Account Control Technology [ACT]

Let me see. If you have a credit card loan that you fall behind on, eventually it will be settled. Say you owe $5K. You may eventually owe double that amount. But with consumer laws affecting the credit cards, you can probably settle for $2K or $3K.

With student loans, consumers are f***ed! You owe an original loan of $10K. With late fees and other penalties that can NEVER be thrown out.

As the problem is explained in the link below:

"The problem: In 1997, under intense lobbying from student loan companies, The Higher Education Act (HEA) was amended, and defaulted student loans became among the most lucrative, and easiest to collect type of debt. These amendemnts allow for huge panalties and fees to be attached to defaulted student loan debt, take away bankruptcy protection for student borrowers, disallow refinancing of the debt, and also provide for draconian collection and punitive measures to be taken against student borrowers, includeing wage garnishment, tax garnishment, withholding of professional certifications, termination from employment, SS garnishment, and others."

Read more her about how to fight back!

http://studentloanjustice.org/problem.htm
Caller ID: [protected]
Caller: ACT Account Control Technology
Caller Type: Collection Agency

Well you should have paid back your student loan when you were suppose to! You are a part of the reason why its getting harder for students to get student loans. Have a nice day.

This company called me on Christmas eve telling me I owe 20, 000 almost all of it penalties and interest for ten years of loans that were originally supposed to be on deferment. There is no way I have that kind of money and they continue to add monthly interest which will never be paid off at those rates. I let them take a one time payment until I could contact the Dept. Of Education with whom I set up automated payments. ACT kept withdrawing money even though I was paying the Dept. Of Education, so I called and had them stop which they said they did, yet a couple days later they called wanting me to pay 210.00 a month if I did not sign a form and send to them which allows for the lender they 'SELL my loan' to substantially increase my monthly payments adding interest to their applied interest. There has to be some reasonable means to deal with these student loans other than Government hired loan sharks that will bleed green from you until you die. They are very smooth in their threats and insinuations there was even a comment about them 'watching me' which was subtly corrected. And why do they want to know about my neighbors? This company is VERY CREEPY!

So act isn't a scam ? I gave them my debit card information, I'm uneasy about this they took 5 years to contact me.

Bottom line, to all "borrowers" as the ACT "former Employees" call them. Before you give these people any information, demand HARD COPIES, stating who they are, who they are collecting for, total amount, principal amount, proper communications numbers, who is handling your case, what their terms are, and ALL the facts about this account they say they have. If they say your social security number over the phone, make note of it, because that is personal information that no one should EVER give over the phone. If I say I am Bill Smith, and they spout out a social security / tax ID number over the phone, they are in the wrong because they can not prove that I am Bill Smith. NEVER give out any account information without hard copies and contact information. That should be common sense. If you don't know who they are, don't tell them anything they don't know. Once you have hard copies, and are able to verify ALL the information on those copies, then you can choose how to proceed.

I have a student loan AND worked for ACT. They are not a scam, and these posts are dated. ACT has changed a lot since then. They are very good with their borrowers and really do offer the bare minimum of what the department of education or whomever the lender is will accept. And they will split payments as long as the payment is around 150$. I realize some collectors aren't as good and friendly as others, but they do offer you what is acceptable to the government. After all, you did neglect your loan for years for it to go into default and be sent to ACT. Pay your bills! And they do not garnish your wages, the government does. It doesn't benefit the company whatsoever.

This company is terrible! I do not have any debt...they keep calling me trying to speak to someone named Bradley...I do not know a Bradley and tell them so. I get hung up on before I can finish and a few times I am called back within 5 minutes by someone new. I am turning this company over to the Attorney General's office on Monday for harassment. If it does not stop I will sue them for disrupting my privacy and refusing to remove my number from their system after I have repeatedly told them the person they are looking for is NOT at this number.

Well, every posting has helped me make smarter decisions regarding my defaulted loan. Note" "my defaulted loan"- ownership. You still can't squeeze blood from a turnip! I know that the employees are just trying to do their jobs and they probably sleep very well at night! To all former and current employees of this company, know that it is still attitude and not apptitude that determines your level of success in life.

To those who have successfully managed to pay off their debt(s), Bless You!

To those of us that are still struggling to prevent the earth from being our beds and the stars our blankets; let's try corporate prayer. It works!

ACT is full of shiite.

I know for a fact that ACT has a sales person employed with them who never even finished High School. So, not sure what kind of educational background check they do on their employees, but just because someone has experience in the area does not necessarily mean they have an education.

I agree with this about this company. They are pulling very deceptive stuff. My mother fielded a phone call from this group acting like I put her name down as a job reference with all the questions that they add with it.

I just received a message from this company, and they have tried calling me at work. I know for certain that all of my student loans are in good standing with the lender. They are trying to scam me by making bogus claims that they own a debt of mine and are hoping I will be gullible or passive enough to pay them for this non-existent account.

To the original poster: get a lawyer. To all would-be victims: don't believe that they own a debt of yours just because they say they do. They can't garnish your wages over an account that doesn't actually exist. Call their bluff. And even if they do legitimately own a debt yours, garnishment is the worst they can do to you, and it is always less than what they want you to agree to pay. They first tell you that you need to pay them in full, and that if you don't they can do terrible things to you. Then they will want you to pay some outrageous and unmanageable monthly sum, and that if you don't they can do terrible things to you. In reality, the worst they can do to you is garnish your wages (something like a fourth of your monthly income), and they can't legally make you pay more than 1.6 times the original amount of debt. They will tell you that they can, but they are lying. They make money by trying to scare you into thinking they have much more power than they actually do.

Call your original lender to find out the status of your loan, if it has been sold and to whom. If they do legitimately own a debt of yours, then immediately look up the website or phone number of your state's Attorney General's office. They will have information on your exact rights in this situation, and can tell you exactly what credit collectors can or can't do. Your collections agent will try to tell you that the information you receive from the Attorney General is wrong, again to make you believe that they have more power than they do. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Good luck, know your rights.