Suing Your Creditors

Borrower Defense to Repayment (DTR)
#1

This New York Times article, “Learning How to Fight the Collector,” describes former collection agent Steven Katz, who created a message board, DebtorBoards dot com, teaching people how to sue in small claims court, collections agencies going after them. Its members sued their creditors for over $700,000 and defended collection of over $600,000 in debts, a net swing of $1.3 million. Sadly, that message board no longer exists, and DebtorBoards dot com now belongs to a collections agency.

However, the internet wayback machine has the full archive of the message board available. You cannot log into the message board, but you can review all the posts, especially the pinned posts. The posts are intentionally very how-to/DIY. I suggest starting with “The Flyingifr [founder’s username] Method of Aggressive Credit Repair.”
Here’s a shortened link to the archive: https://is.gd/Eb6IcV
Here’s the full link to the archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20180826182027/http://www.debtorboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=rsltvcg02ggj9notp45j7satc5;wwwRedirect

If you’re suing, I suggest reviewing your case with your local bar association’s Ask-A-Lawyer event in advance.

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#2

How do we do this? I’m alleging my landscape architecture program did not fully disclose the jobs available, the poor methodology of teaching (which lead to excess self taught courses which takes more time than a regular class), to top it off there is so much age discrimination (allegedly :wink: that I am not allowed to get a Florida Landscape Architecture license without being hired by ONLY an RLA.

Isn’t small claims court limited to 5K . I am well over that amount. :frowning:
Just checking. Thank you so much for this post and I’m grateful to have this community.

#3

Hi @SOS — are these federal loans or private loans that you obtained from your program? If they are federal loans and you feel your school and program lied about your program, marketed false claims and did a piss poor job of teaching, you can file a Borrowers Defense to Repayment claim. You don’t need a lawyer to fill it out for you and you do not need to pay anyone to complete it for you. You will want to round up some evidence to back up your claims though. You can learn more here: https://studentaid.gov/borrower-defense/ — this was what the Sweet v Cardona class action lawsuit was related to.

If you need support from others who have gone through the process — you can find helpful info here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/borrowerdefense

Hope that helps!
Jen

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#4

Thank you! I just saw this - I filed for borrower’s defense but I’m not sure what to do next. I guess it’s in the paperworks files. Now the election… not sure what will happen?

I have been working on a strategy to organize architecture students but with the overwhelming wins by the republicans… not sure what to do??

#5

Hello, I had the same problems with Sanford Brown, Brown Institute, and Brown College. These three names the school used while I attended in 2001. I am still fighting the loan that I currently owe to Zuntafi. My degree was in Visual Communications with the emphasis in Graphic Design. I went through so much while I attended a few years ago. My two grandmothers’ passed away within weeks of each other. I had to ha…ve a heart operation due to an Atrial Septal Defect. The poor job placement opportunities affected my ability to utilize the skills that I had acquired. I was sent to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, for my first job assignment.
I am now working as a Special Education Assistant! What I am looking for is a legal aid to represent me. I am a borrower and feel that my degree is pretty much useless due to the poor reputation Sanford-Brown has. I believe there have been a few class action lawsuits against them. But, since my loan is a private loan I feel I am not getting anywhere. Please help!!!
Are there any attorneys that care about helping older graduates with private loan complaints.
Melissa