How do I repay my delinquent Canadian student loan?

August 19, 2007 4:51 PM

How do I repay my delinquent Canadian student loan?

I am a Canadian citizen that graduated college in the US in 2000. At the time of graduation I had a loan of approximately $26,000 from Royal Bank. When the payments began I paid it a few times then defaulted, for whatever reasons a 22 year old might. About 3 years later I received a letter in the mail from a collections agency and phoned them about the loan but they told me they had already sold it and could not help me. I have remained in the states, at only 3 separate addresses but have not been contacted since. I am assuming I still owe someone this money and would like to repay it but I have no idea where to begin. As I am no longer living in Canada (and have not since high school, almost 10 years ago) I can imagine that it might be somewhat difficult to find me, but I had another Canadian school loan that was paid every month for the last 7 years. How can I find out who has this loan?

posted by bhkart to work & money (7 comments total)

Check your credit report. See if there is a notice on there. If so, see if it is from the most recent owner of your debt. And please don't group all 22 year olds together.
posted by crewshell at 5:35 PM on August 19, 2007

Go to the Canadian websites for Transunion and Equifax. Request a free credit report. Do not pick the one where you have to pay. When you get the report, follow up with the designated creditor.
posted by acoutu at 5:46 PM on August 19, 2007

Also, check whether the statute of limitations applies. You might not owe them anything anymore.
posted by stereo at 6:05 PM on August 19, 2007

I actually tried to get the credit report a few times and had trouble on the site since I do not have a Canadian CC # or address. I guess I can try to have a family member do it. Any other tips are appreciated.
posted by bhkart at 6:12 PM on August 19, 2007

Is this a student loan of the kind now administered by the National Student Loans Service Centre, or is it a normal bank loan that was used to pay student expenses?

In the former case, I would get in touch with them:

"National Student Loans Service Centre
Public Institutions Division
P.O. Box 4030
Mississauga ON
L5A 4M4

Toll Free: 1 888 815-4514 (within North America)
TTY: 1 888 815-4556
Toll Free: 800 2 225-2501 (outside North America)

Our borrower services representatives are available to assist you Monday to Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., your local time."
posted by sindark at 6:31 PM on August 19, 2007

bhkart, didn't RBC make you include a co-signator on your student loan? They did for me, and I graduated in 2001.

Basically, if I ever defaulted on the loan, RBC was going to go after my co-signator for repayment. Whoever the co-signator on the loan was, you may want to touch base with them and see if they've been getting any hassle over it.
posted by LN at 6:04 AM on August 20, 2007

BHKart, you should be looking for the form you mail in, not the one you fill out on the website. I suppose you could put down a Canadian address, if you have any ID that shows that address. But they may not require you to have a Canadian address -- check the form.
posted by acoutu at 5:27 PM on August 20, 2007