People Are Being Arrested for Not Paying Their Student Loans

Yep, this is a real thing. The federal government is now dispatching armed U.S. Marshals to arrest people for delinquent student loan payments – even if they don’t know they owe student loans.

Last week, Paul Aker was arrested outside his home in Houston, Texas, by seven armed U.S. Marshals for a delinquent student loan taken out in 1987. Aker denies that he was notified about the loan and told Fox 26 that he had no knowledge of the loan’s existence.

According to CNNMoney, the U.S. Marshal Service made several attempts to get in touch with Aker about the loan, including a phone call in 2012 where he was asked to appear in court, but he denies that ever happened.

The U.S. Marshals took him to federal court where he had to sign a payment plan for the 29-year-old loan. Maybe to a lot of people’s surprise, the federal government is now using private debt collectors to go after those with unpaid student loans.

According to Fox 26, Congressmen Gene Green said that “attorneys and debt collectors are getting judgments in federal court and asking judges to use the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest those who have failed to pay their federal student loans.”

Many people, like Aker, have already been arrested and more arrests are likely. There are currently between 1200 to 1500 warrants for people who have failed to pay their loans, according to Fox 26.

Aker’s loan was originally for $1500, but as interest accrued, it now stands at $5,700 and he has agreed to make monthly payments of $200, according to CNNMoney.