Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maine
I have $7500 worth of school debt, yet I never went to college.
A couple of years ago I was accepted into the pharmacy program at URI. I went to orientation early in the summer, but decided shortly after that I did not want to attend. I called the school and asked what I should do to unenroll and they told me to write a letter that stated I was not going to be attending. After doing so, my parents continued to receive letters that said I had poor grades because of lack of attendance. Both my parents and I called the school on a several occassions to clear up the confusion and each time the people we spoke too assured us things would be taken care of. We heard nothing for about a year and then the debt collectors started calling. After many failed attempts, we finally got in contact with someone at the school who gave us a bit of direction. She asked me to draft a letter and send it to her that explained the situation (which they should have been aware of already.) I sent it certified mail two weeks ago and asked her to confirm that she received it. I also sent an email and called twice verbally confirm, but she is always unavailable. I do not know what to do. The debt collectors have now sent me a letter saying they are handing the case over to an attorney. Do I even have a case?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: I have $7500 worth of school debt, yet I never went to college.
It sounds like in all fairness you have a case as you did not actually attend. However, as you are finding, sometimes it is not just enough that you are right, sometimes you must deal with the paper trail. I obviously do not know what you signed before you withdrew, but that may be part of the problem. You should continue to force the issue with the contact at the school, and send more letters/emails, each time explaining the situation and each time refering to the date of each of the prior letters/emails that have not been answered and urge that if someone else from the school should deal with you instead that you be given another name. Also offer to set up an appointment to go to the school, meet with whomever is necesssary, sign anything that day you need to, and do not leave until you have something in writing acknowledging that you withdrew. You will probably never need to actually go there, but it is important to offer to.
You could get an attorney to write a letter to the school, that will get their attention, but I am unsure if it would be money well spent if you can still get the same result yourself with more effort.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
