A valley father just trying to help his daughter get through school is now stuck in a horrible mess. What started as a 15-year loan somehow turned into a 44-year nightmare.
When Gary Cymerman's oldest daughter Ella got into Boston University with an academic scholarship, he was thrilled.
He decided to help her with room and board and got a Parent PLUS loan from the U.S. Department of Education for $318 a month for about 15 years.
After paying on the loan for five years, Ella volunteered to take over payments from her father and pay the rest.
"She came out crying," said Cymerman. "She goes, 'Dad you know you're on the hook for 45 years, you'll be 105 before you pay this off!'"
Paperwork from Great Lakes Loan Company said he had 44 and a half years left on his loan. Cymerman would be 104 by the time it's paid off.
"Oldest bartender in Las Vegas, I doubt it very much," he said, trying to make light of the difficult situation.
Because it's a government loan, they can take part of his house after he dies if he hasn't paid it in full.
"This is crazy, this is not what I started to do, this is not what I intended or signed up for," Cymerman said. "I tried to call to get the fiduciaries, the paperwork where I signed for this loan, and they keep giving me the runaround. They're not giving me any satisfactory response."
13 Action News called the Department of Education, who helped Cymerman with the loan. They told us they were shocked with his situation.
Since U.S. government loans are supposed to remain fixed rate, they believe Cymerman may be a victim of some type of identity theft.
Investigators gave us information to pass on to him, so he can open a case and hopefully get this resolved.
