US Marshals arresting people defaulting on student loans and failing to appear in court.

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**ScootyPuffJunior**

d-usa wrote:
And now for some highlights from the rest of the story

Back in November 2007, 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. 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."
In the end, Aker went to court and was released. As far as we know, he did not spend any time in jail. Aker claims he was never notified about the order and that could very well be true. His address listed on the complaint is different than the only listing for a "Winford P. Aker" Yahoo Finance found in the Houston area. His court summons may have been sent to an old address (efforts to reach Aker were unsuccessful). However, the U.S. Marshals Service maintains they made every effort to track him down, "including searching at numerous known addresses."

It’s not clear why it took the Marshals more than three years to track him down, but the fact is he was arrested for failure to appear in court — not for his unpaid debt alone.

That makes more sense.

I guess we could changed the thread title to "Man arrested for failure to appear in court" now, huh?

**sebster**

OgreChubbs wrote:
It is stupid anyways the knowledge they gain in said school helps the country keep up to date. To start limiting school is just a way to make sure the poor can't compete and then get worse jobs earn less money. It is a slow form of removing middle class and segregation.

No-one is limiting school. While people are expected to pay for their higher education, there are government programs in place to make sure people will be lent the money they need to pay tuition. It's just that once they've been to school, it's expected that the debt is actually repaid, because of course it is that's how debt works.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
That makes more sense.

I guess we could changed the thread title to "Man arrested for failure to appear in court" now, huh?

Or how about 'Man arrested for failure to appear in court, anti-government nuts heavily edit story to play up to their own fantasies'?

**timetowaste85**

djones520 wrote:
timetowaste85 wrote:
God, if I only had a $1500 student loan debt, I'd pay it all off tomorrow!

My payments had lapsed, but I came to an agreeable situation with the dickbags collecting my hard earned cash.

I love this school of thought.

I mean seriously, what right at all should they have to expect you pay back the hard earned money that they gave you.

Yes, I know. Shocking. I grew up with the group told "go to college and take out loans, it'll all be fine and you'll get an amazing job just by going". Then the economy tanked. Took multiple years to get a decent job, had to defer as long as I could, and then had to just pay whatever I was able whenever I was able. There were a couple mistakes made, but when I had to choose a roof or loans, well...wasn't a tough choice. And Sallie Mae calls you every day, harrassingly, if you're two or three days late on a payment. So yes. They can be dickbags.

And no, I know it's not ideal. But it's being paid off. It is what it is. I'm glad I have a job where I'm able to pay and still save up.

**LordofHats**

I think that's true of debt collection in general

I had to change my phone number last year because I kept getting calls from collectors looking for some woman I've never met (I assume resulting from a typo). I normally got calls from them once or twice in a blue moon. Then about 10 months ago they started calling five six times a day. I told them it wasn't her number and I'd never known anyone by that name and then they started calling every 15 minutes every afternoon four two days and I said feth it.

Anyway, I think there's a number of reasons debt collectors and loaners are not always popular people

**ZergSmasher**

LordofHats wrote:
I think that's true of debt collection in general

I had to change my phone number last year because I kept getting calls from collectors looking for some woman I've never met (I assume resulting from a typo). I normally got calls from them once or twice in a blue moon. Then about 10 months ago they started calling five six times a day. I told them it wasn't her number and I'd never known anyone by that name and then they started calling every 15 minutes every afternoon four two days and I said feth it.

Anyway, I think there's a number of reasons debt collectors and loaners are not always popular people

Usually the ones that call you over and over are scammers pretending to be debt collectors.

**LordofHats**

ZergSmasher wrote:
LordofHats wrote:
I think that's true of debt collection in general

I had to change my phone number last year because I kept getting calls from collectors looking for some woman I've never met (I assume resulting from a typo). I normally got calls from them once or twice in a blue moon. Then about 10 months ago they started calling five six times a day. I told them it wasn't her number and I'd never known anyone by that name and then they started calling every 15 minutes every afternoon four two days and I said feth it.

Anyway, I think there's a number of reasons debt collectors and loaners are not always popular people

Usually the ones that call you over and over are scammers pretending to be debt collectors.

I'd believe that, but I'd been getting calls for this woman for 4-5 years. It's just the last bunch that seemed to be really really aggressive about it.

Apparently banks/collectors start selling the debt after a certain point, and since my number was the only contact number anyone ever had I kept getting the periodic calls each time the debt was sold. One of my parent's uncles is similar. Guy was a con artist of some kind (so I'm told) and has huge debt. Every now and then we get calls from banks and collectors looking for him. Most just stop once we say "wrong number." Doesn't make it much less annoying though

**ZergSmasher**

LordofHats wrote:
ZergSmasher wrote:
LordofHats wrote:
I think that's true of debt collection in general

I had to change my phone number last year because I kept getting calls from collectors looking for some woman I've never met (I assume resulting from a typo). I normally got calls from them once or twice in a blue moon. Then about 10 months ago they started calling five six times a day. I told them it wasn't her number and I'd never known anyone by that name and then they started calling every 15 minutes every afternoon four two days and I said feth it.

Anyway, I think there's a number of reasons debt collectors and loaners are not always popular people

Usually the ones that call you over and over are scammers pretending to be debt collectors.

I'd believe that, but I'd been getting calls for this woman for 4-5 years. It's just the last bunch that seemed to be really really aggressive about it.

Apparently banks/collectors start selling the debt after a certain point, and since my number was the only contact number anyone ever had I kept getting the periodic calls each time the debt was sold. One of my parent's uncles is similar. Guy was a con artist of some kind (so I'm told) and has huge debt. Every now and then we get calls from banks and collectors looking for him. Most just stop once we say "wrong number." Doesn't make it much less annoying though

Okay, I get it now. I mentioned the scammer thing because I was getting calls from some group calling themselves the "Debt Consultants Affairs Division". Like four or five times a day. I googled the phone number and found out that the number was in Madison, Wisconsin, and that it was a known scam operation.

Also, I agree, its annoying as hell!

**Breotan**

You've got to be careful. It can be hard to tell the difference between a legit collections agency and a scam. Still, you should know the debts you owe and the account numbers. Never give it out and insist on a paper billing statement.