Until a private student loan lender decides to file a lawsuit against you, there’s nothing but chaos and uncertainty. That’s all replaced, for better or worse, the instant the case is filed.

There’s a natural order to things. Up is above, and down is below. For every day there is night. That’s the concept of Tao, and it enables us to walk through the world with a sense of certainty.

That certainty, unfortunately, is thrown out the window when it comes to dealing with a past due private student loan. Consider all the points of uncertainty when your student loan goes into default:

  • Will the student loan go to collections and, if so, when?
  • Will the collectors call you at work?
  • Will you get fired because your boss doesn’t want you to get non-work calls during the business day?
  • Will the lender sue you, or let it go?
  • If there’s a lawsuit, when will it happen?
  • Will they settle, or will they play hardball with you?
  • When will this all be over?

Wipe Away The Uncertainty

When you’re sued for a private student loan, it’s understandable to feel the rise of panic in your chest. You need to act quickly in order to avoid a default judgment, and beyond that you’ve got to deal with litigation.

But at least there’s certainty. If not of outcome, then at least of, “what happens next.”

Finally, we’re dealing with lawyers representing the private student loan lender. Gone are the cut-rate bottom-feeding collection agents, toiling in anonymity behind glowing computer screens in boiler rooms across the nation, sweating as they contemplate their meager existence and self-loathing between phone calls designed to scare the last few dollars out of your pockets.

Say farewell to the people who have no information about your student loan beyond what’s provided on their screen, powerless to give you copies of your documents or an accounting of how they arrived at the amount they claim is due.

In their place we’ve got lawyers with a direct line to the lender – usually a trust like National Collegiate Student Loan Trust or a “too big to fail” lending institution. They can provide copies of the Note you signed, an accounting of how the balance due is calculated, and proof that the entity suing you is legally entitled to collect the student loan debt.

There is a court system that provides deadlines and procedures for getting to the final decision. A judge to sort through evidence and make rulings.

Certainty.

Accept It – And Deal With It

Now that we’ve got some certainty, we need to accept the reality of the situation. The lawsuit isn’t going to go away, and ignoring it won’t make things better.

Once you’ve accepted that reality, you can deal with it. File a response, invoke the magic words, and be a part of the process.

It may not be fun or easy, but at least you know what’s going to happen next.