Consumerist reader Jake got a big scare a few weeks back when his father called to let him know he’d been contacted by Wachovia. The bank told Jake’s dad that not only was Jake’s law school loan in default, but that, as a co-signer, he was responsible for paying $11,750 immediately. Two problems with that: 1) The loan wasn’t in default. 2) Jacob’s dad wasn’t a co-signer.

The problems only got more mysterious when Jacob called Wachovia, who told him they had no idea what he was talking about.

After several fruitless attempts at trying to get someone to clarify what was going on, Jake contacted the Department of Education:

I thought maybe I wasn’t organized, maybe I let something slip. Oh no. The department of education says I’m not behind on anything and am in good standing. Ok, some relief, but no one from Wachovia will call me back. I finally reach out to Wells Fargo (since they now own them) and call around to various people. No one knows why I got the letter.

Without ever hearing anything back from Wachovia about their demand for instant payment, Jake’s dad finally got a letter apologizing and admitting that they had made a mistake.

Not surprisingly, Jake never received a letter or phone call to let him know that they never actually considered his loan to be in default.

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