Student loan revoked by University

[CEDLEIGH]

I had a portion of a student loan revoked by my Universtiy due to the fact that I left school and did not file an official withdrawl. The thing is that I DID file with the old lady in the registrar's office (atleast I thought I did). Apparently the form did not get processed and now the University is saying I owe them over $2,000 (due to renegging on a loan)because of this. I got a letter from them saying that they will be sending the debt to a collection agency within 10 days which will immediately increase my balance by 33%. The strange thing is is that a company by the name of E.C.S.I. has been demanding payment for this for months on end now. I have not tried to validate with them.

 

But, this letter I got from the University is asking me to send payment to:

 

Rutgers, The State University

65 Davidson Road Room 310 ASB

Piscataway, NJ 08854

 

Which makes sense, but E.C.S.I is asking me to remit payment to:

 

Rutgers -The State University

C/O E.C.S.I

181 Montour Run Road

Coreapolis, PA 15108.

 

Do I need to validate ASAP with E.C.S.I and how do I respond to Rutgers? Please help.

[LynnInMN]

I had a portion of a student loan revoked by my Universtiy due to the fact that I left school and did not file an official withdrawl.  The thing is that I DID file with the old lady in the registrar's office (atleast I thought I did). Apparently the form did not get processed and now the University is saying I owe them over $2,000 (due to renegging on a loan)because of this.  I got a letter from them saying that they will be sending the debt to a collection agency within 10 days which will immediately increase my balance by 33%.  The strange thing is is that a company by the name of E.C.S.I. has been demanding payment for this for months on end now.  I have not tried to validate with them. 

 

But, this letter I got from the University is asking me to send payment to:

 

Rutgers, The State University

65 Davidson Road Room 310 ASB

Piscataway, NJ 08854

 

Which makes sense, but E.C.S.I is asking me to remit payment to:

 

Rutgers -The State University

C/O E.C.S.I

181 Montour Run Road

Coreapolis, PA 15108.

 

Do I need to validate ASAP with E.C.S.I and how do I respond to Rutgers? Please help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It sounds like the withdrawal was done correctly. Depending on when you withdrew, financial aid funds, both loans and grants are returned to the lender. However, the school itself has its own withdrawal policy. This is from Rutgers website.

 

Refund of Tuition

 

Complete withdrawal: Students who withdraw on their own initiative from all classes will be given tuition refunds in accordance with the following schedule: prior to the start of the term, 100%; within the first or second week, 80%, within the third or fourth week, 60%, within the fifth or sixth week, 40%; after the sixth week, no refund.

 

Frequently students will end up with a tuition account balance after withdrawing because the loose all their FA. The school did not reneg on the the loan...this is standard policy right across the country.

[CEDLEIGH]

So you are saying that the withdrawl in fact was processed correctly, yet I recieved F grades for that semester. I don't think it was, because I would have recieved Incompletes or Withdrawls. I have tried to get letters from my professors, because I left a few weeks before finals. It's a mess really. Should I just write them a letter asking them to provide their side of the story? Or call them? As for E.C.S.I, what do I do with them? DV 'em?

[LynnInMN]

So you are saying that the withdrawl in fact was processed correctly, yet I recieved F grades for that semester.  I don't think it was, because I would have recieved Incompletes or Withdrawls.  I have tried to get letters from my professors, because I left a few weeks before finals.  It's a mess really.  Should I just write them a letter asking them to provide their side of the story? Or call them? As for E.C.S.I, what do I do with them? DV 'em?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

As I said, each school has its own drop date calender. Sounds like you withdrew after the final drop date. If you withdraw after a certain point, you will get an F.

 

Quite frankly I would be calling or going into the school to find out the drop dates. I cant find it on the schools webpage. Writing will take forever if you get an answer at all.

 

As for the CA, find out the information above first. Keep in mind that with a state university, there is not SOL on the debt and they will file to seize your state tax refund.

[CEDLEIGH]

<SIGH> That's not good news. Thanks for the info, you are a sweetheart.

[canelaw99]

I have a student loan through the Univ. of Miami and all of my payments go through ECSI also. I have to contact someone directly at the school with any questions I have. It's my understanding that ECSI is a clearinghouse for schools to use because I had been sending my payments directly to the school until I got a notice from UM that the address would be changing. Be careful though - I'm still fighting with the school because I've been paying as agreed and it shows up as way late and the full amount due on my CRs and bills.

[CEDLEIGH]

Cane, that is very interesting. It seems like ECSI, the moment they find out you owe a balance such as this, start billing you right away. I am going to contact the University and try to work everything out - the details. Thanks, very informative post for me.

[LynnInMN]

I have a student loan through the Univ. of Miami and all of my payments go through ECSI also. I have to contact someone directly at the school with any questions I have. It's my understanding that ECSI is a clearinghouse for schools to use because I had been sending my payments directly to the school until I got a notice from UM that the address would be changing. Be careful though - I'm still fighting with the school because I've been paying as agreed and it shows up as way late and the full amount due on my CRs and bills.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Tuition accounts are generally due during the same school year as you attend. Places like ECSI handle accounts receiveables and past due accounts for schools. Even though you are paying as agreeded, you are still past due and as such your credit report is not updated as such. It would be similar to a defaulted student loan, except it is a defaulted tuition account!!

[CEDLEIGH]

Well if that is the case, then ECSI should not be attempting to collect, since they are listing a completely different address. The way I see it, Rutgers is the OC and ECSI is the CA. If Rutgers states in the letter that they have not sent this to a CA, then ECSI shouldn't be demanding payments? Am I right?

[canelaw99]

My acct. with UM is not past due tuition - it is a Perkins loan I had directly through the school. It is even listed on the national list of student loans and is a federally backed loan. I worked out an agreement directly with the school and that is how I have been paying. They changed the address to ECSI because they are no longer handling any payments directly through the office there. I've even talked to the woman at UM handling my acct. and she said she would get ECSI to fix it/update it, and they still haven't.

[CEDLEIGH]

Cane, we are on the same boat! Who will go overboard first? I am about to lose it with the University. I will need to find an old exam or a letter from a professor to get me relieved from having to pay this back. ECSI should not be collecting, I am going to validate with them and see what they say.

[canelaw99]

LOL not sure who'll go over first. I know it's been so frustrating dealing with this lady at UM too. I had spoken with her a few months ago regarding this. She told me that my acct. was up-to-date and that she would contact ECSI and have them change both the amount due each month and that it's not overdue. Of course, that has not been done. Additionally, I get this letter from her last week or 2 weeks ago stating that I"m missing like 12 monthly payments! How the heck can she tell me a couple months ago I'm up-to-date then tell me I'm missing that many payments when most of what they say I'm missing was last year. Wouldn't she have seen that in our initial phone discussion? Grrrrr - so annoying. I didn't consolidate this one because I was/am only paying $40 a month and I like it that way, but geez it's frustrating! LOL

 

Let me know what you end up doing with ECSI. I'll be very interested to hear. I know I can't get out of this loan as it's a Perkins, and that's fine, but I'd like to have it at least reported correctly.

[CEDLEIGH]

I know that it may be best to talk the school on the phone, however, in situations such as this, having something in writing so much better. I will keep you posted.

[LynnInMN]

My acct. with UM is not past due tuition - it is a Perkins loan I had directly through the school. It is even listed on the national list of student loans and is a federally backed loan. I worked out an agreement directly with the school and that is how I have been paying. They changed the address to ECSI because they are no longer handling any payments directly through the office there. I've even talked to the woman at UM handling my acct. and she said she would get ECSI to fix it/update it, and they still haven't.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You are probably paying on a defaulted Perkins loan. You yourself stated in the other thread that you didnt pay on your loans. Perkins loans when they default, stay with the school for collection or their authorized representative. You may be paying as agreed, but due to your earlier missed payments, you probably defaulted on it.

[cljohnr]

CEDLEIGH, is this account listed on your credit report or are you just receiving bills? I don't think ECSI would be considered a collection agenecy, they simply process payments.

 

As far as the 'F' grades, those are probably correct. My school had a policy where you could drop in the first two weeks with no record, you could withdraw in weeks 3-8 with a 'W' recorded (if you had enough withdrawal hours remaining. 'F' otherwise), and if you withdrew after that you received an 'F'. I think this is pretty standard. If you quit "a few weeks before finals", you certainly would have fell into this category. An Incomplete grade automatically turned into an 'F' after a certain amount of time as well.

 

My school also had a similar tuition refund policy as Lynn stated above. If you drop after a few weeks into the semester, you receive no refund. Which would mean that you owe an entire semester's tuition, even if you didn't attend the entire semester. If any of your financial aid was returned to the lender, you likely owe that amount to the school. That is likely where this account balance came from.

[canelaw99]

Lynn - it probably was defaulted, however, I came into an agreement with the school itself (the OC of the loan basically)and have been paying it ever since. Wouldn't that be enough of a reason to change it to "paying as agreed" at least? I mean, for it to sit there month after month showing "past due balance", 120+ days late, looks like I haven't made a single payment and it ticks me off. I think they should at least change it somewhat on the reports.

 

Sorry to hijack the original thread

[threeve]

Just want to reiterate and expand upon a couple things that have been said so far.

 

ECSI does not appear to be a collection agency, they appear simply to be handling the collection of unpaid tuition for Rutgers, or essentially Rutgers outsourced some work to them. This is why you see the "Rutgers c/o ECSI ..." in their payment address. This is very common.

 

You withdrew very close to the end of the semester, which will result in grades being issues. Schools vary as to the exact dates they enforce, but none will let you withdraw that close to end of term without an official grade.

 

A note from your professors regarding your withdrawal will not forgive your tuition balance or "relieve you from having to pay this back". All schools have a specific withdrawal refund policy, and that late in the semester the refund is usually $0. A letter from a professor (or even all your professors) will not change that, as the professors are faculty, and rarely do the faculty and administration get along. The faculty are there to teach, the administration runs the business.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think there is anything unscrupulous about what is happening to you.

[LynnInMN]

Lynn - it probably was defaulted, however, I came into an agreement with the school itself (the OC of the loan basically)and have been paying it ever since. Wouldn't that be enough of a reason to change it to "paying as agreed" at least? I mean, for it to sit there month after month showing "past due balance", 120+ days late, looks like I haven't made a single payment and it ticks me off. I think they should at least change it somewhat on the reports.

 

Sorry to hijack the original thread 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

This unfortunately is the penalty you pay for defaulting. Once you default, you stay in default until you pay it off, rehab or consolidate. Your's is no different to a defaulted stafford loan that someone makes payments to a CA for. You can make payments on a stafford loan as agreeded, but it doesnt remove the default status. Talk to them about rehabbing the account so you can get the negative tradeline removed!

[CEDLEIGH]

Just want to reiterate and expand upon a couple things that have been said so far.

 

ECSI does not appear to be a collection agency, they appear simply to be handling the collection of unpaid tuition for Rutgers, or essentially Rutgers outsourced some work to them.  This is why you see the "Rutgers c/o ECSI ..." in their payment address.  This is very common.

 

You withdrew very close to the end of the semester, which will result in grades being issues.  Schools vary as to the exact dates they enforce, but none will let you withdraw that close to end of term without an official grade.

 

A note from your professors regarding your withdrawal will not forgive your tuition balance or "relieve you from having to pay this back".  All schools have a specific withdrawal refund policy, and that late in the semester the refund is usually $0.  A letter from a professor (or even all your professors) will not change that, as the professors are faculty, and rarely do the faculty and administration get along.  The faculty are there to teach, the administration runs the business.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think there is anything unscrupulous about what is happening to you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Threeve, I appreciate your feedback. Thanks. However, Rutgers told me that all I would need is a letter from my professor confirming that I was there long enough to earn a grade (even if it were an F) or give them a copy of a test saying I was there after midterms. I don't have any tests, but the professors would be able to verify that I was there. I can't seem to get in touch with any of them though and I cannot access my records because of the delinquency. I had reasonable cause to leave and included that with my withdrawl.

 

The thing that irritates me is that I basically paid for a semester's worth of tuition for NOTHING! And now they want a measley $2,000 after I dropped $20,000 on an edcuation I could have gotten for $1.50 in late charges at the public library.

 

So, I do not think it is right. Furthermore, I will validate with ECSI anyways, because they have all the tendencies of a CA, even if they are not. And when I speak to the University tomorrow, I will ask them as well.

[threeve]

Threeve, I appreciate your feedback.  Thanks.  However, Rutgers told me that all I would need is a letter from my professor confirming that I was there long enough to earn a grade (even if it were an F) or give them a copy of a test saying I was there after midterms.  I don't have any tests, but the professors would be able to verify that I was there.  I can't seem to get in touch with any of them though and I cannot access my records because of the delinquency.  I had reasonable cause to leave and included that with my withdrawl. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This sounds a little strange. Giving them evidence that you were attending class AFTER midterm would seem to validate their claim to unpaid tuition as well as to issuing failing final grades rather than incompletes or withdrawals (btw, incomplete grades usually turn into F's after a period of time unless you 'complete' them). Midterm is probably very close to the date that their refund policy goes to $0. Wouldn't you want the professors to say you were NOT there? If you were there, attending class, why should they give you a refund?

 

Be careful what you give them, they might just use it against you! I hope it works out okay for you.

[LynnInMN]

However, Rutgers told me that all I would need is a letter from my professor confirming that I was there long enough to earn a grade (even if it were an F) or give them a copy of a test saying I was there after midterms. I don't have any tests, but the professors would be able to verify that I was there. I can't seem to get in touch with any of them though and I cannot access my records because of the delinquency. I had reasonable cause to leave and included that with my withdrawl.

 

 

Your financial aid was withdrawn because you withdrew...obviously some paperwork was done. There has to be a papertrail in the system. Getting a note from a professor is not going to change this. Faculty know absolutely nothing about registration dates and financial aid procedures and the school is going to go by what you already did and the dates you did it. Also keep in mind that in most schools, the registrar and FA offices function independantly....this basically means that the registrars office has little knowledge of FA dates and timeframes. It is the students responsiblity to follow handbook dates and rules.

[CEDLEIGH]

Ok. So I spoke with the man in charge at the University. Apparently ECSI is a billing service that Universities use to do the dirty work. So, they are legit. To get the lates removed, you'll need to make 12 consecutive payments, or a good will letter might do??? As far as the tuition is concerned, I need to appeal with the Dean. The funny thing is that I sent a letter to the Dean and spoke with him regarding my leaving the University...he is the one who told me to put in for a withdrawl. Anyways, if the Dean decides to approve the appeal, the balance will be adjusted to ZERO. As far as ECSI is concerned, it's concerning a loan I didn't even know I had. I'm not sure if there is a way around getting my lates removed, but this is an institutional loan. I thought I consolidated it, but I apparently I did not. I will write ECSI and the University a good will letter concerning the delinquency to see if they will work with me. I am $212.00 past due and will remit that payment to the University and send a copy of payment to ECSI in hopes that they will remove the lates. Keep in touch.