<prompt> Human: I graduated from college 2 years ago with about 20k in student loans. All of which, I thought, were federal loans and were being paid back through fedloan. Apparently, one of my federal loans, a Perkins loan, was through my school.My parents got divorced, I moved 3 times, and had quite a shuffle between high school and where Im at now, so long story short, I have never been told that this loan existed. My dad and I no longer talk, and in an attempt to hang on to me, he labeled himself as my guardian on all of my loan documents in high school. When I graduated and Ive been paying my fedloan account every month, little did I know that this perkins loan, and all of its paperwork, were being sent to my dad. Since we dont get along and he doesnt care for me anymore, he didnt tell me or my mom. The loan was sold to a collections agency who again, tried contacting my dad with no success.I got a call the other day from the collections agency trying to find me, and I had no idea what they were talking about. They provided my dads phone number and his address when they cited attempts to collect. I had great credit, 780, and now that this happened, it is reported as in default. My question to you guys is, were they in the wrong by not contacting me, the person whos credit was being affected until after they reported on my credit? They had my phone number obviously since they contacted me the other day. Also, they are asking for an extra 2,500, 50 of the original loan. Most of that I assume is a collections fee, but is this a situation where I can negotiate? I make a lot of money for someone my age, so its really annoying that this is happening, had he called me before reporting on my credit, I would have just paid it in full since I am about to buy a house... What are my optionswhat would you do in my situation. Im completely new to all of this.Assistant: Tell them you will settle the debt for less than what they are asking. They buy this debt for pennies on the dollar. No sense to give them the full amount Human: How much should I shoot for? Original loan amount was 4,000, I paid him 3,000 the day he called me because he kind of scared me into it, and hes now saying that the amount that I still owe is 2,500. Will paying what hes asking for help my chances of fixing my credit?Assistant: No. Those loans have already been reported to credit bureaus. Their job is just to collect. Tell him you will pay him 500 for it. IF he doesnt agree, then hang up. They will try to bully you, and silence you. They are bullies nothing more. Human: So ask him if Its possible to pay to delete, and if theres nothing more he can do for me, ignore him?  <response>: He doesnt care about you. The original company has already written off the debt from my understanding. Any damage done to your credit report is already been reported. Like I stated, try to settle. The problem comes if your debt is student loan debt. I would still settle. 