validation, to include: Original agreements, anything containing my signature, proof that statute of limitations hasn’t expired, complete payment history including all charges assessed, and valid licensing for them to collect a debt in my state. Right at the 30 day mark, literally 30 days on the dot, I received a packet with their response. Included was a copy of what looks to be an application form requesting a $10,000 loan and a promissory note, both with only digital signatures that are a series of letters/numbers and both with Education Finance Partners name on them.

The dates on these forms are from 2007. I honestly don’t remember ever having dealings with this company but that was a decade ago. I also have a recently pulled credit report and nowhere on there does it have Education Finance Partners.

My question is what amount, if any, am I required to pay here since they have given me 3 different values? Why are the 3 amounts provided to me all different? Am I even still obligated to pay since they didn’t provide me with all the requested information within a reasonable time and since the Education Finance Partners went bankrupt?

Derek

Answer:

Dear Derek,

The easiest way to deal with this would be to find a local consumer attorney who specializes in debt collection issues. I personally think a consult, legal opinion, and representation will be well worth the cost of the meeting.

One place to look for such an attorney would be here.

The validation provided sounds sketchy and a letter from an attorney representing you could be a great value in making all of this go away.

Steve Rhode Debt Coach and Author

Steve Rhode is the Get Out of Debt Guy and has been helping good people with bad debt problems since 1994. You can learn more about Steve, here.

See Full Bio

Consumer Debt Consumer Bankruptcy How to Get out of Debt Money Troubles Money Personalities Budgeting Behavioral Economics Motivation Inspiration Money Management The History of Credit and Debt Getting Out of Debt Get Out of Debt Debt Settlement Credit Counseling Loan & Debt Relief Scams Debt Relief Industry Practices Exposing Deceptive Financial Services Helping Consumers Navigate Financial Hardship Consumer Advocacy Consumer Debt Expert Consumer Protection Debt Relief Scam Student Loan Bankruptcy Debt Validation Debt and Mental Health Student Loans Debt Consolidation Debt in the Military