If you have a problem with Case Western Reserve University. File suit against them yourself if you cant get a lawyer I did. They have been barring me from registration and withholding my transcripts for 15 years. I cant even transfer to another school. The judge will decide, but the loan documents I signed DID NOT SAY they could do this.
I thought I still owed these student loans because the financial aid office kept telling me I did. Tracking these loans is very difficult, they have no student loan numbers on the documents, and it seems like the only way you can tell one from another is by date and amount. Now under threat of subpoena, the collection agency has told me that these loans were paid off in February.
I want everyone reading this to do something for me. Think about your life, the way it is now. You probably all have a nice car, a nice home, you have a savings account, you probably have funds you can count on if something goes wrong. You probably have the means to take vacations and pay for college for your children.
I dont have any of these things. Even though I have worked hard and even put my life at risk to support my family.
Remember where you were fifteen years ago. Now imagine that someone approaches you one day, someone you dont even know. He says he is from the government, bar association, whatever and that they have reason to believe you have done something that gives them the right to prevent you from working in your chosen field. They wont say exactly what you did, they wont show you any proof no matter how many times you try to reason with them they wont listen. You cannot even face your accuser. You cant find a lawyer to represent you. For fifteen years this goes on, you contact senators, the governor, you even speak out on NPR about this issue. No one will help you.
Despite your best efforts, the bar association keeps your career in a coma for 15 years. What would your life be like now? Maybe you would be working as a law clerk. Maybe not even that. Maybe you would be living on the edge of poverty, forced to accept government assistance just to survive.
With great power comes great responsibility. We all know what happens when an institution with great power gets greedy and puts money ahead of the people that work for it, that trust it to do the right thing.
I trusted Case Western Reserve University. I trusted them when they told me that by getting a good education at their college I would earn my way and realize my dream of working in a profession that I love, that I would have a good life and be able to help my children realize their dreams as well.
By offering students these private loans Case Western Reserve University sets up their own students for a sucker punch. Can you imagine what it was like? Dragging myself through day after day, struggling to get my coursework done, with very little money to live on, trying to navigate the maze that is financial aid, getting up at 7am and not getting to bed until midnight or even 2 am to get up the next day and do it all over again. I did this for years, living by the skin of my teeth, taking part time jobs to make it through. I even tried to get into the Army Reserves so I could get more money for college.
And then, just months before I am to graduate I do what Case Western Reserve University tells me to do. I attend the Exit Interview. The notice I got in the mail said that attending the exit interview is mandatory for any student that has outstanding student loans. This is where I learned for the FIRST TIME that I would be expected to pay $400.00 a month for every $20,000.00 I owed.
I had started looking at the want ads, had even gone on a few interviews. I knew that I probably wouldnt even been making that much to start. I asked if lower payments would be accepted. I was told no. I asked how much time I would have to start paying these loans off. I was told 6 months.
Well considering the stress I was already under, it was no wonder I fell apart. This was just too much to bear.
It took me a while to recover, but I did. I have tried everything I could think of to resolve this problem. Every time I tried, Case Western Reserve University would knock me down again. Even after these loans were paid off, they refused to release my transcripts or even pick up the phone to see if what I was saying was correct. The only thing I ever heard from the financial aid department was that I would have to pay them more than $35,000 in full. Now I believe I can prove that Case Western Reserve University not only did not do due diligence in discovering that these loans were paid in full in February, I believe that I can prove that Case Western Reserve University had no legal right to withhold my transcripts in the first place.
I was never informed that I was placing my transcripts, my ability to register for classes, my ability to continue my education even at another college at risk by signing those documents. The documents themselves do not state this. I know that I would not have signed a document that stated this.
For their negligence, for keeping my career in a coma for 15 years with no legal right to do so, for the time and effort I have had to put forth in order to bring them to Justice, for the pain and suffering they have caused me and my children I am suing for damages in the amount of $400,000.00 plus court costs and fees.
I am set to be deposed Thursday, March 29th.
Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.
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