Quick Answer: Williams & Fudge is a debt collection agency that can demand payment and report to credit bureaus even if they cannot prove debt validity or if the statute of limitations has expired. Parents should consult a student loan attorney to validate these potentially problematic loans, especially when payments may have already been made on the same debt.
Question:
Dear Steve,
My husband and I co-signed two student loans for our daughter in 2002 and 2004. My question is this: what connection, if any, does National Enterprise, National Collegiate Trust and where can I find the chain of ownership? Williams & Fudge is now (6 years after the last payment was made) demanding payment. I put our daughter in touch with the collection agency that called me in 2015 (?) and she paid off two loans which I believe are the same loans that Williams & Fudge are referring to. Another question is, if they cannot sue us for the money can they still report to the credit bureaus if they can’t provide the chain of transfer?
Mary Louise
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Answer:
Dear Mary Louise,
Williams & Fudge is a collection agency. They can demand payment all they want, even if the debt is past the Statute of Limitations.
The loans sound very problematic and have a good chance of not being able to be proven to be valid given the underlying lenders.
They can absolutely report to the credit bureaus and you can absolutely dispute it is a valid debt.
I think you should contact an attorney who has handled similar issues. Hopefully, you can find someone on My List of Student Loan Attorneys You Should Consider for Assistance.
There are a couple of reasons contacting an attorney in this situation would be a smart move.
First, an attorney can help you to attempt to validate the debt. Second, if the debt can’t be validated it is quite possible Williams & Fudge may be violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act with their incorrect or misleading claims.
The cost of an attorney to represent you will be a small price to pay for someone to use the law to defend you. Otherwise, Williams & Fudge can pretty much get away with anything to attempt to collect.
Not Sure What to Do Next? If Williams & Fudge is contacting you about student loans, my complete student loan guide covers your repayment options, forgiveness programs, and what collectors can and can’t do with federal loans.
Not Sure What to Do Next? If Williams & Fudge is contacting you about student loans, my complete student loan guide covers your repayment options, forgiveness programs, and what collectors can and can’t do with federal loans.
Know Your Rights: If a debt collector is contacting you, you have legal protections. See the complete list of FDCPA violations collectors commit most often. Use the free Debt Validation Letter Generator to demand proof of the debt, or check this collector’s complaint history with the Scam-O-Meter.
Dealing With Debt? Before you pay a collector, understand all your debt relief options — including ones the collector won’t tell you about. If the debt feels unmanageable, take the 2-minute bankruptcy quiz to see if the math favors a fresh start. Federal Reserve research shows filers recover faster than those who don’t file.
Williams & Fudge contacted me via email last night. Email was very suspicious, subject line only said “personal business”. After reading the email, I’m definitely leery of dealing with them. They say my SC state student loan is in collection, but I have made a payment less than 60 days ago (yes, I’m past due, but not to the point of collection!) and they are trying to collect for the full amount! I never even received a call from SC student loans, email, or snail mail letting me know they were sending me to collection over a $30 past due balance!
Hi again, Steve! Just wanted to keep you up to date on the situation. Once I notified W&F that we had retained legal representation, we never heard back from them. Thanks for your help!
Great update. Thanks.
Williams & Fudge wants us to pay on an old student loan.