photo John McColgan, author of the recently published "Where ever The Truth Might Lie," will hold a book signing Sunday, Feb. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Arrowhead Chocolate shop in Joseph.

My dad used to say that he liked paying bills. As a kid, I didnt understand why he felt that way. But as an adult, I get the same sense of satisfaction that he did except when I pay a bill that I regard as exorbitant or unfair.

Recently, I wrote a check for $100.14 to the U.S. Department of Education that left a bitter taste in my mouth. To provide you with a full account of my frustration, I would need ten times my normal word limit for this column, along with a team of psychiatrists.

Ironically, the root of my dispute with the Department of Education dates back to a much larger check that I wrote contentedly in December 2012, when with more than $10,000, I paid off the full balance of all my Parent Plus loans. I paid precisely what the DOE loan servicer said was owed, and because my final payment arrived about a week before the usual monthly due date, I even received a small reimbursement of $6.18 along with four lovely Paid in Full certificates. Like my dad, I experienced that satisfaction that comes with a debt paid.

Nine months later, the loan servicer for the DOE ripped that feeling right out of my soul by sending me a new bill for my old loans. No apology, no letter of explanation, just a bill for more than $270, along with interest accruing at an annual 7.9% rate.

Initially, I thought a phone call would clear the matter up. After checking, the customer service rep at the loan servicer determined that the previous loan servicer had made an error in my account in May 2012, and that I therefore owed more money.

I adamantly refused to pay. My position was that a debt once paid in full according to the consent of both parties was settled. Over. Done with. Period. To reopen it 16 months after an error was made and nine months after the debt was retired would be like me as a General Contractor going back to an old client and saying, My drywall contractor forgot to include a days labor for one of his guys a year and a half ago, so now you owe me more money. Any client in his right mind would tell me to jump in the lake, and I wouldnt blame him.

So I began firing off letters to the DOE and its loan servicer, and I included Senators Wyden and Merkley, Congressman Walden, and Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum in my circle of correspondence. For the record, Wydens office never responded, Merkleys aide made a good faith effort to help, Walden said he would help but never got around to it, and Rosenblums staff exerted some useful pressure on the DOE.

Each month I wrote irate letters and received new bills and counterarguments from the federal loan servicer. I reviewed my entire payment history, and discovered one instance where a deficiency of six cents in one payment was spread across four loans, leaving shortages of one or two cents in each, and thereby resulting in more than $150 in forfeited loan incentives. I also kept track of all my time, copying costs, and postage, and billed the DOE right back for those expenses. I even spoke informally with a local attorney, but I was discouraged when he informed me that a case like mine couldnt be brought before a jury but would be heard instead by a federal judge.

Ultimately, I decided that going to court wouldnt be a viable option against an opponent with unlimited resources. And continuing to refuse to pay would have left a stain on my credit record. So in the end, I agreed to a compromise, where the DOE restored the loan incentives lost by the .06 deficiency in one payment, waived remaining interest, and reduced my bill to $100.14.

I had to swallow hard when I wrote that check, and Ill never get back the old satisfaction I felt in December 2012 when I paid my debt in full. Now when I think of the Department of Education and its loan servicers, all I feel is resentment and contempt.

John McColgan writes from his home in Joseph.