As we have mentioned in many of these blog posts, National Collegiate Student Loan Trust or (NCSLT), is one of the largest and most common private student loan creditors. They aggressively sue consumers on very large sums of allegedly owed debt usually equaling at least $50,000 and very often amounting to over $100,000. In New York, they commonly retain the debt collection law firms of Forster and Garbus & Rubin and Rothman to sue and enforce these debts. As is common in New York, they win 95% or more of these lawsuits on default from our experience. Service of process is just as much of a problem in these private student loan cases as it is in any credit card or debt buyer matter. Once judgment is obtained, these creditors will attempt to enforce these judgments by way of wage garnishment, bank levy or even property liens. They often also report the judgment and negative underlying account on consumer’s credit reports negatively affecting their credit.
Due to the large amount of debt that NCSLT sues clients for, a default judgment has devastating consequences as it simply can bury the average consumer. A $50,000 judgment that results in a wage garnishment against a consumer can last forever especially because there is 9% statutory judgment interest accruing on top of that amount. Thus, this creditor has developed a way to garnish people essentially for the larger part of their lives.
The good news is that we have been able to defend thousands of these cases as well as remove judgments, garnishments, liens and levies. More importantly, we have been able to consistently save our clients tens of thousands of dollars through negotiated settlements with National Collegiate Trust through Forster and Garbus & Rubin and Rothman. One of the main reasons they agree to do so is because of the aggressive nature in which we force them to prove standing. Simply put, NCSLT is a guarantor or insurance company that pays the original bank or lender once a loan is defaulted on. Almost no client that we have seen has ever applied for a private student loan from NCSLT. Our strategy has been very successful in making it very difficult to prove that NCSLT is the rightful owner of this debt.
To avoid prolonged litigation and costs, NCSLT consistently agrees to reduced settlements for anywhere between 50-80% off of the balance of the debt. This is a tremendous saving for the consumer which also includes saving thousands in interest alone that would have accrued in judgment. NCSLT frequently agrees to long term payment plans for up to 10 years or more at no interest so there is always an affordable repayment option that we can come to.