Menu
ECMC

ECMC review: collection fees 16

C
Author of the review
5:46 pm EST
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

My loans went into default when I lost my job and was homeless. I got back on my feet and applied for a loan rehabilitation program through ECMC. I was qualified and approved and read carefully the loan rehab agreement. It allows ECMC to add collection fees once the loan has been rehabilitated. After only a few payments under my agreement, which I made on time, ECMC added over $5, 000 to my loan balance for collection fees! I've contacted the employee at ECMC and complained that it is a breach of the agreement to add these fees now (prematurely) - especially in light of the fact that interest is now being calculated at this higher balance. I have heard absolutely nothing back. Now, I have to take legal and/or administrative action against them as they are clearly in breach of the agreement.

View 0 more photos
16 comments
J
J
joed44
Fort Worth, US
Sep 10, 2009 3:06 pm EDT

Beware of the number [protected]. It is a fake corporation that tells you that you owe them money from a student loan. Do not answer their call or buy into their marketing tricks. Contact your local attorney general or law enfocement agency. Also make sure to send them a notice to stop contacting you. Especially beware of david peterson of ecmc he is very sneaky and will continue to bother you and will never give up. He is the prime example of an american loser.

L
L
LuciR
Raleigh, US
Sep 16, 2014 11:40 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Don't talk to them. Block their number and call Fedloan. They are harassing me. And I didn't graduate yet. They call all the time.

J
J
jem29
Bangor, US
Aug 28, 2013 1:27 pm EDT

I keep getting calls from this company - they are a real company...and very real if you have federal student loans through Sallie Mae. They don't leave any messages and when I call back no one answers. I have multiple loans through Sallie Mae and have always paid them on time. When I started college almost 10 years ago, my dad was the borrower and I was the cosigner due to my age and lack of any credit history but the bulk of my loans are in my name. I have been fully responsible for repaying 100% of my loans - including the ones that lists my dad as the borrower and me as the co-signer. Last year Sallie Mae said that we weren't paying these loans (I had proof of payment but because I wasn't the borrower, I wasn't permitted to talk to them which still doesn't make any sense to me but whatever.) My dad, while he's an intelligent guy, has really no idea what is going on when it comes to my college loans - and he doesn't need to because I have it covered! I had a lot going on last year so we agreed with Sallie Mae to put them in forbearance until July 2013 - and not because I couldn't pay them but because I didn't have time to deal with the long drawn out hour+ long phone conversations. In July they came off forbearance and I have since been making payments but these people have started calling again. I haven't received any letters or calls from Sallie Mae saying that I've defaulted but I can't think of any other reason why these people would be calling. I have the record of all of my payments but if it's anything like last year, they just don't see the same paper-trail that I do. I would happily just pay these particular loans off in one payment but I don't feel comfortable considering that my current payments don't even seem to be accounted for. At this point I have no idea what to do. I'm making the payments! What else could they possibly need from me? Whether I pay them or my dad pays them, they're getting paid! How can they not see that? Are they blind or just that dumb? I'm so perplexed by the situation and annoyed by the fact that I, as the "co-signer", cannot speak to anyone about them yet they call me multiple times per week. Such BS.

M
M
me, myself & I
, US
Aug 12, 2013 4:48 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I was unable to pay my loans back due to no job etc...so I started recently in Feb 2013 with the rehab payments...9 payments on time to bring loan out of default & back in good standing. I had them deducted electronically..somehow 1 payment in April I accidently mailed a payment as I was paying my monthly bills & was very tired from just working a bunch of overnight shifts...so when I got my bank statement I noticed the extra payment...so I called & spoke to some woman and she assured me they would reverse the payment that was extra...never happened...so I called again and spoke to another person who reversed it right then...THEN I began getting harassing calls about a late payment and statements with a late payment...none of which was corrected as promised. It gets better...This past July they never took out my July payment, and now being August, they never took that payment out either...but yet I continually get harassing calls on my phone with messages left...I was away for a week and came home to 15 messages on my answering machine...I have faxed, emailed etc and have gotten no acknowledgement at all...This company sucks...THEY messed up but yet continually harass with calls...I even stated in a letter I sent certified so they had to sign for it..with all my proof & everything about my account...and that I demand they send me in writing that my account is in good standing again as of October 2013 as I have never been late & it is not my error...not a single response...they haven't called yet today...I will be shocked if they don't...They suck and someone needs to teach these people there how to do their jobs correctly...they suck!

W
W
Was-a-Student
San Diego, US
Feb 20, 2013 4:18 pm EST

ECMC contacted me and offered to process a Deferment of my student loan. I was assured over the phone that I will be qualified for it. (I lost my job, and just went through a surgery, could not work. I was on food stamps at that time.)

I never received any confirmation of not being rejected for Deferment. In 6 month my account goes into Default. ECMC end up charging 25% collection fee from my $90, 000 student loan making my loan over $110, 000. They offer recovery repayment plan while they look into what happened to my application. The lady who was put on my case (Diane Zitur) was absolutely helpless and only talked non-stop trying to shut me up and to convince I was wrong.

Now I went through the repayment plan and my loan was given to another company. I am still trying to get to the bottom of what happened to my deferment application. Was it even every given to Sallie Mae? I doubt it. Sallie Mae didn't have my account for a while.
Similar story to this one: /link removed/
Complete rip Off!
Good luck everybody!

G
G
ggggggeeee
, US
May 14, 2012 1:31 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

ECMC is a guarantor and contacts those with Student loans on behalf of the US government.
They are exempt from FDCPA laws.
This all might change in 2013 ( yes I see that this is an old post) when Congress has to reauthorize the HEA act of 1965.
Please visit forgivestudentloandebt.com and join us on facebook. We have a few attorneys who are very well versed in dealing with the predatory student loan business and might be of some help.

At this point we have nearly 1 million signatures that will be presented to the WH and Bill HR 4170 by Rep Hansen Clarke of MI to restructure SL debt with a forgiveness option.

C
C
chucky345
, US
Oct 01, 2011 1:09 pm EDT

Research "Collections Law " in your Satae and Federal Collection Laws. Also, dont sound timid and humble when speaking to ECMC or any other Collection agency. Thier are Laws in place for our protection and they have Laws they have to abide by. Dont avoid phone calls or letters - if you cant pay, tell them and document the times you call. If they are to persistant, get a tape recorder and sue them. If they call a wrong number and disclose your information sue and have your debt discharged. If they start to Garnish your wages, goto your County or local Court house, file a motion to stop Garnishment, forward that motion to your bank or Company, they will stop Garnishing until said court date. Remeber, knowledge is key.

W
W
Why wont work with you?
SF, US
Jun 03, 2011 7:47 pm EDT

I cannto get trhough to anyone at ECMC they call me everyday and when I call back on the number they called they transfer me and no one picks up. I then called the number on the website and no one picks up. I've left numerous messages. I am trying to work with them to make payments. This company does not seem legit. I've researched them thorouhgly and extensively. You would think they could be easily reached. Stop harrasing me plaease if I pick up your call and no one is there. Stop harassing me if I call back numerous times and cant get through. ###.

P
P
payback2011
Stockbridge, US
Apr 28, 2011 3:24 am EDT

I paid my loan off with them through garnishment and tax offsets and now they owe me money and I can't seem to get it. They don't return your calls and they are rude. I understand they have a job to do but they never know when it could be them in our situation. I will go back to school one day and I will work just as hard to pay my own way! I learned my lesson and this one I will teach my kids for sure!

E
E
ezit
Waianae, US
Apr 15, 2011 12:30 pm EDT

It's easy to pay the loan when you have a job! JustPayIt your comment is shallow and go's without saying. Did you and ECMC forget the recession where 10's of thousands of people lost their jobs? The entire student load system is a money making scam! The collectors should take the schools to court since the school promise's students high paying jobs when they graduate and there never is...oh sorry, I forgot they are in cahoots with each other! Shame on you money mongers. You should be crucified for all the pain and sorrow you cause.

J
J
JustPayIT!!
, US
Mar 09, 2011 3:25 am EST

It's not that hard people! You went to school on their dime, now pay it back! I had a defaulted student loan that ended up with them. I contacted them, but could not afford to make the payments, so I called back when i was able to. They were not rude. I paid every month for 9 months, even had one month that my payment was returned by the bank, but i called and took care of it, with no problems. Today I received a letter letting me know that i completed my rehab and my loan had been bought by another lender. Exactly 9 months. So, IT WORKS! If you really want to fix your credit, pay your bills, and pay them on time.

M
M
marchell2
Charlottesville, US
Apr 01, 2010 4:51 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

According to ecmc I have an outstanding loan, I have tried them numerous times to set up a payment arrangement so that I may attend school in the fall and they don't return my calls. They say I owe them money, but yet when I try to talk to them I can't get through. I have left numerous messages for the last few days and I get no response. I am trying to get in a nursing program in the fall. And they are standing in my way. I thought it was suppose to be easier now for people to go back to school, to help with the unemployment rate. Well I'm unemployed now and can't get in school.

J
J
joneebea
Harrisburg, US
Jan 19, 2010 12:36 pm EST

I was contacted 2 years ago through another agency called NCO. They told me that I could place my Student Loan back in good standing by entering the Rehabilitation program. I was told that all I needed to do was make 9 payments on time, and then, and only then it would be reflected on my credit reports, that my loan was in good standing. I made payments faithfully, while suffering a foreclosure and struggling at work as a remodeler, until the last payment. I was unable to make the last payment till after the due date. I was then told that the agreement was in default and I had to enroll in the program all over again, and wait another 9 months before it would be in good standing. Meanwhile, none of my payments were reported to the credit bureaus, thus not improving my rating. I had no choice, but to agree to the new rehabilitation agreement, and had the payments automatically taken out of my bank account. Just this month my 9th payment was deducted, and I contacted NCO to find out who I needed to continue payments with, when it was going to reflect on my credit, and so on. They informed me that ECMC is delayed, and that I must continue making payments to them until ECMC is ready to take the loan back. Nothing would be reproted to the bureaus. They also told me that they were not allowed to give me ECMC contact information, other than a number that was a recording, telling me that my loan is with NCO. In short, ECMC was unreachable, and NCO would have to keep taking my payments, with NO obligation or intentions on reflecting over 15 months of payments made on time. Yes, there was a contract, but, as I'm sure we've all experienced, there's some small print written in lawyer terms, that only an attorney could interpret, that allows them to do this and, does not obligate them to hold up to their end of the bargain. All I can say is, organized crime is alive and thriving, with the support and assistance of our tax dollars paid to the government. God bless all of those who have given their lives, and put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom.

J
J
Jannell Jamison
Atlanta, US
Jan 14, 2010 10:29 am EST

Somehow ECMC put a defaulted student loan on the NSLDS database against me when I have never attended college. Incredibly, this happened in 1989. I learned of this when I enrolled into college for the first time in 2006. Being dumb on my part, I had no idea what a 'defaulted' loan was. Nonetheless, I found out and tried to desperately work with ECMC. I want to tell you that these people were the rudest set of barbarians I have ever come into contact with. They would not work with me at all. They accused me of going to school back in the 80's when I simply wanted to prove that I did not. The lender, NationsBank, had no information on any loan for me. The school, itself, had no record of me ever attending. I finally contacted the Department of Education's Ombudsmans Office to resolve the difference. They act as a neutral liason between me and ECMC. I am currently waiting for the results of this mediation. If all fails, I intend to file bankruptcy to get these evil people off my back!

C
C
Chrissee4
Boardman, US
Oct 14, 2009 1:06 pm EDT

I know this will sound a little extreme but, your best bet is to file a chapter 13 it will put an end to the garnishment and they will have no choice but, to take an arrangement. I am going through the same thing right now. They are garnishing my husbands wages for almost 500 dollars a month. I cannot afford that and I am also behind on my mortgage. The fee for bankruptcy is around 300.00 dollars and the rest of any attorney fees would be paid through the life of the chapter 13 anywhere from 2 to 5 yrs.

L
L
Linne - Virginia
Richmond, US
Oct 12, 2009 8:39 pm EDT

I don't believe this is fake actually. I spoke with the David Petterson person for over a year and was on some sort of repayment plan so that I could keep myself from going into default. Unfortunately, as you all know the economy has been rough. I was unemployed for nearly a year. I missed the last payment to keep myself from going into default by 2 days and they flat out refused to work with me.

When I spoke to his manager he said that he could put me into ANOTHER payment plan but when he asked how much I made and I told him I was unemployed he said that there was nothing he could do for me.

They tried to get me to beg family members to give me the money to do the monthly plan but I was more worried about being homeless and feeding my child than paying back a student loan.

To make a long story short, I finally got a job in April and it pays extremely poorly but at least I've gotten to a point where I have a roof over my head again. But guess what - I now am having my wages garnished by ECMC!

When I figured out who it was (and no I never received notice that I was going to have them garnished) I contacted them. This was back in late August/September. He FINALLY got back to me tonight and was extremely rude and put it all on me. I wanted to make some sort of arrangements so I could get it out of garnishment. Anything to make my life easier. He told me that no one would give me a shot so it was useless.

I am totally lost at what to do now. I can't afford an attorney. I can't even afford to feed myself or my child because of the amount of money they are taking out of my wages.