Completed rehab and just received a letter from DOE Options

[penone]

I completed rehab last month and was waiting for GC Services to let me know who picked up the rest of my loan. Today I got a letter in the mail from the DOE servicing center advising me that my next payment was due the middle of June for my FSL (assume that means Federal Stafford Loan). I am a bit confused though and hope someone can clarify a couple of things:

1. I thought a bank or a third party was going to contact me to set up payment arrangements? Is there a reason why I would be working directly with the DOE?

2. One of my hopes was that once I rehabbed and started paying a lender it would create a positive trade line on my credit report. Is this still going to happen? (the defaulted loan hasn't shown up on my reports for years.)

3. The letter directs me to visit a website at www.ed-servicing.com. I always thought that any gov't website ended in .gov? One of main concerns is that this is some sort of scam.(I'm a bit paranoid about identity theft and being scammed.)

Thanks for any input.

Paul

[Googie]

[Feech]

I think whats happening in alot of cases is that the DOE is taking over these loans. Right now there are no lenders available with the economy the way it is.

Congrats on completing the Rehab.

[atrick]

3. The letter directs me to visit a website at www.ed-servicing.com. I always thought that any gov't website ended in .gov? One of main concerns is that this is some sort of scam.(I'm a bit paranoid about identity theft and being scammed.)

My daughter got an email asking her to go to the ed-servicing.com site to confirm her email address. I feel the same way Paul did and am not sure what to tell my daughter in response to her question about whether or not this email was spam.

The email looks well-constructed (spam often has typos and there are hints it's bogus), so it's probably legit. But there is no .GOV in the email or website it links to, and nothing that says it's from an official government agency.

So if ed-servicing.com is for real, I wish the gov't was more explicit about who's behind it. It says that Department of Education Student Loan Servicing is asking for the information from my daughter. But unless someone can confirm it really is OK, I'm reluctant to tell my daughter to go ahead and give them the information sought. I've seen too many emails from companies purporting to be the real thing (eBay, etc.).

Can anyone out there shed any light on this for us?

Thanks!

[lotun]

Their Verisign certificate shows they are actually ACS Education Services. This company appears to be used by many others as a payment handler/processor for student loans.


They look more legit, even using 128 bit encryption for all transactions. Wachovia is using them for their student loans.

just my 2 cents.


k.

[penone]

Hey Atrick.

FYI - the website is legit. Looks a bit cheesy but it'll take your money and get it to the right people.


On another note - today on all 3 of my credit reports the positive trade lines showed up so that is a big plus!!!! It shows a start date of 1989 so that adds a 20 year trade line. Helps a great deal with my "thin file".

-P.