Help, college my daughter didn't admit to just took out student loan in her name

Paying for College
1

Hi all,
My daughter is happily attending the college of her choice for about one month now. Today I received a letter from the Direct Loans from the US Department of Education. They inform me one of the schools she applied to, but did NOT enroll in has taken out a student loan in her name. When I call this, they keep transfering me around and not answering my questions. There is no phone number listed on the load disclosure statement I received. I would appreciate advice on how to proceed. It appears there is no fraud from another student, as the letter came to the correct address, and the correct phone number is listed. Also have any of you heard of this happening, it is completely new to me.
Thanks VERY much for your help.

2

I would write to both the school and the USDE. Also, can you pull her credit and see if it is there? It may simply be a mistake that they sent you the letter.

3

Identity Theft? https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/student-loan-ranger/articles/2017-09-06/how-to-dispute-a-student-loan

4

Contact that other college and see if they have any info. The school can’t take Direct Loan money unless. Student is enrolled. Please tell me this is a regular college and NO a for profit school.

Also, contact your daughter’s college…did she take the loan there? Only one school can receive the loan.

5

I would consider the possibility that the letter is a scam. Don’t give personal info over the phone unless you verify the agency on the phone. Did you get the phone number from the DoE website?

6

Take a deep breath. It is possible the loan was created but never disbursed. Did your D accept her financial aid at this school? If so, that may be what happened. Have your D call the loan servicer listed on the letter - she should ask if aid was ever disbursed. She can log into www.nslds.ed.gov & view her loans … she can see if anything was disbursed in her name that she did not authorize. Another thing she can do is ask the aid office at her school to look in COD to see if a loan was disbursed in her name at any other school. EDIT: JUST REALIZED THAT THIS WAS FROM ED, NOT A SERVICER. In this case, my guess is that the school created the loan but did not disburse it. If they had, you would have received a letter from the servicer. Have your D check the nslds website to see if there are any other loans disbursed in her name. If not, I think it’s just an originated loan that will sit there as long as she never has any enrollment at that school.

Really important: If the loan WAS disbursed, did your D enroll in classes, decide not to attend, but never formally drop the classes?