Consumer complaint received 2024-03-02
Product: Debt collection — Private student loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: Todd, Bremer & Lawson, Inc. (CT)

This was the email I sent them which I have heard no reply to in 3 months and now the debt is affecting my credit score : Good Morning, Whomever this may regard, I hope youve had a good start to the holiday season. My name is XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and Ive been contacted by this collections agency to collect a debt owed to XXXX XXXX XXXX I began attending XX/XX/XXXX and officially withdrew from classes XX/XX/XXXX. I withdrew from classes on my XXXX week of attending due to mental health and financial reason. In XXXX XXXX XXXX I was hospitalized for a week, due to issues I had been independently fighting earlier in the school year, which arose when I began attending XXXX XXXX. For the 2 years prior to attending XXXX  there, I had been staying in my car, with distant family, or friends who let me sleep in their bed with them. The decision to withdraw from XXXX XXXX had come from two areas- one being that I was not stable enough to live in a different state, and employ a new lifestyle with complete strangers. Consistency or stability was not something I had grown to learn, nor anything the previous 2 years of my life had taught me. I had been in the hospital for XXXX XXXX as well, and being in a new location with XXXX family out of state to rely on, or money to support myself through this education at XXXX XXXX, I quickly began to regret my decision to attend. 
This change of heart was reflected in the first week of classes when I had reached out to my academic advising and financial bureau. When initially accepting my offer, I received a {$45000.00} scholarship as well as the federal pell grant to help support costs. I understood I would need to take out additional loans to attend, but my math had assumed the yearly cost was {$17000.00}. I reached out to my resources immediately when I learned that my semester tuition costs were {$17000.00}, not including fees and housing. This was completely unaffordable to me, nor have I ever seen that amount of money in my life. Unfortunately I do not remember who specifically guided me and what their department was, but I was let know that there are special scholarships to pursue within the school for students who have my need for aid, with no familial support to fund their education. Unfortunately these offers of aid were never brought to my attention past a singular conversation. 
As the first month passed by, my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I was still in need of loans and funds for my semester bill. I never left my XXXX  room to make friends, and spent a majority of my time there in my room studying, sleeping, or XXXX. My roommate had me leave my room at least 4 times a week for her own XXXX guests, or woke me up in odd hours of the night to bring back someone else. The XXXX friends I had there, who I met on social media prior to attending, were persistent on the three of hanging out with their two other friends who had a habit of being XXXX  and XXXX. This presented as a unique issue to me because despite being XXXX, I did not make it known, and felt extremely uncomfortable around them as well as my floor mates who were blatantly against XXXX people. This was not a quiet rule but rather the norm I found at XXXX XXXX, and I did not deem it a safe space for members of the XXXX+ community despite how it is advertised. My roommate was also XXXX, and despite our differences, both of us found ourselves in uncomfortable and hurtful situations when I extended her an invite to hangout with the group who would make it known our differences to them were not welcomed. In essence, I didnt feel supported as an individual with differences like not being XXXX XXXX XXXX, and this contributed to my isolating feelings. On top of this, my roommate and I dealt with a floor mate routinely banging on our doors and screaming threats at it throughout the night, after people who associated with us accused him of XXXX XXXX someone. Though the XXXX XXXX occurred and XXXX action was taken against it or the student, there was XXXX involvement of my roommate nor I in the incident. This was my final straw as I no longer felt comfortable or safe on campus, regardless of being in my dead-bolted dorm or not. Because of my inability to afford the campus, fears of student retaliation against me or my roommate, and extreme isolation, I no longer felt fit to attend XXXX XXXX nor was it a community meant for me. 
Since coming home, I have been working 40-50 hour work weeks, and paying rent to live somewhere. My car was recently stolen in XXXX also, with all clothing I owned and anything I couldve furnished my apartment with. This is an unfortunate and non-related event, but it has lead me to uber to my current job as I can not afford another vehicle at the moment. I do not write this as a sob story but rather a true account of the struggles Ive faced and why this debt must remain unpaid or be wiped clean. I did not receive any credits from courses during my time there, nor anything I can use to benefit me academically or professional. I and XXXX XXXX XXXX can offer nothing to each other, and I ask that I can please waive my debt with them. I can not afford my XXXX rent at the moment, I am waiting for XXXX XXXX, and do everything I can to solely support myself. I hope this is read in good faith and understanding, I am simply trying to move upward with my life from what Ive been given, and attending XXXX XXXX was mistaken for a way out of XXXX. 

Best regards, XXXX XXXX