Educational Credit Management Corporation ECMC I paid off my student loan in 1993 and 10 years later, they began harassing me and saying I hadn't paid it off and that I now owed oer $5000.00. I only borrowed $1100.00 to begin with. I only had on Oakdale, Minnesota

I got a student loan, through a local bank in a small town, back in July of 1989.  My last classes were in May of 1990.  I didn't take any classes after that because I got married, then pregnant shortly thereafter.  I paid the student loan off in 1993 and my father told me to hand on to all of my paperwork for at least 7 years, to cover my butt.  (He was in the Finance Business, so he knew what could happen.)  Not only did I keep the paperwork for 7 yrs., I didn't shred it until 2003.  A few months later, ECMC began harassing me, saying I never made a payment and that my balance was over $5000.00. 

I told them when I'd paid it off and asked why they waited 13 yrs. to call in a student loan, since technically it became due for payments in February of 1990.  I never got a straight answer on that one.  It's now been 19 years and they keep stealing money from us.  My husband has to file an "Injured Spouse" form with the IRS every year, so they can't get their hands on the refund from his income.  (That's form 8379, in case you need it.)  To make matters worse, the IRS took money out of my husband's check that they didn't have the right to and told me they were mailing it back to us and today I get a letter stating that ECMC is getting it. 

First of all, it was not an income tax refund.  The IRS screwed up and took money out of my husband's paycheck, so this was my husband's regular pay.  Second, my husband files the injured spouse claim every year, so even if it were a refund check, they would have no right to it.  They are thieves and the IRS is no better.  The IRS is made up of a bunch of liars who will say or do anything to get you off of the phone.  The contact we had with the IRS here locally flat-out lied to me just to get me off of the phone.  I hope they are burn for what they've done to people.  At the very least, they deserve prison.