Family wins student loan battle with bank helped by online petition - dead son's loans forgiven

[Liberal_in_LA]

Evesham family wins student loan battle

For eight years, the Bryski family battled with bank executives and creditors over the unpaid student loans and debt of its son and brother, Christopher Bryski, a Rutgers student who became debilitated after falling from a tree.

Even after Bryski's death in 2006, the bank continued its collection efforts, claiming Bryski's father had co-signed the loans and therefore was responsible for the debt.

"Eight years since (Christopher) got hurt, we've been dealing with them," Bryski's older brother, Ryan, said Friday, recalling the hours spent on the phone with bank representatives and scores of letters demanding payment.

On Wednesday night, the bank called the Evesham family with a different message: an apology and a promise that all remaining debt was forgiven.

The change of heart from Key Bank in Cleveland followed the creation of an online petition on the website Change.org that gathered more than 80,000 supporters in a matter of days.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/evesham-family-wins-student-loan-battle/article_02de3008-5e7c-5f75-8276-68773625c1a8.html

family will continue to lobby on behalf of others

[connecticut yankee]

1. "They" say

online petitions don't work. But this is a good example of one that did, and there have been many others.

Keep it up!

[Daveparts3]

2. Sadly, I'll wager

Some cockroach attorney will buy the discharged debt and start the process all over again.

[burrowowl]

3. Is that possible?

[aikoaiko]

4. Its really too bad it took publicity for the bank to do the decent thing.

Its not rocket science.

[caveat_imperator]

5. Glad to know this worked.

I wonder if ALEC or a similar type cabal is drafting legislation to outlaw petitions like this already.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. After grad school, when my payments started

They sent me paperwork saying that they prefer I pay online. Fine, I prefer that too.

So I attempted to set up the account, but they kept putting up this form for me to fill out with 2 family members and 2 friends (preferrably co-workers) names, addresses and phone numbers.Website indicated that it was a "law" that they needed to collect that information. Said they can't collect my payments until I complete the "exit information" - ie, other people they can contact if I default.

Wasn't going to happen, so I kept cancelling out of their registration process and sent manual/physical checks to the payment center of record.

Finally, I got a call asking me to please start using their online system and I said "only if you bypass all of that friends and family nonsense, this is my loan and if I die you can take it out of my estate".

Believe it or not, they set up my account over the phone without that extraneous information and I haven't provided it to this day.

I applaud this family for taking this to the mat. It was the 2005 Bankers Protection bill that made student loans undischargable in bankruptcy and collectable from beyond the grave. Good for them in beating the system on this.

[Auntie Bush]

7. Oh my God... the same thing happened to my son and our family! It was a horrible

inhumane experience.

My son was killed in a car accident in 2000. He was in his third year in college and had a healthy debt.
My husband had to co-sign a Terry loan for him to continue. After his death I thought the loan would be forgiven at death. No way...the full balance became due immediately. Then the phone calls an harassment started. They wouldn't listen to reason. They notified his credit card company and they made his full balance due immediately and cancelled his card. Thank goodness I had my own !

They finally took my husband to court and he agreed to pay a certain amount monthly...which was still more than we could afford as he only had a part time job because he had cancer and was undergoing chemo and couldn't work longer hours. Eventually we fell behind on that agreement. Back came the threatening letters for another court appearance. We agreed to pay a little less but it was still impossible as his treatments made him too sick and he had to cut further down on his hours.

I think they finally gave up as one day they decided to forgive the remainder of his loan...after putting us through hell and back and ruining my husbands credit. I hate them for what they put my poor sick husband through...7 years of harassment which stopped only one year before he died.

Warning! Don't sign or co-sign any loans you can't afford to pay in full in case of an emergency because banks are heartless and and relentless.