“Dear Steve,
In 2007, I filed Ch 7 bankruptcy and I was told my private student loan w/ Wells Fargo was not discharged.
Move ahead to Sept 2009. I was served papers from a local debt collection lawyer in CO about collecting this debt. I negotiated a settlement and am awaiting to see the final paperwork concerning the settlement prior to giving the collection lawyer any money.
Well, I decided to check my credit report last night to see how this debt was listed, and to my surprise, both Experian and Equifax stated the debt was discharged in bankruptcy and the balance due was zero. My question is, is the collection from the lawyer legit? How do I know if this was really discharged in Ch 7? Should I proceed w/ the settlement (which is about 50% of the original balance)?
Thank you,
Linda.”
Dear Linda,
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
Interesting situation and I can see how it could be very confusing.
Private student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t listed in the bankruptcy and then ended up being reported as included in a bankruptcy.
I seriously doubt the loan was discharged but it is easy enough for you to check. All you need to do is contact your bankruptcy attorney and discuss the situation with them. Maybe they will tell you by some technical miracle it was actually discharged. Don’t bet on that lucky outcome yet.
If the bankruptcy attorney confirms that the loan was not discharged, regardless of what the credit report says, then the settlement offer sounds like a good offer.
Comments are closed.