Just this week, we successfully defended a lawsuit filed by National Collegiate Trust because it could not prove it owned the loan, let alone prove that it had an adequate and accurate account history.
A recent rash of lawsuits has been filed around both Pennsylvania and the rest of the country by a company calling itself National Collegiate Student Loan Trust. Our firm researched the Trust and found it to be registered in the State of Delaware with a business connection to another company named First Marblehead Corporation. The Trust is filing numerous lawsuits over student loans it allegedly purchased. In most cases, it is suing both the student and the guarantor, which is usually another family member.
Unlike most student loan cases, which are difficult to win, these are generally, private student loans, which put them in virtually the same category as credit card lawsuits. The Trust has to prove it purchased your loan, the accuracy of the amounts claimed and the date of default. We have been receiving calls from all over the country but since we only practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, we are representing clients in those states only.
Despite the multitude of clients and cases who have hired us over the past 8 months, so far, only a few of these cases have gone to trial or arbitration. So far, we have won every case or have gotten the Court to dismiss the Complaint in other cases. Many of the cases we have were filed beyond the Statute of Limitations which is the period of time allowed by law to file a lawsuit after an alleged default on your loan.
We have also found violations of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") in virtually all of the cases we are defending, which allows our client to turn the tables on the Trust by suing them and either receiving up to $1000 in statutory (by law) damages plus, in certain cases, repayment of any attorney's incurred to defend the lawsuit against my clients.
If you have been sued by any company that has the name National Collegiate Student Loan Trust in the caption of the case, and you're a resident of Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware, please don't wait to do anything. Call us immediately. If you do nothing, the Trust will get a judgment against you and start sending the Sheriff out to your residence. If you call the law firm that is suing you, my clients have reported that they have been treated harshly and have not been offered good deals.