Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

I have a debt, a small one when I went to community college in Ontario about 20 years ago. Does anyone know about student loans and whether there is a statute of limitations on when they stop hunting for you? I didnt intentionally not pay the debt, it got lost in bureaucracy as i left Canada to go to university in the UK and got even more debts. I was a student until not too long ago.

Anyone know about this? Will the government black list over this? will they notify inland revenue as soon as i start work again in Canada when i arrive?

The debt wasnt much but after 20 years of accrued interest it could be pretty high now!

anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? I would like to pay the debt but dont want to open old wounds if i don't have to.

thanks

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

Why not just pay whatever you owe? :confused:

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

20 years of interest is a good reason.


They would probably be open to offers though as by now its probably long since writen off and they will be glad to get anything back. Worth paying to try and clean up your credit rating though if its attached to your old SIN

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

http://osap.gov.on.ca/eng/not_secure/repay.htm

If you have defaulted on your Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan, and loan collection is unsuccessful, the Government of Canada and/or the Government of Ontario may direct Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to withhold your income tax refund and applying the proceeds against the amount owing. You will be advised that your income tax refund may be withheld, and you will have the opportunity to contact OSAP to make arrangements to repay the outstanding debt instead of having your income tax refund withheld.


You must contact the financial institution (bank, credit union, or caisse populaire) holding the loan(s) to make repayment arrangements if you have either of the following:

Canada Student Loans negotiated before August 1, 2000, or

Which might mean you may get away with it.

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

"or" what? is something missing from your post??

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

Go look for yourself it was a cut and paste job from the website.

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

My Ontario and Canada student loans caught up with me in the UK. I didn't pay for a couple of years but eventually I got the nerve and contacted the collection agencies. Agents would constantly call me and harrass me to pay off the debt but they always ended up being satisfied with large monthly payments. I'm still not sure if my credit rating has recovered.

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

It is important to note that, there is no limitation period for the collection of the Ontario portion of the Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan. While you are in default, the interest will continue to accrue on the unpaid balance of your loan.

You are responsible for repaying your loan and any loan, grant, bursary, and/or scholarship overpayment. If you do not make your payments, you will be considered in default. Your debt (loan and/or overpayment) will be turned over to a collection agency and your default will be reported to a credit bureau; as a result, your ability to obtain credit may be impaired. You will also be restricted from receiving further financial assistance until the default has been cleared.

Guess it could - I can't find any info on the interest rates and, or penalties, though. :eek:

Re: Old debts - will they catch up with me?
 

Do you what the interest was and how much you owed?

If so it's pretty simple to work out how much you owe.

I suspect being a student loan the rate would be cheap, but if it were 5% then the compound interest over 20 years would be:

Amount_of_loan x 1.05^20 = Amount_of_loan x 2.65

At 3%:
Amount_of_loan x 1.03^20 = Amount_of_loan x 1.8

So, you would only owe 2.65 times the orignal sum at 5%, 1.8 times at 3%. If I were you, and I could afford to pay it off, I would do so.

Cheers,

Ian.