What happens when your student loans go into default? If you’ve ever wondered what really happens when you default on your student loans, the answer is not so simple.
College grads are carrying anywhere from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan Debt.
While it’s not good to ignore your student loan payments, there may be some circumstances where you can’t make payments on time or end up missing payments altogether.
This will most likely result in a serious situation called student loan default.
And if your student loans go into default, your loans will be transferred from your student loan servicer to a third-party debt collection company. And this can be strange to many borrowers. You might have spent years dealing with a company like Fedloan or Nelnet, then suddenly you're receiving a call from a company named Educational Credit Management and you're very confused. Is it a scam? What's going on?
Here's what you need to know about dealing with student loan debt collectors, including the full list of all debt collection agencies that work on behalf of the Department of Education so that you can be sure you're not going to be scammed.
Repercussions Of Defaulting On Your Student Loan Debt
If you do find yourself in default on your student loans, you'll need to communicate with the collections agency that has been assigned to your debt. You'll have a couple of options, including student loan rehabilitation, setting up a repayment plan with them, or potentially even settling the debt.
Once your loans are transferred to a student loan debt collector, you'll need to use a new portal to access your loans. You can see your loan information here: https://myeddebt.ed.gov/
There are over 30 different student loan collections agencies, many with names you're not going to be familiar with. If one of them reaches out to you, you need to take it serious.
Below is a list of common student loan collection agencies along with their contact information if you need to reach out to them.
Debt Collection Laws Protect You
Remember, these companies are third party debt collectors, and there are laws that limit what they can and can't do. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that provides limitations on what debt collectors can do when collecting certain types of debt. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act covers how debt collection is reported in credit reports. In addition, there are state laws that provide protections.
These companies may NOT:
- Contact you before 8am or after 9pm. Also if a debt collector knows that you're not allowed to receive the debt collector’s communications at work, then the debt collector is not allowed to contact you there.
- The debt collector may not harass you or anyone else in regards to the debt.
- If you tell the debt collector to stop contacting you in writing, they must stop contacting you except to take legally allowed actions against you, such as filing a lawsuit (if this happens, you need to get a student loan lawyer ASAP).
If you are contacted by a debt collector for your student loan debt, they are required to tell you the following information about your debt:
- The name of the creditor (this will be your student loan servicer and should sound familiar)
- The amount owed (remember, this amount may be much larger than your original debt amount due to accrued interest and fees from being in default)
- That you can dispute the debt
- That you can request the name of the original creditor, if different than the current one
Student Loan Debt Collection Agencies
Here is the full current list of student loan debt collection agencies. These companies do change from time to time, and we strive to keep this information as current as possible.
1. Account Control Technology, Inc
P.O. Box 8012
Canoga Park, CA 91309
(888) 830-7770
www.accountcontrol.com
2. Action Financial Services LLC.
2055 Cardinal Ave
Medford, Oregon 97504
888-253-4239
www.actionfinancialservices.net
3. American Student Assistance Corp
4. Bass & Associates
Student Loan Department
P.O. Box 66080
Tucson, AZ 85728
(855) 533-1107
www.bass-associates.com
5. Central Research, Inc.
122 N. Bloomington, Suite I
Lowell, AR 72745
(479) 419-5456
www.central-research.com
6. Coast Professional, Inc.
P.O. Box 2876
West Monroe, LA 71294
(888) 815-2843
www.coastprofessional.net/
7. Collection Technology, Inc.
P.O. Box 2300
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729
(800) 743-4284
www.collectiontechnology.com
8. Collecto, Inc. dba Collection Company of America
PO Box 329
Norwell, MA 02061
(877) 395-5997
www.eos-cca.com
9. Con Serve
200 CrossKeys Office Park
Fairport, NY 14450
(800) 724-7500
www.conserve-arm.com/
10. Credit Adjustments
330 Florence St.
Defiance, OH 43512
(800) 544-6359
www.credit-adjustments.com
11. Debt Management and Collections System
PO Box 5609
Greenville, TX 75403-5609
National Payment Center
PO Box 105028
Atlanta, GA 30348-5028
(800) 621-3115
www.myeddebt.ed.gov/
12. Delta Management Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 9242
Chelsea, MA 02150-9242
(855) 282-5983
www.deltamanagementassociates.com/
13. ECSI Federal Perkins Servicer
100 Global View Drive Suite 800
Warrendale, PA 15086
(888) 549-3274
www.ecsi.net/
14. Educational Credit Management CORP
PO Box 16408
St. Paul, MN 55116-0408
(855) 810-4922
www.ecmc.org/
15. Enterprise Recovery Systems, Inc.
(800) 377-1904
www.ersinc.com/
16. Financial Asset Management Systems, Inc.
(800) 399-4639
www.famspayonline.net/
17. Florida Department of Education OSFA
Local Metro Area
Tallahassee, Fl
850-410-5200
www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org
18. FMS Investment Corp
19. GC Services
6330 Gulfton
Houston, TX 77081
(800) 756-6524
www.gcserv.com/
20. General Revenue Services (USA Funds)
4660 Duke Drive
Suite 300
Mason, OH 45040-8466
Phone: (800) 234-1472
www.generalrevenue.com
21. Immediate Credit Recovery Inc.
6 Neptune Road
Suite 110
Poughkeepsie, New York 12601
(800) 234-4271
(855) 889-3111
www.icrcollect.com
22. Michigan Guaranty Agency
P.O Box 30462
Lansing, MI 48909-7962
888-643-7521
www.michigan.gov
23. National Recoveries
P.O. BOX 120666
ST. PAUL, MN 55112
888-4-GRANTS
www.nationalrecoveries.com
24. National Credit Services
PO Box 580
Bothell, WA 98041-0580
(800) 324-7564
www.ncscollect.com
25. New York Higher Education Loan Program (NYHELP)
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12255
(800) 888-0741
www.hesc.ny.gov
26. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency
Pennsylvania State Grant Program
P.O. Box 8157
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8157
(800) 692-7392
www.pheaa.org
27. Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc.
26 Edward St.
Arcade, NY 14009
(585) 492-1234
www.pioneercreditrecovery.com
28. Premiere Credit of North America, LLC
PO Box 19309
Indianapolis, IN 46219
866-808-7118
www.premierecredit.com
29. Progressive Financial
30. The CBE Group, Inc.
31. U.S. Department of Treasury Debt Management Services
(855) 837-2985
www.fiscal.treasury.gov
32. Van Ru Credit Corporation
P.O. Box 2751
Des Plaines, Illinois 60017
(800) 468-2678
www.vanru.com
33. West Asset Management, Inc.
171 Mercy Rd., Omaha, NE 68106
(402) 391-5285
(800) 397-7243
www.debtcollectionanswers.com
34. Windham Professionals, Inc.
This post first appeared on The College Investor | Investing And Student Loan, please read the originial post: here