Hello and thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.
This is my situation. I applied for OSAP in 1995 and recieved it that year, and then again in 1996, 97 and 98. In 1999 I foud other means of paying my tuition until I ceased going to university all together in December 2000. I applied for interest relief on the loans in 1999, but because of a mix up in the mail, I was approved by the federal government but not by the provincial government, as they claimed I missed the deadline to apply. They told me in 1999, I can’t remember who exactly, possibly the finacial institution that was the lender, that I needed to make a payment of $500 immediately or my loan would become deliquent. I had $700 to my name at the time so I decided not to pay it and do nothing about it otherwise. A short time later I recieved a call saying that I needed to pay a little over $12K, the balance of the total Ontario loan, in full, or it would be sent to collections. Obviously, I couldn’t afford to pay that either, so, again, I did not pay anything and left it unresolved. I left the country in 2001 and travelled off and on for years, and never made a payment on the provincial loans, nor worked a real job or did my taxes, although I did keep on top of the federal loan that granted me the interest relief and I made small monthly payments for a couple years until it was completely paid off. I’ve never benefitted financially from my eduaction, so the interest relief deal that the federal government offered me was the only payment plan I could ever really afford.
Now that more than 20 years have passed, I am considering living and settling in Canada again and do not want this debt on my credit report nor hanging over me in any way, as it will impede my plans of living here immensley. Last year I pulled up my credit report online and the Ontario student loan appears as unpaid, but now the balance is $18,000 and, to my surprise, it states that the last payment made on it was in march of 2017. It does not specify the amount of payment or who made it, but it was obviously not made by me.
So, now, I have several questions. First, if the Ontario Limitations Act came into effect in 2004, why didn’t the prior 6 year statute of limitaions automatically wipe out all of my unpaid Onatrio student loans, or at least those that were taken out prior to 1998, more than 6 years prior to 2004? Is it because I only defaulted on them in 1999? Secondly, if I didn’t make any payments on this loan, is it not illegal for someome else to have made one on my behalf in March 2017, resettimg the statute of limitations? Lastly, I am not in a position to pay off this loan but urgently need to resolve this in order to proceed wirh my life in Canada, so is there any legal remedy to this? In sum, what can I do to get this removed completely if I can’t afford to make monthly payments, and can I not use the statute of limitations to absolve me from this legally anyway, since the loans were taken out in the 90s and no payments were ever made by me in over 20 years?
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