Is student responsible for debts accrued at 16 years old?

Parents Forum
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<p>I guess what I don’t get here on CC is why people who don’t have any sympathy feel so compelled to say so. Is that how you act at work, at your kids’ school, in other situations - any time you don’t feel any empathy for a person in a difficult situation, you make sure to speak up about it so they will know how you feel? If you don’t systematically tell people about your lack of sympathy in the rest of your life, why do it here? The people you’re talking to here are just as real as the ones you see face to face.</p>

<p>Sometimes not saying anything can be a great choice. I heard a talk once that offered an interpretation of the Buddhist “right speech” precept that I find helpful when I remember to use it. It goes like this. When you’re thinking of saying something, try asking: Is it true? Is it useful? Wait awhile.</p>

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<p>OP–listen to the lawyer parents who have provided you good advice. DO IMMEDIATELY call the collection agency as well as put in writing your entire story. EXPLAIN to the agency what the debt was for, that your son was a minor and that the responsibility is yours. ALSO have your son call and write the same story. Your son can remind them that he was a minor, and that while he is legally an adult now, that we cannot be held responsible and that you are both responsible and willing to continue to accept that responsibility. Document, document, document. Then continue to try to pay a small amount monthly to make good on your commitment to make payments.</p>

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<p>Trin: I’m sorry to hear about your situation, and I’m glad you are trying to get your son off to a debt free start.</p>

<p>I have dealt with collection agencies and paying off medical bills. If you call, write, explain the situation, they will (from what I’ve seen) accept payments as low as $10-20 a month. </p>

<p>Talk to your son. If he has a full ride, can he get a part-time job (since, as you say, the summer program was such an advantage to him in getting where he is now) and help you pay off the debt? What about summer jobs, or temp. jobs during winter break?</p>

<p>If you haven’t made a payment in a long time that could be why they are billing your son. Once you call and get the payment plan set up, they should get off his back. Don’t be afraid to call. The school/agency will work with you once you explain the situation. The form letters sound nasty, but these people are not “bad guys.” You need to show them your good intentions and reliabililty by making those regular (if small) monthly payments. Good luck.</p>

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<p>

But he does have debt. He owes for the summer program, whether you intended that or not. He was in the program, he benefited from it, and now, being legally an adult, he owes the unpaid cost of it. So the two of you have to deal with that. My kids work summers to pay some of their expenses; like many of the parents posting here my wife and I both worked during college. Your son can too, if that’s the only way to pay this bill. </p>

<p>I respect and admire your determination to see your son through college debt free. And I’m happy that you got enough financial aid to make that possible. But this loose end (which you indicate helped get him into that college with that financial aid) is still a financial obligation which must be dealt with.</p>

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<p>This is a good example why in many cases those fancy summer programs that parents think will get their kids into that university are not worth the money, when summer experiences like jobs or volunteer work, will ulimately do more towards preparing them for adult life.</p>

<p>However, we can get them to stop harrassing your son ( & yourself)

</p>

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<p>If the son worked six weeks at minimum wage in the summer, the debt would be paid. I don’t see what is so offensive about expecting a student to work and pay for what they agreed to buy.</p>

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<p>TrinSF - I am sorry that you are having problems paying off the debt for your son’s program. I don’t know if this will help, but I will offer the suggestion. With the holidays coming up, if any of your family members give gifts, request gifts of cash to specifically pay off the program. Even small amounts can add up to help.</p>

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<p>siliconvalleymom, why do you assume that the son isn’t already working during the summer to raise money for other necessities? </p>

<p>Your comment is like the ones made when we’re asked to raise property taxes: “It’s the cost of your morning cup of coffee.” Well, I’ve given up the price of that cup of coffee twelve times already! </p>

<p>While I may not agree with the original decision, that’s not the issue here. (And the program is also to some degree at fault - why did they allow the kid to attend if they hadn’t been paid? I just got a bill for a $14.00 balance on my d’s bursar’s bill with the statement that until it was paid she wouldn’t be permitted to register for second semester classes!)</p>

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<p>Chedva–how can you say that the program is at fault-“why did they allow the kid to attend if they hadn’t been paid”–the mother signed the contract taking full responsibility for the bill–thats like saying, at a restaurant when you don’t have any money at the end to pay the bill–well, the restaurant is at fault by serving me my meal before asking for my payment–I think that if the student has a scholarship that pays for tuition, travel, books, other expenses, etc, and can afford a girlfriend, then there must be someway for him to come up with $20.00 a week towards his unpaid bill. I get the feeling that this particular bill–long, long overdue–has been put on the backburner and they’re just hoping that it will go away.</p>

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<p>wowl, what a harsh group</p>

<p>life happens and sometimes people make mistakes, sometimes people count on others when they shouldn’t and whatever</p>

<p>doesn’t make them bad, or lazy or any of that</p>

<p>Now< if I were OP I would </p>

<p>Contact the camp, and tell them what the collection people are doing, going after one of their former campers</p>

<p>Contact the collection agency, and say, “this is what I can pay, per month, here is when I will send in the check, and it will be on this day, that this is what I can do. And I hope that is fine.” Do this in writing and follow up with a phone call to verify they received letter. If you get someone on the phone who says, no way, or whatever, go above their heads and ask for a supervisor, they don’t want their collection people to get reported for being uncooperative or abusive. </p>

<p>Have son contact agency saying this was a debt his parent incurred, and they are taking care of it</p>

<p>Do all in writing and keep copies of everything, and the first letter, send certified, so they know you are serious </p>

<p>ANd keep up your end of the deal, don’t promise to pay more than you can, its better to pay less longer than to miss a scheduled payment</p>

<p>Sometimes, paying, say a large payment the first time, like double the monthly payment, shows good faith</p>

<p>As well, sometimes paying twice a month, say two 20 dollar payments instead of one 40dollar one is just easier</p>

<p>If you can, send in small payments, even 5 dollars to bring down the debt</p>

<p>These people want to get paid, and good agencies will work with you and as I said, gut tells me they didn’t even realize the camper was a minor at the time</p>

<p>Don’t be afraid to talk to them, and each time, get the persons name, log in the call time, etc</p>

<p>It will work out, just keep up your end once a payment plan is settled into, ut remember, don’t promise to pay more that you know you can…</p>

<p>This is workable, but you must make contact, to say there is noone to call or contact is just not taking care of business</p>

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<p>I don’t expect the camp cares. If they did- they would have had scholarships or made efforts towards payment arrangements before sending it off to a collection agency.
If the camp was actually run by the school, its probable that their aim was to increase college applications to the school- boosting their US News ranking.
Cynical I know- but thats what years on CC will do to you ;)</p>

<p>We had to deal with collection agencies in the past- particulary regarding hospital bills.
For instance I had a “consultation” with a dr before I was even a patient.
( I was interviewing high risk Obgyns)
I didn’t realize that because I accessed the Drs office from an outside door, that it was part of the hospital.
For the consult ( which was only a few minutes as it was inbetween patients), I was billed by the dr and by the hospital.
Ins would’n’t cover any of it, because I wasn’t being “seen”.
We happened to have $50 a week income before taxes ( strike pay), so paying a dr bill came after food and water.
I also mentioned to the dr that his bill was higher than a colleagues bill for an exam at another hospital.
He dropped the bill, however the hospital refused to drop their bill OR to allow payment arrangements and after 30 days turned it over to a collection agency.
What a mess.
By stating in writing however, that you do not want to be contacted, they will be forced to desist contacting you by mail or phone, unless they are planning to sue .</p>

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<p>(Just as an aside, again, this was not a camp. It was a summer program offered by a top university, which gave full credit at that university. Essentially being enrolled for summer semester at that school. My son recieved the maximum scholarship the program offered, which still left a gap. The bills are from the bursar’s office of that university. There is no collection agency involved yet. The problem is that bills that have been sent by the university to “Parent of X” that I was working on are now being sent to X directly. Why did the university allow my son to attend when I hadn’t paid? My understanding is that they are trying to promote economic diversity in the program and their campus (as many top schools are) and are therefore somewhat lax. )</p>

<p>Someone asked about calling someone involved with the summer high school program. At this point, there is no one in that program involved; the matter is now handled by the main bursar’s office of the university involved. </p>

<p>As others have said, I feel like the original question got lost in all of this. To refocus, my question was very simple – if I signed an agreement to pay for tution when my son was a minor, is that school allowed to pursue him for payment now that he’s not a minor? The problem is not “Gosh, I don’t want to get letters about this.” The problem is that the university is threatening my son’s credit record, which I don’t think is legal given his age when the debt was incurred. </p>

<p>(Incidentally, I just <em>love</em> the Dickensian feel of the suggestion that children naturally inherit the debts of their parents, and that when children become adults, they are responsible for the debts their parents took up on their behalfs, with or without the child’s consent. My son didn’t ask or beg me to do this for him. I said, “You got into this program, and I’m going to find a way to pay for it, I’m going to do this for you.”)</p>

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<p>emerald: I don’t think they need to work on increasing their USNews ranking. :-)</p>

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<p>Trin= if the program is offered by the college specifically for HS students you do in fact have recourse. The program handed the bill over to the bursar’s office just because that’s what they do… the program director and other professionals associated with it are responsible for outreach and academics, and not for the mechanics of the billing, etc.</p>

<p>Please call the current director of this program… even if it’s not the same individual who was in charge when your son attended. If they care about economic diversity yours will not be the first such call they’re received. Explain that your son is now being billed; that you need a repayment schedule that you can manage, and I am reasonably confident you will get a cooperative ear who will intervene with the bursar’s office.</p>

<p>But you must call asap. This is an old obligation and the longer it takes for you to contact the program director the harder it will be to make a compelling case for your situation. </p>

<p>I feel for you and you have every right to resent posters who aren’t sympathetic to your situation… but a tip for you-- you can resent their comments, but even people who say nasty things can sometimes give you helpful insights. The lesson to learn from this is to have the money conversation up front not after the fact… if there were scholarship funds available back then you’d have had a very strong case… now you’re essentially asking the program to dip into the 2008 budget to cover the old shortfall which is just a harder thing to make happen.</p>

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<p>siliconvalleymom: As a reminder, income students like my son get over and above their aid packages is factored into next year’s aid. If my son took all his income and gave it to me for this thing, that money would still be listed on his FAFSA and other forms, and it would then leave a gap in his aid package that he’d have to fill – and he wouldn’t be able to do that by working, because he’s already doing that. Basically, as a full aid student, any money he makes is supposed to go to his education, not to help his family. Because he is receiving just a few dollars short of the full COA, any income he makes will tip him over into losing aid. That would be fine if he was spending that money on his education (“I made $500 for school, so I get $500 less in Federal Grants,”) but leaves a gap otherwise. (“I made $500 and gave it to my mom, lost $500 in Federal Grants, and now have to come up with another $500 to make up for the lost grant money.”)</p>

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<p>Trin. Let’s don’t mess up all their magical thinking with any of those nasty financial matters. How can they feel all superior if we keep doing that? (BTW, I’m sure we’ll hear someone now challenge your interpretation of what would happen to his aid package if he made an extra $500 by working part-time . I just know you are correct that the student’s increased income will decrease his aid package the next year.)</p>

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<p>blossom: Nope, the program has been very clear that they have nothing to do with it, it’s between our family and the university’s bursar’s office. (It’s also not out of their budget – only the scholarship affected them.) It’s already been my intention to send the letters to their office reminding them that I’m the signer and they need to deal with me. My question was only about confirming my understanding that while they can threaten their normal (legal age) student body, that students like my son fall outside of that, because of the program. “Oh, old bill for tuition, must be a regular student…” </p>

<p>If anything, I am just amused that any question on CC seems to become one of class, money, and social issues.</p>

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<p>I actually do think Ivy schools are interested in perhaps not increasing their ranking but in maintaining it.
Why else would they bombard students who have no chance in heck in being admitted with application materials?
Even my daughter, who received about a 1500 on her SATs is receiving lots of big envelopes and phone calls from Ivy schools.
I am just recycling them, but less savvy parents like my sister, think that their kid is being recruited and is an easy in, leading to great disappointment when all the schools applied to are Ivies with equally low admission stats</p>

<p>I don’t think students can legally inherit parent debt, although things are often tried.
For example when my father died and the cause was “unexplained” the insurance company came and forced my mother to sign something saying they didn’t owe her any money. That was dropped, but I have also read stories of loan companies coming after parents to pay their adult students loans after said student * committed suicide* from stress from debts.</p>

<p>Where money is concerned- some have no shame.</p>

<p>Its great it hasn’t gone to a collection agency, the school should be much easier to work out a payment schedule with</p>

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<p>curmudgeon: Yes, well, he has full financial aid <em>and</em> an additional need-based award to cover the usual “minimum student contribution” gap. That award is one that covers the cost of the usual garanteed student loan minimums and work study. He’s actually getting grant aid to within a few hundred dollars of COA. As you know, once he starts getting more than COA, they cut aid or make him give some back. Because he has aid earmarked to fill in workstudy, if he works, they will cut his aid a little. No net gain. (And wow, he feels blessed to have the opportunity to devote himself entirely to his studies in that way.)</p>

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<p>That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking! I was trying to figure out why this discussion (and others) so quickly devolve into pile-ons. It seems like college admissions and financial aid are places where anxieties about financial stability, social class and entitlements, and race all come together. It’s like a perfect storm. No wonder there are so many misreadings and harsh words.</p>