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.