Was my Student Loan discharged?!?

[BrokeStudent8]

I was just checking out my credit reports, and my student loan is reporting to Equifax as Discharged, zero balance, and included in my bankruptcy. My Ch 7 discharged earlier this year (I filed last September, under the old laws) but I didn't receive any special notice that my student loan would be discharged as well. I had listed it under my schedule of creditors, because even though I figured it wouldn't get discharged, I read that I had to list it regardless. But did the trustee/judge overlook it and discharge it?? I am especially confused because the same student loan company is reporting to Experian that my loan is current, with the balance as the amount I borrowed, and in deferment (which would be correct if it isn't discharged, as I just graduated and I have deferment for 6 months.) My question is, did I somehow magically get my student loan discharged, or is this an error?

[FilingOnMyOwn]

I would be cautiously optimistic that it was 'magically dismissed'. Dispute the account with the other 2 credit bureaus, and see if they go zer0 balance as well

[BrokeStudent8]

How would you dispute it? Just say IIB?

It's so strange, because when I look up the loan on the lender's website, it shows the full balance and everything...

[anonymuse]

I wouldn't be messing with it--since you're 99% sure that the student loans will come back and you'll be very much in the arrears when they figure it out. You know they are not legally dischargeable. Disputing it on your credit reports will not change what it says on the lender's website. Let it go and start paying your bills.

Personally, I feel a great obligation to pay off my student loans since I don't want to deny anyone else the funds for the opportunity for an education.

[keepmine]

Unless you had a separate adverserial hearing to determine the dischargeability of the student loans, they survived the bk.

[Danielle1981]

I wouldn't be messing with it--since you're 99% sure that the student loans will come back and you'll be very much in the arrears when they figure it out. You know they are not legally dischargeable. Disputing it on your credit reports will not change what it says on the lender's website. Let it go and start paying your bills.

Personally, I feel a great obligation to pay off my student loans since I don't want to deny anyone else the funds for the opportunity for an education.

Ditto....they will catch it and correct it.

[lrprn]

In case you still have doubts, no matter what your credit report says, it's 99.9% likely that your student loans were not discharged in your bankruptcy and you are still responsible for paying them unless your situation fits inside a very small number of exceptions.

[from Moran Law Group at http://www.moranlaw.net/studentloans.htm] "The borrower's bankruptcy options on student loans have shrunk to a very few. Changes to the Bankruptcy Code in late 1998 made student loans non dischargeable, regardless of the age of the loan, unless the borrower can establish substantial hardship. Changes in 2005 made even private student loans non dischargeable. Outside of bankruptcy, a defaulted student loan can be rehabilitated, consolidated, stretched out, or discharged due to disability.
Student loans may be unenforceable where the school closed before you completed your course of study or because of wrongdoing on the part of the school. Absent a showing of substantial hardship, the best that bankruptcy can do with respect to student loans may be to eliminate other debts that compete for the borrower's dollars, or to provide a measure of peace during a Chapter 13 case. Some courts will permit debtors to separately classify student loans in Chapter 13 and pay them a greater percentage than other unsecured debt."

Also check out this blurb from the United States Attorney's Office's Civil Division at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ias/our_of...ions/civ.html:
"6. Student Loans.
The greater number of civil debtor cases handled by the FLU arise from defaulted student loans. There is no statute of limitations on actions to collect defaulted student loans. This means that an action to collect the debt, including accrued interest, may be brought at any time, even twenty to thirty years after the loan was made. The dischargeability of defaulted student loans in bankruptcy varies, depending on the agency giving the loan, the time passed since the student left school, and other factors. Therefore, anyone contemplating discharging a student loan through bankruptcy, should first obtain legal advice from a private attorney familiar with bankruptcy proceedings."

Wish the news was better. If I were you, I'd be thinking about contacting my student loan lenders and working with them to figure out what your payment or deferment options are. Good luck - please keep us posted on what you decide to do.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

I was just checking out my credit reports, and my student loan is reporting to Equifax as Discharged, zero balance, and included in my bankruptcy. My Ch 7 discharged earlier this year (I filed last September, under the old laws) but I didn't receive any special notice that my student loan would be discharged as well. I had listed it under my schedule of creditors, because even though I figured it wouldn't get discharged, I read that I had to list it regardless. But did the trustee/judge overlook it and discharge it?? I am especially confused because the same student loan company is reporting to Experian that my loan is current, with the balance as the amount I borrowed, and in deferment (which would be correct if it isn't discharged, as I just graduated and I have deferment for 6 months.) My question is, did I somehow magically get my student loan discharged, or is this an error?

Non federal student loans were dischargable under old law. Since you filed under old law they probably are discharged. Was it a federal student loan?

[BrokeStudent8]

No, it's a Federal Stafford Loan from the College Loan Corporation. That's why I'm confused... I think it might be an error, because I never received anything that said the student loan (specifically) was discharged. I'm going to check it out on PACER...