Consumer complaint received 2019-12-13
Company: Schachter Portnoy, L.L.C.
State: NJ
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms

Complaint:
I listed my house for sale, when the attorney 's did the title search, a judgment came up in my name. I found out that my son had defaulted on his student loans, which I had co-signed when he went to school. I immediately reached out to collection agency to find out the status of the account, as well as what could be done to have the lien released to proceed with the sale of my home. They gave me general numbers over the phone. 
Advised that the account had not had a payment since XX/XX/XXXX, and that the outstanding balance was approx. {$56000.00}. They also said they would close the account for {$49000.00}. 
Obviously, that is not an option for me. I explained that I am selling my home because I am in financial trouble and they kept asking what my " offer '' was. I explained that I was just calling to find out the situation and what could be done to resolve it. Eventually during the course of the conversation, I suggested a payment amount of {$20000.00} from the proceeds of the house, to which the woman advised that she did not know if I would be allowed to sell the house. She suggested a good faith payment of {$900.00} and told me to submit a payoff request, along with a copy of the preliminary closing statement for the sale of house and a statement of said " offer. '' I explained I was set to close on the house XX/XX/XXXX, which was 2 weeks away. The woman said they would try to respond by the end of the week. I reached out to my attorney 's office and sent the paperwork they requested. When I followed up two days later, I was informed they could no longer communicate with me because I had retained an attorney. That technically was not the case, as the attorney was not retained in reference to the judgment, but the sale of the house. However, I thought it might better to let the attorney speak with them directly. He was kind enough to begin trying to communicate on my behalf. He did speak with the collection agency attorney once, and followed up with an email for an update XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX they responded saying they had no response from their client and would follow up again. My attorney then made numerous phone calls which were not returned. I also called myself and was put on hold until the line was eventually disconnected. My attorney sent another email XX/XX/XXXX advising that we had been served with Time of the Essence to which as of today, XX/XX/XXXX has not been responded to. Additionally, I sent a personal appeal to the collection agency attorney on XX/XX/XXXX, begging him to help me resolve this terrible situation. Also, as of today, XX/XX/XXXX, that message has gone acknowledged, never mind a response. In the last two weeks, I have been threatened with legal action from the buyers for my house. Today, we received a formal letter advising that I am in breach of contract, and that they intend to sue for damages of {$10000.00}. I fully understand that there is a legitimate issue here, but the collection agency is unwilling to work with me to resolve the problem. I am asking for assistance to get them to talk to me to explore what options are available to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation