Consumer complaint received 2016-03-15
Company: ACS Education Services
State: FL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about my loan

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted an IBR re-request on my loan accounts. I have several loans through various servicers. ACS is the only one that requires me to submit paper documentation and to fill out forms and fax thing to them. All of my other loans allow me to access the Federal Financial Aid portal and click a few buttons, connecting me to the IRS for tax return verification and then submit. 
Over a period of 6 months, I went back-and-forth with ACS over submitting documents and then waiting, and then being told they were wrong. This went on until XXXX XXXX when I finally was so frustrated that I got my file escalated to a high-level supervisor who told me that their underwriting department was at fault, that they had reviewed my loan documents incorrectly and that my IBR was approved. 
In XXXX XXXX, my husband and I applied for a mortgage. At that time our credit was pulled and I discovered that ACS was reporting me delinquent for 60+ days in XXXX XXXX. I knew this was directly related to the debacle over having my IBR approved and I submitted a copy of the credit report by email and requested an explanation. I never received a response. 
In XXXX XXXX, we put in an offer on a property and a new credit pull was performed. The error was still on my record and ACS had still never responded to my complaint. I made another set of phone calls and I finally received a phone call from XXXX XXXX around XXXX XXXX saying that my complaint had been escalated and he was going to conduct a review. As of XXXX XXXX I was informed that ACS admits that they have been falsely reporting the credit delinquency on my report for over a year now and that they will fix the issue. 
However, I am now closing on a loan in 15 days and although I have contacted ACS again to beg them to expedite the request to provide me with a letter to the credit bureaus correcting the error, they are refusing to move any faster than their procedures allow. 
My loan officer has informed me that since this is the only delinquency on my otherwise-excellent credit, that this error could be costing me at least .75 to 1 % on the mortgage rate we have been quoted, which is approximately $ XXXX in interest over the life of the loan. 

I informed ACS that I am an attorney, I work in the mortgage lending industry, and I am very aware of the consequences for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 
I am demanding that all costs associated with my loan for the additional interest and late fees that I was charged are immediately reviewed and credited to my account. Further, I expect that ACS will be responsible for any costs and damages associated with the false reporting on my credit, as this has likely not just affected my mortgage rate but also the rates for homeowners insurance, car insurance, and credit cards that I have paid over the last year. Unfortunately, I can not quantify anything other than my mortgage rate. If I do not have this resolved sufficiently in time for my closing, and ACS agrees to pay any costs associated with this grievous error, I will not hesitate to take further and more aggressive action to pursue my damages. 

It is extremely frustrating that a company like this, that is so incompetent and borrower-unfriendly is allowed to remain in business. Consumers have no rights to select or change loan servicers. If I did have the choice, I would have switched away from ACS years ago. I never have a positive experience, I am always blamed for not knowing how their internal procedures work, and I am treated like the errors are my fault. No one has ever apologized for any of the serious errors that have been committed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation