US Marshals Are Arresting People Who Are Behind on Student Loans

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/35240-us-marshals-are-arresting-people-who-are-behind-on-student-loans

That's right, the U.S. Marshals Service in Houston is arresting people who have outstanding, unpaid federal student loan debt.

Houston resident Paul Aker told Fox 26 that seven deputy U.S. marshals showed up at his home with guns over a $1,500 federal student loan he took out in 1987. He says he was taken to federal court where he signed a payment plan to repay the 29-year-old debt.

Rep. Gene Green told the news station that "the federal government is now using private debt collectors to go after those who owe student loans."

[CBGLuthier]

1. Actually, they are arresting people who ignore orders to appear in court.

Just like many years ago when I ignored a traffic ticket and two cops came to my house looking for me.




Back in November 2006, Aker was sued by the federal government for nonpayment of more than $2,600 in unpaid federal student loan debt, according to documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (embedded below). The court record shows that Aker, listed as Winford P. Aker in the complaint, did not appear in court to answer the lawsuit and, as is common when student loan borrowers fail to appear, the presiding judge ruled against him and ordered Aker to pay the full balance on April 17, 2007.

According to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service, Aker repeatedly refused to show up in court after being contacted several times. The agency said Aker told them by phone he would not appear in court to answer the summons. Disobeying a court order is a criminal offense. Within a few months, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest, which the U.S. Marshals carried out. So, yes, Aker was arrested, but not just because he owed a little student loan debt. He was arrested for disobeying a court order.

The Marshals statement goes on to describe the arrest, saying Aker "resisted arrest and retreated back into his home" when agents arrived:

"The situation escalated when Aker verbally said to the deputies that he had a gun. After Aker made the statement that he was armed, in order to protect everyone involved, the deputies requested additional law enforcement assistance. Additional deputy marshals and local law enforcement officers responded to the scene. After approximately two hours, the law enforcement officers convinced Aker to peacefully exit his home, and he was arrested."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/paul-aker-us-marshal-student-loan-debt-arrest-212047386.html

[rjsquirrel]

2. Bullshit

US Marshalls are not private debt collectors and they can't arrest you for civil charges like debt.

There's more to the story: ignoring a court appearance is a criminal act.

I don't have the greatest sympathy here because I have met way too many people who think they don't have to pay back student loans (taxpayer funded) even if they can afford to. Yes there are plenty of people who can't make it and there are programs for such people. But a surprising number of well off people never pay back their loans.

[JimDandy]

5. Private debt collectors are using the court system and our taxes

Last edited Thu Feb 18, 2016, 08:44 AM - Edit history (2)

to collect these debts that they bought for pennies on the $. And the courts, judges and US Marshals are complicit in this debtors' prison scheme they cooked up.

It's comparable to what was happening in Ferguson Missouri, before the big public outcry focused so much attention on that municipality's slimy fine/warrant/arrest /more fines money generating process that lawmakers were shamed into fixing it statewide.

ETS: The normal civil court process for debt collection has been perverted in recent years in some jurisdictions. In most jurisdictions, it used to be the debt collector went to court, won the case (usually by default) and then got a judgement entered in court that gave them the right to collect on that debt using leins, wage garnishment, or attaching and selling any personal property of the debtors that they could locate.

The key here being it was up to the debt collector to do the work of finding where the debtor was employed, finding out what property he owned and where it was located and then following state law to seize that property.

That system was perverted into a debtors' prison system by inserting into the court process the requirements that: 1. if the debt collector won and got a judgement, then the debtor was required to fill out an income/resources/expense statement (sort of like being forced to testify against yourself) that would then be used to determine whether the s/he could pay on the debt and how much
2. if the debtor did not complete that statement the court would have an arrest warrant issued for the debtor (of couse this now means fines that go along with that);
3. now law enforcement (in this case the US Marshalls) can be called in (and the debtor is now assessed thousands in fees for them to arrest her);
4. the debtor is not read her rights, because, suddenly it somehow becomes a civil process again and therefore they don't get a lawyer provided to them,
5. they are quickly hauled in front of a judge who makes them sign papers, without benefit of a lawyer, stating that they agree to pay the fines/fees/debt in amounts certain by specified dates and that, if they don't follow through, they will be arrested again.

Peachy little process that.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Do you have any proof of that assertion?

Do you have any proof that "private debt collectors" are buying Sallie Mae and other government backed student loan debt for "pennies on the dollar"?

Or did you just type that out because it sounded good and you think you heard it somewhere?

[JimDandy]

12. Several articles over the years about this happening, especially with

for profit colleges.

As a matter of fact, OccupyWS, was actually buying up some of those student loan debts for pennies on the dollar and then forgiving the loans.

This en masse US Marshal student loan debtor round-up schtick has been done before in other jurisdictions.

By the way, I added an ETA, describing my understanding of how the court procedures have been changed to allow this debtor's warrant/arrest mechanism to be inserted into what had been almost entirely a civil court process.

[rjsquirrel]

9. Yah that's bs and you know it /eom

And even so, if you accept student loans subsidized by taxpayers, don't you think it's your obligation to pay them back?

It's not free money. It's loan. Don't like it? Don't major in a subject without job prospects.

Sorry but I believe deadbeats need to be taken to court and forced to pay if they have assets. And I have known or heard about too many defaulters who could easily afford to pay their loans off.

When you get sued and don't show up for court the cops have a duty to enforce the law. This isn't Ferguson warrants we are talking about. This is freely chosen debt held by people who got educations with the money. Bernie ain't president yet. College still costs money. And as with healthcare those of us who do pay are subsidizing way too much fraud by people who could pay, and that ends up leaving less for people who truly can't pay.

It's a loan. Whst part of "loan" is unclear here?

[JimDandy]

10. It is a perversion of our legal process to satisfy civil debt in this manner.

And it's wrong and unjust.

Debt collectors are a business! They need to use their own resources to collect their debt. If they have to feed off the teat of the taxpayer in order to run their business, then they need to get out of that business.

See how that works?

[underahedgerow]

3. Actually, they arrested ONE guy.

So far.

Whether there will be more remains to be seen.

Pay your debts or declare bankruptcy. I know education is expensive, but take care of your business.

[JimDandy]

4. Student loans can almost never be discharged in bankruptcy. n/t

[brooklynite]

6. Not surprisingly, there are more details...

The U.S. Marshals Service made several attempts to serve Aker with a court order requesting that he appear in federal court and searched numerous known addresses, the agency said in a statement. The Marshals Service said it spoke with him by phone in 2012 requesting he appear in court, but he refused.

Aker told CNNMoney that he does not remember having that conversation, and said that he hasn't received any notification about the outstanding loan in a long time.

A judge issued a warrant for his arrest in December of 2012 after he failed to appear in court, the Marshals Service said.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/16/pf/college/arrested-student-loan-marshals/

[Cobalt Violet]

8. One person is not "people".

Who are the others?

[Vinca]

11. Two words: GO BERNIE!

[Sam_Fields]

13. So the government spent $5k to collect a $1.5k debt