American Education Services [AES] review: loan 100

My wife has an account with these people and they called me one evening (about 8:20 pm) when she was not home. My daughter (8 yrs) picked up. They talked to her for a minute before I realized she had answered the phone. When I go on the line I asked whomever it was not to call my house after eight. They rudely said ' Im not calling for you' so I hung up.

They called back about 8:40 and I repeated my request not to call the house after 8 explaining that I had little kids. When I said this the lady said she 'was allowed to call anytime before 9pm. I told her that was harassment and she was not able to call if I request they stop calling. She said that 'because we are Federal harassment laws dont apply to them...' When I told her I would block the number she said ' go ahead we have like 75 of them...'

Are they allowed to just call and call and call? I assume a C&D letter would stop it but wtf?

Filing a complaint with the BBB won't result in much. However, it is recommended that you file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) and your state attorney general.I would also contact the Department of Education Ombudsman. As well as writing a letter to your Congressman/woman and your Senator. It might be a painful process, but if enough complaints to multiple entities will cause a reaction. BBB complaints can be ignored. It is a bit more difficult to ignore complaints about their company directed to Congress and the Executive Branch. Just keep copies of everything and force them to correspond in writing. They are subject to the same laws as other companies regarding billing and debt collection.

I've been paying this loan off for five years now and the balance never goes down! I pay at least the minimum, or higher, for the past five years. I don't understand what the problem is here. Every time I call, they explain to me how the loan works in such a way that is not understandable. At this point I'm ready to just not pay it. This is just ridiculous! A $20, 000 loan that has been $22, 000 for five years? Something just is not right!

We are paying 405 per month and the principal never goes down, I am thinking just stop paying and let what ever happens happen, this is too stressgful, what can they do for real if you don't have it what can they do?

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

PHEAA Wrongfully Collected $92 Million From Taxpayers
PHEAA is being sued, along with other student loan agencies, for taking advantage of a federal government loophole allowing them to wrongfully collect $92 million. In the 1980's, the federal government enacted a subsidy program guaranteeing a 9.5% return on a limited class of student loans. By reusing older loans and packaging them with new ones, PHEAA reaped millions in profits at the taxpayer's expense.

When confronted with this serious case of fraud, the Department of Education didn't even attempt to recover the funds. A 2007 settlement with Nelnet--the worst abuser of the scheme receiving more than $400 million in over payments--did not require the loan company to repay the federal government. It was left to a DOE researcher, Jon Oberg, to bring the suit on behalf of the federal government.

PHEAA was among the first agencies to employ the scheme--clearing the path for other agencies to follow. The lawsuit implies PHEAA relied on the authority of the Education Finance Council to justify their practices; this is disconcerting since the group has close ties with the Department of Education and Republican staff on the House Education Committee.

It's amazing that such flagrant abuse of the system was disregarded for so long. This is a perfect example of why state and federal governments should not be in the student loan business.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 09:26 AM | 0 comment

The main issue is not interest. The main issue is the culture of fraud and deception and rudeness at AES. I have always paid my bills on time. In fact, I have paid all of my AES loans in full. I accidentally make a mistaken electronic payment to them ($5, 000) and they keep the money. How could anyone do this? I have called them several times to ask for a simple e-mail to confirm they have received the funds (which they admit over the phone) and they refuse. And now they won't send it back. AES are crooks, plain and simple. I'll tell a hundred people I know never to do business with them. They are rude, arrogant and simply do not give a damn about anyone. Look at the fact that they ripped the federal government off for $95 million (article is all over the internet) and spend lavishly on their political board of directors. Who would ever work for a company that sets out to intentional lies, steals and cheat its customers? No doubt OMG works for AES, who else would defend them.

I think people really need to understand loans. It isn't AES that charges you interest or determines how much forbearance or deferment time you have. First off, AES is a servicer. They SERVICE your loans. They do not OWN your loans. They DO NOT set the rules. This is a student loan servicer, not an electric bill. Maybe if people wouldn't use ALL of their 6 years of forbearance/deferment times on Federal loans because they dont want to pay they wouldn't have the issue when they actually CANT pay. As far as private loans go, the government needs to step in and do something about the interest. That's the main issue. AES doesn't decide your interest rates on these loans. You took a private student loan out with a bank. How do you suppose the bank makes the money? Hmm..maybe interest? Also, AES isn't the one who determines whether you get credit reported. That's also set by the lender. I have one idea...pay your bill on time. If you can't afford it, then call AES and ask about options. The lack of intelligence on this board baffles me. Don't sign for a 40, 000 loan if you don't read the damn promissory note. Derp.

Aes is the worst company I have ever dealt with. They are crooks, plain and simple. I recently made a mistaken payment of $5, 000 to them after paying off my loans in full and they refuse to give it back. Do not ever, ever take a loan from this company. Now I will have to initiate a lawsuit against them to get my money back. Any employee of Aes should be ashamed of working for an organization that is based on a culture of fraud.

Bad news: My federal loans were just taken over by AES without my consent. Reading these comments, I am not surprised that they sent me my first bill which arrived TWO DAYS BEFORE it was due! I've dealt with AES at great length in the past on behalf of a girlfriend who had hers taken over and was harassed endlessly for debt amounts that she never even accrued! The hassles were too rediculous to even note on here, but needless to say when confronted with an expectation of approval for her loan re-consolidation with AES, she was sent a FORGED signature page!

Fast forward to today, upon my attempts to make a 1-time payment and avoid losing my 1.0% APR reduction due to perfect history of on-time payments, they accepted NO form of payment other than mailed check (which they gave me 2 days to send, or

HICK - is there anyone else out there who "PAID IN FULL"? Who are these people who "PAID IN FULL"? Are they living breathing human beings? Or are they part of that mysterious 1% of the world population you hear about, having future secret meetings with world leaders...

This company is awful! I make my payments every month on time if not early. Aes doesnt credit my account and tell me that they never received the payment. I know for a fact that they do get the payment so I get my bank and bill payer company involved and what do you know my payment is found. I have been doing this same routine for 3 months and everytime they are proven wrong. I am so tired of dealing with this company and my bank is beyond frustrated to receive my phone call every month to get proof of payment and payment tracers. AES has been caught in so many lies and they are always blaming someone else for the problems. Now I'm being told by AES the only way to fix this problem is to use their bill payer service! That seems a bit shady cause no other company has had any problem with my banks bill payer service. I have other student loans through other companys and never have I had an issue before AES. Keybank originally used ACS and they never had a problem with my bill payer. I dont know what AES is up to but this seems wrong! And as for the people defending AES, put yourself in our position. Its clear you work for AES but I make my payments and have never missed one and can always prove the payment was made so whats the excuse?

Received bill before repayment was expected to begin. Deferments (YES PLURAL) ignored (AES claimed to have not received forms/including electronic forms... although they were able to confirm receipt in the past, today they say there is "no record" of it). Account placed in default after being "two months late" with past due balance of $112 (although, again, I was billed BEFORE repayment was expected to begin)...

Details:

PLUS loan was fully disbursed on 1/23/2009. AES/Educaid sent me a bill dated 2/24/2009 (barely a month after full disbursement; and I believe PLUS loans do not go into repayment until 60 days after full disbursement.) Whatever the case, confused about why they sent a bill, I called them to find out.

AES told me that I can apply for a Deferment as long as the student is enrolled in school at least half-time. So I requested the form. Signed/dated, mailed the form to them. Called them to follow-up and was told they did not receive any Deferment Forms. Requested the form again. Same process. Again, (second time sending Deferment form) AES said they did not receive it. Irritated, but professional, I asked for alternative to mailing form. Was told that I can electronically submit form online. Did that and did not receive anymore bills (for the record, I only received ONE billing statement and submitted Deferment forms ASAP) so I assumed the Deferment was approved... WRONG!

Instead, AES had placed my account in default and gave it to FedLoan, who immediately submitted the account to Default Resolutions Agency within 2-3 days!
This is strange. Received only one bill in mail. Account was only "two months late" (questionable since they billed before repayment) and was placed in default after so-called "two months delinquency" and did not hear anything else from anyone beyond that point.

I know it was not my fault. Now credit score/report is RUINED because of default placed by AES. PLEASE HELP! sophie_264@yahoo.com
Thank you.

I guess I am the minority here, because I have never had any negative conversations with CSR's at AES. I was laid off about 2 years ago for six month and defered my loan payments with no problems.

That being said, my only quarm with AES is the way they calculate their interest, which is worthy of being called "mob related". For 6 years I have been paying on my student loan. I have a 3, 75 fixed interest rate. When I went online and looked at my statement, I was shocked to see how they actually calculate their interest. Although my promissory note reflects a 3.75 interest rate payment, I was under the impression this was monthly, however turns out it is daily. In total, this calculates to about 35% in interest each month, or between payments. When I called AES to inquire about it, the woman on the phone was very nice and she explained the calculation to me. I did not not argue with her at all as, whats the point, the way they charge it is the way they charge it...

Anyways, why havent any of you refinanced your student loans, or looked into it. I am just now beginning to research how to refinance a student loan. If any of you actually have done so, I would greatly appreciate some feedback on who the best company is and if you know, what the procedure is. I called my credit union but they max out at 15k - i currently owe 30k...

I would really appreciate any advise.

Thanks

I have quite a large debt from student loans. They are serviced by three companies - AES, Student loan express, and Greak Lakes Loans.
I have paid religiously my bills of 1800 monthly - YES MONTHLY. I call it my big house though I will NEVER have a big house.

I have rencently given birth to my 2nd child and had to take some time off for maternity leave. I sent in forms for forbearance so would not have to worry about payment while not working. Anyway, when speaking to the customer service over the phone she said I had to fill in the forms by a certian day, or that I could call in and do the forbearance over the phone. Anyway, I wanted the forbearance to take affect the next month as to have longer time after the child was born. When I called in a few days before the date which she had given me, I was then informed that I could not forbear as it had been longer then two years since I started repaying my loans. The real bug bear is that the date I needed to get the forbearance in by was right around the time I was talking to the first customer service rep. I could of done the forbearance right then and there and it wouldn't of been a problem, but she had given me the wrong dates and made me feel like I had more time.

Luckily, the rest of my loans I was able to forbear, so making the payment of 500 a month is still alot better then the 1800 a month.

There customer service sucks and they are crooks.

As a student at an international medical school it is now clear to me that things were never ever EVER discussed with us the way they should of been. I can say for a fact neither myself or any of the 20 other american students who were in my class understood what we were getting ourselves into. At the age of 22 we are still very young and ambitious, when someone says to you "We will give you the 25, 000 dollars a year you need to go to schoo no questioned asked... you don't even need a co signer"... well you are just over the moon... you get to follow your dreams and here is someone who is actually going to help you.

Of course when you are a bit older, have a bit more of life under your belt... you realize you have been scammed and duped in the biggest possible way. You have naively sold your soul to the company store.
Your dreams of having a good job, a nice home, a happy family have all gone down the drain. FLUSH... and basically you are now living in a card board box, living day to day, using 90% of your income to pay off loans.

I have friends who have suffered SEVERE depression due to there lifes being taken over by school debt and these blood suckers. Your life basically come to an end, you no longer are in charge of your life, you are now owned and enslaved by the loan companies which basically becomes your sole reason for living -- to pay your student loans back.

I guess the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I am married and my husband also makes very good even better money then me :) and while I pay all my income on bills monthly he can still support us. God bless him.

I wonder as I don't even live in the US of A anymore... what would happen if I just stop paying. I guess it couldn't really affect my credit, my ability to get credit cards, my ability to get a house... as I have no reason to have any of these things in America... as I don't live there.

I co-signed a $20, 000 private AES student loan for a friend in early September 2003. With origination fees, this loan came to $21, 500. I was surprised AES even accepted my co-signature since I was only employed part-time and collecting partial unemployment at the time. Unfortunately, my friend passed away suddenly in August 2007. I immediately contacted AES and started making payments in September 2007. Fortunately, the interest rate has fallen from about 10.5 percent to 4.95 percent. However, the payments still have been a killer for me.

So in August 2009, I started the process of filing for Chapt. 7 bankruptcy. AES did grant a six-month forebarance. Of course, my bankrupcy atorney advised me about all student loans being exempt from bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy was granted, a new union contract where I work resulted in my pay decreasing 12.32 percent. This was at my primary job as a janior. At my second job as an in-home caregiver, I have just been informed the monthly hours about being cut by 27 percent -- the job pays $8 a hour. The Milwaukee area is not known for paying good wages.

Then, in April 2010, my employer switched us to a high-deductible health insurance plan with the lowest deductible being $1, 200 a year. Since I am on many medications, my monthly prescriptions retail for $580. This left me in a big hole for two months until the deductible was met so AES granted another short forebarance. However, with the pay cuts, I just cannot make the $161.75 montly payments. Thus since July 2009, I have only made one paymen to AES.

Now they are routinely, almostly daily, calling my workplace trying to reach me. I work third shift. Is it legal for AES to call my employer and leave messages?

Hey Everyone,

I cannot disagree with what most of you on this topic are saying. I have several loans with AES, and it certainly has not been the proverbial "walk in the park" in dealing with them.

If I can offer one piece of advice to you all, things changed quite drastically (for the better) once I enrolled in their online payment program. By doing so, you are able to keep track of all your loans, and get a detailed view of principle and accrued interest amounts. You can go so far as targeting specific loans, I tend to send larger sums of money to loans with higher interst rates as that will drastically reduce the principle on which the interest is calculated. While I am not mincing words in terms of AES customer service and competence (they are both in the [censored]er), I do recommend you get signed up online to pay and keep track of your outstanding loans with them.

Also, when you call them, and one of their PhDs gives you an answer (sarcasm), be sure to call back several times to ensure that was in fact, the right answer. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten different answers in the span of 20 minutes.

Good Luck everyone, hope this helps!

I AM a lawyer and concur with and can relate to most of the complaints posted here. I faithfully and diligently pay every bill in full every month, and yet get constantly harassed by daily AES phone calls, letters, and debt collectors alleging that I am past due. My banking statements are irrefutable proof of the contrary.

I have written and spoken with managers and supervisors, all of whom ultimately recognize and apologize for the company's errors; however, it has been THREE YEARS of this [censor] without fail. It is no longer negligence. If it is not intentional, it is willfully blind injury that is being imposed upon me and my family.

I am infuriated and disgusted. There is an expression "he who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer" and I am reluctant to fall into that category. Our legislators have well protected lenders such as AES from exposure to suit, and that is why most attorneys will not take these cases ... there is no award or punitive damages allowed - for the most part. AES is a quasi-governmental agency as it is established by the State of Pennsylvania. HOWEVER, AES is the servicer ... the lending banks do not have the same immunity. Put the bank behind the loan serviced by AES on notice of AES's egregious conduct. The bank should be a defendant in the coming action(s) for their knowledge of their agent's (AES) mismanagement of the accounts and their failure to take any corrective action.

As to all the hecklers spewing animocity and scorn at all the victims of AES - shame on you! Quite frankly, it would seem that AES is having people post these absurd and unintelligent comments to cloud all the genuine complaints. BUT, if any of you want to come assert your ludicrous opinions in person, I am:

Christian Young at the Law Offices of Gulash and Riccio at 350 Fairfield Avenue, Suite 703, in Bridgeport, CT.

I have read all the comments and I agree with you ALL about AES.
BUT, what is the solution? Did any of you get a lawyer? if so,
was the lawyer any good? Was the lawyer able to help you. I have same issues w/AES and I need some help with results !
can you send phone # of GOOD lawyer? Not just any lawyer

Please send any solutions ASAP. Thanks so much
Pam

Before I give you my problem, I will say that I know what I got myself into when I got these loans and I don't agree with those threatening not to pay them. As broke as I am I still try my best to get these loans out despite the constant calls and 'bs' from the collections agencies.

Since November of 2008 I have entered into repayment of my private loans from my undergraduate degree [protected]). From 2008 to the present, I have been finishing my MA and have been paying the required 300 or so dollars per month in interest and partial principle. I have never been late on a payment (never received a late fee) and have never gone into or requested forbearance. Strangely between February and May, I started receiving bills for $0.00. I called and asked why this was and the lady told me that my graduate university and AES had finally communicated that I was in school and didn't have to be making those $300 payments per month until I was done with the MA. Then all of a sudden at the end of June I get a bill for 300 or so dollars expected by 2 July. No one could explain this to me when I called and so I had to scrounge around for the money with some help from my parents (I don't have the same income as last summer) since (because of the last call to AES) I was not expecting to have to pay the 600 dollars what I will end up owing for this summer. So I call again and was told that while I'm not enrolled in classes, I am expected to pay - ok fine, why then was I paying (mostly interest of course) all through my first year and a half of grad school when I supposedly didn't have to be? So anyway all of that aside, I had my payment in by the 17th which was their deadline for the late fee of $4.62. This appears on every bill as: If received after 'X' date (usually 15 days after the payment due date), a late fee will be applied to account: $4.62 (or something like that). I have definitely submitted a payment a few days past that initial due date but never before received constant harassments via phone, e-mail (2 a day since for some reason I get one call for the one loan and another for the other two) that I currently do when I go past that initial due date. What is totally ridiculous is that when they call you they say that you are delinquent (and are incredibly rude, I might add) x amount of days. What are they talking about? Ok the payment hasn't been submitted right at July 2 but does that mean that every day after I need two calls a day reminding me that they don't ahve my payment? As I said before my repayment has been otherwise stellar (well besides paying it back entirely I've at least been making the payments they've been asking for) and then all of a sudden your situation slightly changes and you can't have the payment in by July 2 and they treat you like some schmuck that has never paid anything back. Everytime that I've called the rep seems to have no clue what I'm talking about when I mention that 'if received after x date' thing and it confuses/annoys the hell out of me. This is all different from the way they treated these loans a year ago. Are more people defaulting nowadays - maybe thats why they've resulted to harassing calls and e-mails multiple times a day? Regardless, I think it's unprofessional the way they treat customers who otherwise have had no problem making payments and only for these two summer payments will have a little trouble getting it in right on time. Not to mention that whatever "training" these reps go through is total bs. Why is it that EVERY time you call they spin you a different story. I had to make four phone calls over the past few months just to figure out what the hell was going on with my account (the bills for $0.00, being told I didn't have to pay then being told I had to, etc.). Totally ridiculous - I'd have less of a porblem with AES if they acted like a professional organization.

On another note how about that totally ridiculous note at the bottom of bills saying to start going with direct debit or whatever its called to save paper...hmmm maybe if you weren't sending 8 trees a month updating me on a deferment I didn't ask for you'd save some money on paper. ugh.

AES is horrible. I had been on a 30-year repayment plan, and asked to be switched to a 10-year repayment plan. AES said that they had done so. Well, 2.5 years in I discover that I haven't been put on a 10-year plan - I've been put on some special plan, where for the first 3o months my payments were low, and then suddenly they doubled. This won't affect me terribly, because the reason I switched to a 10-year plan in the first place is that my college is paying most of my student loans because I work in public service (they have a loan forgiveness program). But it was terribly dishonest and misleading - my account says that I'm on a standard 10-year repayment plan, so they were actively concealing the fact that I was on a graduated payment program. I really regret using them to consolidate my loans.

My wife and I have spousal consolidation loan with Sallie Mae, according to Sallie Mae the debt is in their name not AES. AES called 19 times in one day. AES sent us forms to update our records, we refused as my wife has changed jobs 4 times since June 2010 and is now laid off and I just came off disability to save my home. I refused to give any information. I was told they could use our Social Security Numbers to trace up the Dept. of Revenue and "DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH OUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS' I took that as a threat to steal identities and I asked to speak with a Supervisor, I told the Supervisor what was said he laughed when I asked if these two reps. had cameras over their desks, I was told "WHAT DO YOU THINK?'.
I blocked our credit reports and put fraud warnings on them and contacted Sallie Mae, MA Attorney General, PA Attorney General and Trade Commission I have not decided to seek damages yet. I need to keep an eye on my reports.

I hope that we can initiate a lawsuite against this company for infalting the loan that is really for low income, and very poor students and families that can't afford to pay out of pocket. These loans are goint to take all of our lives to repay because of the daily incured rate and the interest rates are compounded. I think that we should band together to file a class action lawsuite against this company. This company is ripping us off and we are going to starve as a result from the dailyrate is at 7.53 % Our kids are going to live the same life that we have scraping through because of con artist companies like this one. We need to tak ethis issue to the White House.

My son went through aes to get 2 different loans when he got out of high school that my fiance co-signed for (I'm on disability, so couldn't sign). He also has had trouble with aes, he has tried at first to try forebearance, what a nightmare that was. They never received the papers, no matter how they were sent. He must of sent 20 copies. He decided to go back to college to get his Master's degree. So, he tried notifying aes that he wanted to defer his payments until after he was out of college. He had more papers to fill out. Meanwhile, not being able to find a job he couldn't make his payments. So while he was going back & forth with them to get the right forms filled out his payments were late. Well, he signed the papers assumed all was okay. Nine months later my fiance received a letter stating he must pay $27000.00 immediately due to default on a student loan. This was the first letter we received about any of this, my son lives in GA us in OH. Tried calling them, what a joke that was! Mean, rude *ssholes answering phones. Told them we needed at least 24 hours to see what this was about. Called them back the next day and was treated worse and told now we owe $30000.00.
Any students/parents out there stay away from aes. A lot of high schools even give you their info to contact them...round file it. And never look back.

This company is a major ebarrasment to the American public.

AES will hound you for the rest of your natural life with phone calls. DON'T SIGN ON THEIR DOTTED LINE

I would like to start a civil lawsuit agains this company. Anybody in for it? I have paid this company IN FULL. They sent me a letter stating it was paid IN FULL with O DELINQUENCIES. HOWEVER, THEY ARE REPORTING YEARS OF DELINQUENCIES ! THEY ARE REFUSING TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, WHICH IS DAMAGING MY CREDIT ! I would like the US TO KNOW HOW THEY WORK SO NOONE WILL GET A LOAN THROUGH THEM AGAIN. I AM GOING TO POST ADS ALL OVER CRAIGSLIST.COM AND ALL OVER OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER TO LET PEOPLE AWARE OF THEIR ILLEGAL PRACTICES! I ALSO ADVISE EVERYONE TO CONTACT THE PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE AND FILE A COMPLAINT. AFTER SO MANY COMPLAINTS THEY WILL INVESTIGATE THIS COMPANY AND FINE THE HELL OUT OF EM. KEEP IT ROLLING !

When I initially consolidated with them, I qualified for an interest rate reduction if I made all my payments on-time for a certain period of time. To be sure that I would not have any problems, I signed up for direct debit to make the payments. When the debit was first set to go through, I called to check whether I had to keep making payments in the meantime, and was told that it was set to draft the next payment on-time.

It didn't draft the next payment.

I found out and payed immediately, but there was no going back. They wouldn't give me the interest rate reduction of .75%. I've now paid on-time for over 4 years, and there's still no going back. Because of their mistake I'll pay $600-$800 more interest over the life of the loan.

Thanks AES !^#&*!^#&*!^#!&*

I love these AES people in here touting their job and AES to the hilt! So basically, from what the AES-homers here have stated... AES is a servicer and doesn't actually own the loan or set any loan rules. I think we all understand that as college educated people. What we also do understand, that you AES dummies are obviously overlooking is... there is no real need for your business to exist in the first place. I can easily walk down to any local bank, take out a loan, and pay off my AES loans and never have to deal with your stupid ###ing company ever again. If the economy wasn't ###, I'd do exactly this, and I hope many others do as well. Then you'll be the one forced to work at McDonalds lol! And I wouldn't be so demeaning to the people on this board, obviously we are college educated to say the least, and are finding a means to get the word out about your ragged ### company (that shouldn't exist in the first place). I work for the government, the same government that bailed your ### out and let you keep your job. Try and come here again and belittle hardworking americans who are trying to scrape by in the worst economy of all time. We pay out bills when we can. And college shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a right. If you are smart enough, you shouldn't even have a choice. You conservative ###s think you have it all figured out because Daddy left you a big lump sum after he had a heart attack ###ing a hooker two years ago.

There is some really interesting information on here, especially "another unemployed"... I wonder if you can really do that?

I'm 32 and have been paying on my AES/BOA private student loan for 10 years now. My dad cosigned a loan for me for $40.000. I did have to use a forebearance AND deferrment within the first 4 years of graduating because I was a customer service rep and could not afford the $350 payments consistently.

When I began the repayment again, my monthly payments became $575 a month. It was high, but I understood the logic and was able to pay it (I had been promoted in that time). I never missed a $575 payment and was enjoying life in Chicago without any complaints.

Dec. 2009: The company I was working for closed and I was out of a job. I move back in with my parents (so I can still make those AES payments!). Once I moved home, my dad commited suicide right before Christmas. We discovered that his business had failed and he was penniless and ashamed of it.

Since this happened, I knew I could not pay AES probably for a few months until I get the house sold and settle my mom into a new place. I had some savings to get me through the packing/moving/fixing the house up to sell (the house is underwater too), BUT I plan on moving back to Chicago, getting a job and living like before.

Under these difficult circustances, I was hoping AES for give me just a few months to pick up the pieces. It is an incredibly frigtening and busy time for us. They said "no" and "send us the death certificate so we can take your dad off". Well, I have NO funds to pay them.

It sounds like whinersuck will DELIGHT in my misfortune. He'll probably think my dad should have killed himself. He was a hardworking man who wanted the best for his family, but that counts for nothing in whinersuck's world. Ick. Still, I hope something terrible doesn't ever happen to him because if he had a heart, it would be utterly broken and it will be hard to get right back up and be the joyous yes-man that he is. Good working people who care for their families will sometimes run into hard luck. That does not mean that they want the loan to go away. They just need a minute to catch their breath. But I guess with AES, that comes with a 10% increase on the total balance.

I thought for sure that a death in the family would offer some temporary relief, but it's just business as usual for AES! Are they alien or human... Maybe mosquitos?

I don't think I'll get too far by writing politicians, but I'm going to write Good Morning America, Oprah and The View :)

Well here is the TRUTH about private loans. If they are not FEDERAL and the word STAFFORD never appears, they are PRIVATE. PRIVATE loans CAN be discharged through Bankruptcy as can all other debts, such as credit cards and loans. The only reason Bankrupcy can't be used with FEDERAL STAFFORD loans is because the program has enough ways to help those unable to make payments and the interest is REASONABLE.

But Bankruptcy IS the answer to PRIVATE LOANS -or- you can wait 7.5 years and they will automatically disappear or you can have have removed from your credit record. As a matter of fact, in the state of FLORIDA, they can not legally collect after FOUR YEARS and 180 days without payment.

To the JERKS who work for AES, check with a lawyer before you preach YOUR laws.

First, a garnishment requires a court order. A court order requires a lawsuit. A lawsuit requires a delivered summons. If summons goes back undelivered, service was not completed and lawsuit does NOT proceed.

A stalled lawsuit results in no garnishment. In FLORIDA after 4.5 years, accept the summons, go to court, use defense of STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS and you walk out never owing it and with the court's blessing.

What AES likes to do is keep adding interest and late fees and re-billing. One problem, I have written them off, so no payment will be made as none is therefore due to them. I am going to start returning their statements, unopened, postage-due, as undeliverable. After 7.5 years, I will contact credit reporting agencies and advise them of the error of this account on my credit report and document the 7.5 years. They will legally have to remove the entries.

With that off my credit report, if they still keep sending statements, I will open a PO box and have all my real mail go to a PO box and write on theirs "moved--no forwarding address" and see if that gets their attention, without an address, they can't mail out bills each month and with it removed from my credit report it can't hurt me. If it is more than 7.5 years since a payment was made, the entries on my credit report BY LAW must be removed.

SCREW AES. I have done and you can too.

The Unemployed

I think the whiner dude is from a crooked debt collector-- they are selling the same load of crap! I have a student loan and have been paying it since 1997. My loan was NOT a private loan and was NOT from AES -- it was backed by the BOE -- when I got my first bill it was a total of $400 a month! YIKES ...who can pay that kind of money a month ..and WHO graduates from college then 6 months later can pay that kind of money? I am assuming the answer is NO ONE! Oh, and the total of my loan was $40, 000 -- Anyhoo, my husband said "Hey, I heard of this great program through the gov't to consolidate and the interest rate will be adjustable but NEVER go over 8% -- I said, I am sold! I have basically been paying about $100-$150 month on that loan -- NOW, my brother's situation is a completely different story -- the only way to get his degree in culinary arts was to get a private loan ... we co-signed because we had such a positive experience with my loan ... well, whiner is right -- I should've read the fine print that said "Sucker, a private loan means it's private, not gov't backed which means no matter how hard to try to bring that payment down -- we won't do it cuz we're crooked and you're a sucker" ...damn, I guess I should've worn my glasses the day I read the fine print. AES has REFUSED to consolidate my brother's payment of (combined) $350 a month ...isn't that a bit much for someone who is only in a cook position? Because they've refused to bring payment down (but, if you go to their website it says something totally different -- they're deceptive) ... we have a crooked junk debt collectors saying they're going to take my wages (which is illegal to say) unless they have a judgement ...yes, we have to pay our debt I agree BUT deception, lying and poor business practice is not allowable...even the gov't is offering students a break on their loans since there are no jobs out there --

Who are the ### that have the time to harass the people who are venting their frustrations about AES.

Yeah that's you whinerssuck and a few other overly conservative tea baggers.

I hate AES and I havent had half the problems these people have. Their customer service sucks ### and the biggest bug for me is why don't these [censored]s show the daily accrued interste on your statements so people can get a feel for what they owe from 10 years prior. Not really that hard to add a column. I paid the majority of my loan off years ago when really couldnt afford to do so. I've been getting statements with teh same principle balance for 5 years or so until payment recently became due.

In those 5 years not once a mention of how much interest has acrued on the balance due. Why not enough space on the paper? It's a financial sham to keep people in the dark. interest in late fees is where the real moneys at.

Where I come from unfortuantely, there's not a lot of money and sadly enough maybe not even responsible parents to help their minors make good financial decisions when entering college. Hey poor youngster, heres a whole bunch of subsidized money that you can have now and we'll get you later.

AES is pretty much the loan shark for 17-19 year old kids .

Another sad thing is that my loans have been sold off so many times over the years, don't know who owns them now. Doesn't matter. It's a company I'm sure that hardworking people are unknowingly investing their savings and retirement in, getting a modest return(until they go belly up like every other US private owned financial smooth criminal). Then the people investing lose their money, the students who are getting hustled lose their money, the CEO gets rich and the Gov. bails the private company that took the stupid short term risks(and cooked their books) out.

I hate republicans and you know what, i make a bunch of money. I work hard and have been through the ringer but can't stand the silver spoon uptight dicks that have no understanding of what financial hardship is.

AES are criminals plain and simple, unfortunately the corruption and heartlessness of the entire republican party and most of the dems allows this to happen.

If the harassholes arent on AES payroll then they are the worst of this country. Most of the people on AES payroll are just trying to make a living. A sad day when most people need to work for ### in order to survive.

When did people start growing up saying "I want to be a loan officer" or "I want to be a CEO"?

What is a CEO?, the biggest ### kisser that's strangled his way to the top or the son of another financially "Important" ###. And they sell widgets or destroy the entire US economy, better yet the world economy, whether it be directly or indirectly.

That felt good. You guys who are having problems need to get your butts together in a class action suit against AES. At least make the dicks list your accrued interest on your bill. Good luck and f*** you AES!

This company was a servicer for my loans. I couldn't pay them and fought them constantly on the amounts. My loans tripled and my payments were unreal. I was paying $12 of interest a day and I felt so hopeless for so many years. I finally decided to fight back. After reading other blogs, I sent a certified debt validation letter and CC'd the loan originators (National Collegiate Trust) that I wanted all documentation regarding the promissory note, the way the payments were calculated, and the history of my payments. I just googled Debt Validation Letter Sample and found a couple. I sent them certified yesterday. I'm sick of these companies thinking we don't have a leg to stand on. This is the link to the complaint board I learned a lot on yesterday... http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/collection-agencies/nes-threatens-legal-action.html NES is the collector for AES. I didn't know about the laws in place to protect us and I suggest everyone take the time to research and learn these. This is the link to the Fair Debt Collection Act... http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

To the dumb idiot who said we need to get off of our lazy ### and work. Did you see the article today about the woman who is a doctor and can't pay back her student loans. I make payments every month and work you sorry bum. Obviously you are on AES payroll and collect minimum wage. GET A LIFE!

AES is the most horrible compnay ever. I am in the process of trying to have my loans transferred toanother company. I spoke with a lady by the name of Kalynn Stevers. She is extremely rude and nasty. Asked to speak to her supervisor numerous times and she proceeded to yell in the phone and tell me no. I have never encountered service such as this. How tacky can a company be? Avoid this sham of an operation at ALL costs. They issued a wage garnishment after I made a payment and asked them to send me an automatic debit form. No one ever informed me that I could obtain the form from their misleading web site. They told me they sent me a notice in December. I have every letter they sent me both hard and soft copies and they did NOT send me the notice. I am logging a complaint with the BBB today. As a matter of fact their rating with the BBB is an F. I wonder why...NOT

oh and aes is satan, to respond to your post, first off it depends on the type of loan you have, whether its federal or private as far as what options you have when you default your loan, so to compare aes to sallie mae without letting us know what loans you have tells me your ignorant, secondly you defaulted on your loan and thats on you buddy, you made your bed now you have to live in it...idiot...im just going to go out on a whim and say you probably wouldnt even rehabed your loan until you found out you was going to have your wages garnished then that probably sparked a light in your tiny insignificant head...student loans arent a joke ladies and gents, dont take it lightly unless you want your paychecks garnished or your tax income seized...for you losers that want to claim bankruptcy that want a free road to life, it dosent work...your loans wont be forgiven...all these disrespectfull people i speak to on a constant basis i would love to see your look on your face when you find out you aint getting a tax refund...

u notice its only the deadbeats that complain on here, the ones that or totally ignorant and dont have the common sense to do the most simplest tasks...first off aes/pheaa is a servicer for you ###s that cant understand that ill break it down, they service the day to day activity of the loan which is instilled by the lender(bank for the idiots) meaning aes dosent make the rules they just follow them...so if you deadbeats that get a call about being past due, they're just performing their "due dilligence process"...secondly nobody made you take out the loan so to call aes a criminal, or the bank a criminal is upsurd, everything thing is in writing for you idiots before you take out the loan...deferments and or forbearances are misused by the student so they use it all up until theres nothing left, and then the student/cosigner gets irrate because they cant make there payments and they just sat on their lazy ### instead of activly looking for work...dont get me started on cosigners, normally cosigners are older in age, ones that established a decent credit history or old timers that are retired now and could care less about credit...these older people are normally more ignorant then the student, they dont understand what responsiblities they take on by becoming a cosigner, meaning your equally responsible for little johnnies loan that he suddenly took off and is nowhere to be found...you would think college students would be more educated about "life" but i guess they don't teach them common sense...in case you havent figure out yet i do work for aes as an collection agent, and by no means am i trying to rep my job just trying to make the clueless aware of some simple knowledge...its amazing how many people i have to speak to every day that have no clue whatever about their college loan...stupid people suck...

I've been fighting with AES over the past six months. They have continued to bill me despite the fact that I am enrolled as a full-time student who should be under deferment. I've sent forms, had the school I go to send forms, I've talked on the phone with them, e-mailed them and I get the same response every time. "We don't have you listed as a student, until we get proof that you are we will continue to bill you." I'm usually a pretty mellow guy, and I understand that these people who work there probably don't like giving us the run around, but the hoops they try to make us jump through is beyond insane and I'm going to go berzerk if they don't fix this situation soon. I never had a problem until I graduated from under-grad. I graduated, was accepted into grad school and moved two months laters to start classes, I informed them and they have refused to acknowledge my student status. I fully intend to pay off my debt, as crazy as it is.. but not while I'm enrolled as a full-time student.

And I have read the MPN, yada yada. I think we have some AES folks sneaking in here trying to do some damage control. It isn't working very well.

Maybe if you folks would have read your promissory notes before you signed them (i.e. promise to pay all principal and interest, and yes, you folks who cosigned too) instead of worrying about how quick you could get your money you wouldn't be out here complaining...readyourMPN and whinerssuck were right on w/their comments. And you cosigners and parents who do everything for your kids, you are pathetic. How are these kids every going to learn responsibility if you do everything for them.

AES bites! I have never once had a problem with Sallie Mae, and I havce heard many bad things from people about the way they handle their customers...but AES is by far THE WORST! I have loans with Sallie Mae and AES, and when I decided to go back to school I wrote each of these companies asking that my loans be deferred until I graduated. Sallie Mae had no problem postponing payment, making it a little easier for those of us that enjoy contributing to society to be able to do so. AES on the other hand was a little bit different, you see, when I initially began paying back my loans I made the mistake of slipping on payments to AES, I had defaulted on my account but was able to get it back into rehab and had been paying on it religiously for years. AES hass informed me that my loan is not eligible for deferment because it is in rehab (where it will stay for the life of the loan). How is it possible to keep someones student loan in rehab for the life of the loan. I have checked numerous other lenders/servicers and they show that loans stay in rehab for months...not years and years and years. How can you get ahead when AES refuses to work with you. I am a full time student, employed full time with an incredible family...I'm not an uneducated bum looking for $30, 000 scot free!

OH...and whinerssuck...how long have you been on the AES payroll...why dont you go somewhere that your wanted...we come here to let the world know that AES is a terrible company, not so we can hear how much you loooooove them! I'm sure we all realize that our debt is OUR responsibility, we dont need some douch bag telling us this. There is the chance for everyone to fall on hard times, and when that happens it shouldnt be too terribly awful to ask for a little help from a company that we pay a good chunk of change to every month for years! I would loooooooove to see how much you whined when you lose your job, your house is foreclosed upon and your wife leaves you for that young strapping lad down the road...douch bag