The bank didn't garnish your tax return. The bank cannot garnish your tax return. They don't have the legal ability to do that. Your tax return was garnished by the Department of Education, who already paid for the loan, because student loans are federally guaranteed. If you don't pay them back, the government automatically does.virgil wrote:Have given verbal and written requests for validation of the debt, or really, any information at all. They have not provided such, promising it's totally in the mail.
Have been attempting to get in touch with one lawyer, but are getting brushed off. We've been told that proving the loan was done fraudulently will be difficult because the loan was taken out at the same bank, for the same college, at about the same time. We know the loan is fraudulent because it's under the wrong name and the real loan went directly to the school, who verified that one to be completely paid off.
Out of curiosity, if we somehow manage to actually get a court order saying the student loan is identity theft, will the money taken from the tax offset (about $3k by this point) be recoverable?
Technically, they don't have the right to try to collect from you at all by this point. They're double dipping. The loan has been paid off by the Department of Education and the debt is owned by the DOE, not by the bank.
But really, this is talk to a lawyer time. Because I can't tell you one way or the other.