Government Is Trying To Collect Student Loans From Me Even Though Court Says They Aren’t My Responsibility.

Location: South Carolina

Okay, so some backstory: My mother left my dad and I when I was 12. Just up and disappeared so she could marry some dude she met in a chat room (1996 Internet for the win).

Because she was no contact for so long and was not paying child support my father had a judge put a hold on some timberland she owned so it couldn’t be developed, used, or sold, etc.

Years later, he was able to track her down, and arrived to removed to hold in exchange for her taking the responsibility for my student loans. A judge approved this.

However, I am now being contract my student loans debt collection (thanks Trump) saying that I still owe $11,000+, that payments haven’t been made since 2019, and they don’t care what a judge said, my name is the one of the student loans so they’re going to start coming after me and my measly teacher paycheck. This is despite me having sent them the legal documents showing that a judge said these loans were my mother’s responsibility.

I have, of course, tried reaching out to my mother. Unfortunately, the number I got for her from my uncle, she doesn’t pick up. I’ve also tried contacting social media accounts that I believed belong to her. No luck.

My wife thinks I should escalate this somehow, but I can’t think of how to do so besides either taking my mother or the debt collection people to court, which I doubt I could afford either.

I’m moving to California in a month, if that is relevant.