Question:
Dear Steve,
My husband is listed as a cosigner on a Navient student loan dating back to 2006. He was living with a woman in MA and this loan was for the woman’s daughter.
The issues.
1. He does not remember signing for this, we only recently found out about it when pulling a credit report his score is in the toilet.
2. Requested a copy of documents from old girlfriend who would give us nothing.
3. Requested copies from Navient, documents appear to have his signature but were faxed. The girl was listed as his daughter and she is not. He is being billed for the defaulted account now.
What do we do?
1. These people are in MA we are in VA
2. Do we go after them or try for hardship something to settle debt which i understand is difficult to get. Have an appointment with lawyer on Monday.
3. Should I contact navient and try to negotiate a settlement of some kind. My husband owns no property and barely makes 20K per year is 62 planning to go on Social Security next year.
Elizabeth
Answer:
Dear Elizabeth,
I would first treat it as an identity theft issue and file a report with your local police department and get a report number. You can follow the steps laid out on IdentityTheft.gov and you can give your attorney this document, Guide for Assisting Identity Theft Victims. Be sure you see page 15.
This would certainly not be the first episode of identity theft I’ve seen when it comes to student loans. If this is pursued correctly, your husband could be removed as a liable party of the loans.
It is not clear from your question if these are federal or private student loans. Dealing with the different types would require a slightly different strategy. If these are federal student loans your attorney should inform the Department of Education of the discovery of the fraudulent loans.
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Elizabeth, I just answered your question.