YOUNOMICS PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN TRUST LAWSUITS

Private student loan lawsuits have been common over the last decade and show no sign of deceleration. Instead we are beginning to see new private student loan collection actions and lawsuits enter the legal arena. Younomics is a recent private student loan creditor that we see often. Younomics used to be known as My Rich Uncle, a smaller more niche private student loan lender. Now these loans have been acquired by Younomics and they have been aggressively pursuing consumers by way of collection and ultimately litigation. Younomics is similar in structure to Navient and National Collegiate Student Loans who are the two biggest lenders of private student loans in the country in that they have all securitized these debts which is why lawsuit captions appear as Younomics Private Student Loan Trust.

Younomics pursues the same tactics as does Navient or National Collegiate. Their goal is to sue consumers in order to obtain a default judgment against them, avoiding litigation on the merits. Once they obtain judgment, they are then able to pursue enforcement methods such as wage garnishment, levy bank accounts or even place a lien on a consumer’s property. However, the same defenses that are used to defend against Navient and National Collegiate can and should be used to defend consumers against Younomics. Younomics faces the same burden that all creditors face when litigating a consumer collection matter in that they must prove that they have standing to sue, and that hearsay will not prevent them from proving that they are the rightful owner of the debt. Younomics must prove that the debt was assigned to them properly from My Rich Uncle or whomever it was sold from, must present a chain-of-title and must provide a party who was present to testify to having personal knowledge of the transaction. These are effective defenses that prevent many debt-buyers including those who buy credit card debt from being able to meet their burden in court. At a minimum, these defenses provide the necessary leverage to negotiate a settlement on a Younomics loan for a significantly lower amount than what is owed and eliminate the accruing interest. Younomics Private student loans must be as aggressively defended as Navient and National Collegiate to obtain the best results.