Yea that story is "man gets arrested for not paying a 29 year old student loan debt of 1500", and you know what, if in almost 30 years you can't pay a 1500 loan you shouldn't complain if they arrest you. There is no excuse for that.
His story is that he thought it was paid off but the government kept calling and sending notices that went unanswered. They got in contact with him once and told him he had to go to court but he didn't show up and he claims that conversation never happened. Then 7 armed marshals showed up at his house and there was a 2 hour stand off which ended when local cops showed up and the guy finally believed that these were actually marshals coming to arrest him. Idk who he thought the marshals were
It is absolutely crazy that they arrest people for debt or being unable to pay fines. It is so counter productive. Now someone with financial trouble has a record too. This is why we have such a high level of incarceration. It perpetuates a nasty cycle.
If I remember correctly, he thought that he had consolidated all of his federal loans and payed them off. Apparently this one wasn't consolidated so it just sat there building up interest. Because of that he didn't even know he still had a loan to pay off and he says that this was the first he heard of it but others claim that they contacted him multiple times over the past couple decades.
Ah yes, a genius plan. Now where do you suppose one would get money for a degree without a well paying job? At that rate, they'll earn their degree just in time for retirement...
"The outlet cited a source in the Houston US Marshals office indicating as many as 1,500 more warrants could be coming soon."
http://www.vice.com/read/the-feds-are-now-arresting-people-for-not-paying-their-student-loans-vgtrn?utm_source=vicefbus