Consumer complaint received 2017-05-18
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: ACS Education Services (MA)

Dear Sir or Madam, Please let this correspondence serve as a formal complaint letter re  garding ACS practices and the predicament I find myself in due to same.
ACS has engaged in documentable unfair and unethical practices in regards to the handling   of student loans and accrued interest and fees. I have fallen victim to these practices, and I hereby wish to formally file this grievance with CFPB.     I have been enrolled in the Income-Based Repayment Program ( IBR ) on my original  XXXX  student loans sinc e  XX/XX/XXXX , wh en I applied for  XXXX   school an d its subsequent new set of loans. Since enrolling in IBR, Ive met all requirements for continuous participation in this program. This year,  ACS  changed their verification date to  XX/XX/XXXX , but failed to inform me of having done so. My regular recertification cycle had previously been  XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX  and I had no reasonable way of knowing about this change.  ACS  claimed I had defaulted on my recertification and put me in standard repayment status.     I spoke with a  XXXX   XXXX   (  agent #  XXXX   )  on  XX/XX/XXXX . After repeated inquiry with two agents, they finally stated that the due date was  XX/XX/XXXX . I was informed that ACS can offer no administrative forbearances and that this is just a tool they use as a resource if Im out of forbearances. I was also informed that regardless of forbearance status, interest will be capitalized. The total additional interest for being 45 days late in recertification will be {$630.00}.      XXXX  did offer to knock me do wn to the IB plan and said this would bring me current immediately. I would then have to apply for a new IBR plan. However, after being on hold for a while, he came back on and said it would take 5 to 7 business days. Wh en I confronted him with his earlier statement about being brought current immediately, he denied what he had said, and was rude to me. A temporary forbearance, which Id applied for in  XX/XX/XXXX , came through on  XX/XX/XXXX .     The agent I spoke with previously, on or about  XX/XX/XXXX   (   XXXX  - #  XXXX   ), h ad none of this information and said that I was not eligible for an administrative forbearance. I get different answers, misinformation, and advice that leads me to act against my own best interest every time I speak with ACS.     On  XX/XX/XXXX , I requested my payment history from the origination of the loan consolidation to present date, including an explanation of every interest capitalization event. As of today Ive not received any such itemization.     These complaints come in addition to the much more serious issues Ive had with ACS in the past, when they had failed to inform me about the very existence of the  IBR program, an omission which has caused me to accrue outlandish sums in capitalized interest due to utilizing forbearances and deferments rather than a reasonable payment schedule which would have been readily available to me had I been informed of it. At no point did ACS inform me of the total interest and fees which would accr ue by utilizing deferments and forbearances, including unemployment forbearances.     This grievance has been detailed in correspondence with my lawyer dating from  XX/XX/XXXX   ( attached. ) Ive been dealing with these issues with ACS  throughout their name changes ; from  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  to ACS, and now  XXXX   ( which, along with their new address, they didnt disclose to me ),  since my  XXXX  loan consolidation i n  XX/XX/XXXX . In  XX/XX/XXXX , I c onsolidated again to combine my outstandi ng FFEL l oans to create a new consolidation loan. I adde d  XXXX  new loans totaling over {$12000.00}. When you factor in a ccrued interest, totals {$55000.00}. My loans had such high interest rates, the {$55000.00} loan is probably somewhere in between  7-8  %.  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  solicited me to do this consolidation, and probably received a kick back from the lende r (   XXXX   XXXX    XXXX    ) f or doing so. The compounded interest now seems to have pushed that balance to {$91000.00}, and climbing.     I have been in contact with your representative from the  Office  for Students,  XXXX   XXXX , who has insights into what may have happened in the consolidations of my loans, some of which would be highly unethical.     The matter of my  XXXX  student loans as handled by ACS needs a thorough investigation. There are discrepancies and overcharges that are unexplained. I have recently contacted MA Attorney General  XXXX   XXXX  office to request assistance in sorting out these matters, and received a positive response ; they are willing to advocate on my behalf.     It is my hope that CFPB, possibly in concert with  XXXX   XXXX  office, will take this grievance seriously.     Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.       Sincerely,  XXXX   XXXX  cc :  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX