<p>My son attended a summer program at a top university during his sophomore summer. He was 16. To afford the program, extended family members contributed or promised to, we held fundraisers, all that. Anyway, some family members later reneged on their pledges, so to speak, because of family emergencies. My son went to the program with a tab still outstanding, which I’ve tried to pay on. I consider it my responsibility to pay it; I signed the papers and he was a minor at the time. </p>
<p>However, recently the university has begun sending billing notices to him, and is now threatening him with collections and “bad credit”. I would be willing to deal with them pursuing me that way – my credit already sucks – but somehow, I don’t think it’s fair to go after him that way for a debt that was created when he was a minor. </p>
<p>So, are students liable for debts of this kind that were incurred when they were minors? I’m planning to write the university a letter, but I was wondering if I’m correct that they need to pursue me (as the signing responsible party) and not him. I hope to be able to pay off the amount, but because of my small income, it will take a while.</p>
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<li><p>California. The university is in California, and we were/are residents there. </p></li>
<li><p>It’s not a student loan. Basically, they billed us, and I hadn’t paid for the whole thing when the program began, and was told “You will still be responsible for the amount.” So this is like being billed for tuition for a semester. If had been accepted and gone to that school, he would not have been able to enroll until the past tuition was paid.</p></li>
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<p>Is there anyone you can deal with personally at the summer program to work out a payment plan? I think the bureacracy of a UC is just grinding away to generate the letters…you want this solved before he applies as a senior so there’s not a block on his enrollment/financial aid.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a UC, and no, no one to talk to. And he’s not a senior, he’s in college in another state now. I’m just trying to determine if I can legally get them to stop threatening him.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like it depends on who the “you” is referring to when they wrote that “you will be responsible for the amount.” To whom were the original bills addressed?</p>
<p>If “you” is you, then you can write to them and tell them to stop contacting your child, according to the googling around I did. Try looking up California debtor rights.</p>
<p>If this is like many of the programs that are held on college campuses throughout the country–then it may not be the University itself that is sending these letters, but rather a private company that uses the university resources, and it may not be “tuition” in the strict sense. but rather more like a summer camp fee. I assume that when you say sophomore, you mean high school sophomore. There are many companies that have summer programs on “elite” college campuses but actually have very little to do with the college other than using their dorms and classrooms.</p>
<p>Yes…the best way to do this is to get the bill paid. It sounds like it’s been about two years if your son is already in college and he was 16 at the time of the program. The account is WAY overdue. I know this isn’t going to be a popular post…but pay the bill. At this point your son is 18 and if the bill is in his name he IS responsible for its payment.</p>
<p>Your son didn’t sign a contract with the school - I don’t believe anyone under 18 can take out a loan or enter into a contract. Your son is not obligated to pay, but you are. The bill should be going to you, not to your son.</p>
<p>Their mistake was letting him commence the program when the tab wasn’t paid. That doesn’t mean that they never get paid. It’s a consumer debt of yours and will live on and continue compounding.
I have to agree with thumper1…at the 2 year point, whatever the problem was in paying then is irrelevant. It’s time for him to get an extra job or for you to go back to the original family supporters or somehow get this paid.
You are sticking to a legal point (that the bills are addressed to him and he was a minor) and skipping the big point (he did the program, with your knowledge and consent, and still hasn’t paid for it).</p>
<p>The debt is yours. You should not have allowed him to attend a program that you couldn’t afford. (Promises from relatives and friends are not “cash in the bank.”) </p>
<p>Get on the phone (and stay on until you get to the right person which can take some patience) and get a payment plan set up ASAP. Most creditors are satisfied with small, regular payments. Pay every month. Pay on time.
It would be nice if your son would get a job and contribute to this debt (which he should have done in high school–the debt is long overdue), but you did sign the papers.</p>
<p>Some of you don’t seem to have read the poster’s original post. She already said she’s working on paying the bill. Her questions are whether a child can take on a debt as a minor, and whether it’s okay for the school or agency to have shifted their attention from her to her child if the debt is actually the parent’s.</p>
<p>From what I read, it sounds like it’s not allowed in California for someone who is owed a debt to ask the debtor’s family members to pay it, and if you write the school a letter they should stop pursuing your child in your place. On the other hand, it also sounds like minors can have debts, so it’s probably important to look at the original paperwork to figure out whether it’s the parent or the child who is officially on the hook for the fees.</p>
<p>From the California Department of Consumer Affairs, “Summary of the Fair Debt Collection Statutes”:
“With certain exceptions, a collector may not attempt to collect a debt by
communicating information regarding the debt to any member of the debtors family.
Exceptions: A collector can: (a) communicate with the debtors spouse; (b) contact any family member to locate the debtor; (c) contact any family member if the debtor or the debtors attorney has previously consented in writing to the communication; or (d) contact the debtors parents or
guardians, if the debtor is a minor or resides with them in the same household. The California statutes prohibition against contacting family members no longer applies once the debt becomes a judgment.”</p>
<p>The fact is that a minor can be responsible for the debt if the minor has in fact enjoyed the benefits of the deal. Let’s say a 16 year old goes into a car dealership and takes out a loan for a car. Then he says, “I don’t have to pay the loan because I’m a minor.” That’s true, but only if he then returns the car. He can’t keep the car and not pay the loan.</p>
<p>Or, more closely, the 16 year old goes into a restaurant and orders a pizza. He eats the pizza. Can he now say, “I don’t have to pay because I’m a minor”? Of course not. </p>
<p>Since your son cannot “return” the contents of the program, the program can argue, perhaps successfully, that the student will be unjustly enriched if not required to repay the debt.</p>
<p>weenie. The OP has already mentioned poor credit and low income.
They can’t pay the bill all at once and have already said she would make an attempt to pay. I see no reason not to believe her. Some people can’t pay there bills. It happens. As to the legal issues presented I am not a California lawyer but I"ll bet a dollar to a donut that if the boy didn’t sign anything upfront prior to the program saying he was responsible for the bill that it is improper to attempt to collect it from him.</p>
<p>(In Texas the contract would be unenforceable against the minor, even if he did sign it. There may be a claim in equity against the boy for quantum meruit. But it’s very , very doubtful based on the facts we know. Now, mom - she’s hooked but I’d be recording all of those collection calls for review by a lawyer versed in California debtor’s rights law. ;))</p>
<p>He’s (she’s, whoever’s) broke, weenie. Busted. No dinero. Maybe nothing to sell or cash in. It happens .It’s very common in America. I would guess half the clients I serve fit that category. Making a decision to pay the doctor bill or the light bill or this “college” bill. Not real tough to decide. Have a heart. It’s not a choice not to pay when you don’t have it.</p>
<p>Contact the program or the collection agency and make arrangements to pay. They’re usually willing to make some sort of plan to settle the debt, often for less than the original amount.</p>
<p>In California debts incurred by minors are ordinarily not enforceable unless the debt was for a necessity of life (rent, food). If the son signed a contract with the university, then he could void the contract on that grounds; if the son did not sign, then it doesn’t matter – he is not liable for his parents debts.</p>
<p>The solution is to contact the collection agency in writing, state the reasons why the debt is contested, and demand that they cease further contact. The letter has to come from the person who wants them to stop writing – in this case the son.</p>
<p>Once the son writes, then the agency can choose to drop it or to seek a court judgment.</p>
<p>I think the parent should either pull out the original contract or request a copy of it from the collection agency to see who signed for what and what it said.</p>