topic Re: Windham Professionals (please help) in Student Loans

Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:32:42 GMT

I just started a new job and would like to start paying on my students loans which are currently in default. The first agency that I contacted was Windham Professionals I spoke to a young man by the name of Harold who stated that I have 6 defaulted loans totaling $62,919.17. I told him that I would like to enter their Rehabilition Program and he stated that I have 24 hours to secure a payment plan with them otherwise they are going to garnish my wages. He said my interest rate is 6.8% and my payments are going to be $725.00 and that I would have to make the payment by the end of the month and subsequenlty for 8-10 months. I told him that I cannot afford that payment with my bills and currently paying on other student loans. He stated that if I do not contact him by tomorrorow that they will garnish my wages. I also asked him to send the terms of the Rehab program including the payment amount and due date he stated he could not send me any information until I made a payment arrangement and that he will gladly accept a credit card or checking account over the phone today. I stated that I did not feel comfortable giving out my personal financial information without having something in writing he said he cannot send me information not even via email until I've made a payment. He also told me not to file my tax returns and that if i did they would be garnished so he suggested filing next year. I am in total shock and in tears can anyone recommend how I should approach this? I cannot afford the $725.00 there must be a way that I can reduce my monthly payments. Any information you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

InvincibleSummer3 — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:02:28 GMT

There is no minimum payment for rehabbing student loans. You need to look at your budget and come up with an amount you can counteroffer with. Rehab requires 9 months of payments, so make sure that it's an amount you can commit to.

That said - none of the folks who rehabbed got any kind of paperwork. I know I didn't. But go back & don't let him scare you. Negotiate and find a workable solut

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

InvincibleSummer3 — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:03:50 GMT

*solution. Sorry - posting while at a restaurant. I got cut off

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

kjel — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:32:08 GMT

Windham sucks. I have a collection acount (non student loan) from my university with them but have finally made some headway. I also let the school know of my difficulties with them. You have to keep calling until you find someone reasonable to work with.

I'm in rehab with CBE and just made my 9th payment. They were quite reasonable to deal with and offered me a payment of $13/month on $100K because my prior year's income was so low and my family size. I offered $50/month which they accepted and I had to submit a copy of my prior year tax return to them for verification. They should offer you something similar especially if you are undergoing some financial hardship. They also advised me not to file taxes due to a possible offset but that was not an option for me because my daughter is in college and needs a FAFSA filing early in the spring for the best aid package. I called the Dept. of Treasury and verified that I did not have an offset and filed my taxes. Alternatively you can file an extension because once you are underway with rehab you are not subject to offset.

Use the Income Based Repayment (IBR) calculator at http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-based/calculator to come up with a reasonable payment. Submit a written proposal sent certified return receipt mail and ask for a response within 10-21 days from them-keep a copy for your records. Do not give them your account information or feel pressured into setting something up immediately which is what Windham likes to do. Even though I am being serviced by CBE, my payments go directly to the Dept. of Education.

Here's the official overview of the program: http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/default/get-out

Dispute Resolution/Ombudsman: http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/disputes/prepare

To check if you are on the Dept. of Treasury Offset List call the number on this page: http://www.fms.treas.gov/debt/top.html

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Jon85 — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:33:04 GMT

I cannot STAND Windham Professionals. I just finished dealing with them.

I had a private student loan that was assigned to them by Sallie Mae, and it was about $2,600 with fees. I got them to settle it down to $1,500, I wanted to go down further, but that was all they would do. I guess I'm grateful for that, because if they ended up suing me or garnishing my wages, I would have had to pay the full amount.

1. I thought a CA was NOT allowed to threaten that they would garnish your wages?

2. Big coincidence that the day that you called was 24 hours prior to them planning on garnishing your wages

3. If you're rehabbing, it has to be an amount that you're comfortable with. Windham is extremely difficult, but you can make it work. Ask to speak with Sherri, she was really nice to me.

4. When I rehabbed (not through them) I didn't get any paperwork either in the beginning either.

5. If you can prove financial hardship, they HAVE to lower your payments- For my 25K in SL, I'm paying $100 a month for 9 months for Rehabbing them. They would have even went down further if I asked, but I got scared that a potential buyer would pass on me if I were only making $50 payments for 25K loans.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:00:25 GMT

I'd like to thank all of you for your replies, you have made feel a whole lot better about my situation and that I can actually get through this. I called the Dept of Treasuary and unfortunately I am on their offset list thanks to @kjel for that information. Also @kjel would you by any chance have a sample proposal letter that I can send to Windham?

I am definitely going to call back and see if I can get someone different on the phone. When I set up my payment plan how would recommend setting it up electronic , credit/debit card, money order or check?

Thanks again everyone I really appreciate your feedback!

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

twall06 — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:24:22 GMT

When I started my rehab with FMS and NCO they asked me my income and my monthly expenses for rent , groceries, insurance , and everything else then we worked out a payment I could afford . This company should do the same my gf had to deal with them and their customer service is awful and they pretty much harass people.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

kjel — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:18:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@I'd like to thank all of you for your replies, you have made feel a whole lot better about my situation and that I can actually get through this. I called the Dept of Treasuary and unfortunately I am on their offset list thanks to @kjel for that information. Also @kjel would you by any chance have a sample proposal letter that I can send to Windham?

I am definitely going to call back and see if I can get someone different on the phone. When I set up my payment plan how would recommend setting it up electronic , credit/debit card, money order or check?

Thanks again everyone I really appreciate your feedback!

You're welcome. You didn't say who the originator of the loans being serviced by Windham is so depending who they belong to would determine the decision on how you should pay. They should at the very least tell you where your payments should be sent and you ALWAYS have the option to pay via paper check through snail mail. My payments go directly to the Dept. of Education so I send a paper check via my bank's bill pay to them. Windham has an electronic payment portal that I pay my collection through, I enter the info myself and it comes out via direct debit on a one time only basis. Windham gives off a weird vibe so I am not willing to give their reps my info directly over the phone or let them have an automated payment (just set yourself a reminder to pay before the due date). Don't use a money order, you want to be able to see the check or electronic debit clear your account for recordkeeping purposes.

I don't have a letter, but I'd start with the IBR calculation based on family size and income as a payment amount and then adjust for what other expenditures or extenuating circumstances you might have to reduce that amount without putting you in the poor house. Request/suggest an amount that you confidently know that you can pay over the next 9 months without issue because you absolutely have to make on time payments. Folks here have paid anywhere between $50 and $750 a month from what I've seen based on their particular circumstance. Basically you just need to justify the proposed amount.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

InvincibleSummer3 — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:38:57 GMT

Windham isn't the servicer; they're a collection agency assigned by the Default Resolution Group (DOE). There wouldn't be anyone else with collection authority. I know, because I tried to see if there was anyone else I could work with besides the assigned collection agency.

I think much depends on the agency. I've rehabbed with two of them, and one was fine to deal with, very straight up. The other was a pain, like Kjel said - gave off a weird vibe. Hang in there, Maliba. I'm hoping you find someone over there who's at least easier to deal with.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:56:51 GMT

@kjel the originator of my loan is AES/PHEAA see when I called I was never given the option to send the payment anywhere all I was told that they can take the payment over the phone today. I was under the impression that my payments were going directly to Windham so that I understand correctly when going through a rehab your are paying the origninator and not the CA? Also will the CA fees eventually drop or can I negotiate those?

I am going to keep calling until I can find someone that is willing to work with me. Thanks again!

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

kjel — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:50:24 GMT

The mailing address for payment on my statements from CBE Group was for the DoE lock box in Atlanta. I did have the option to pay CBE directly but I just sent the payments via check to DoE. You can see the payments post on your myeddebt.com profile and you can also make electronic payments through myeddebt.com.

The collection charges fell off once the loan came out of rehab and was picked up by a new servicer.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:53:03 GMT

@kjel wrote:
The mailing address for payment on my statements from CBE Group was for the DoE lock box in Atlanta. I did have the option to pay CBE directly but I just sent the payments via check to DoE. You can see the payments post on your myeddebt.com profile and you can also make electronic payments through myeddebt.com.

The collection charges fell off once the loan came out of rehab and was picked up by a new servicer.

I will definitely call back and ask where should I sent my payments. I am so thankful for this forum and feel like I have a handle on this rehab thing now

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 03:05:14 GMT

Maliba

My loans were also AES/PHEAA. Windham was the original CA assigned but I called and the rep was very rude and unprofessional so I told her I would not deal with Windham again, that I would deal with AES to repay. I guess they reported this back to AES because AES assigned a new CA, Account Control Technology. They have been great from the start. I didn't even know about rehab until Account Control told me. They ask me about my income and my expenses and suggested a payment amount. The one thing I didn't like was that they told me that I HAD to sent up an automated debit for payment in the rehab program. I had to give them my credit card information and choose a date for it to be charged monthly for the payment. Once I set that up, they sent me a rehab agreement by mail. I had to sign and return it. The agreement laid everything out. My payments are charged to Account Control Technology and I get a monthly reminder of the upcoming debit from Account Control.

Also, I kept reading about myeddebt but my accounts were not on it so I called DOE default to ask about this. I was told something about the Guaranty Agency at the state level. Check nslds, if AES is listed as the current servicer and PHEAA is listed as the lender and Guaranty Agency you probably won't be on myeddebt and DOE will not be able to help you, if you call them they will tell you to call AES.

Just letting you know my experience since we were both AES/PHEAA.

If you check nslds and find that AES is still your current servicer, call them. Well, call their default department. Explain that you understand Windham is handling your account but see if they can give you some information about the requirements of a rehab agreement.

AGAIN...that is if you are still with AES and not DOE.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:17:42 GMT

@hopingsoon thanks for the info I am going to look at my loans today to deternine who's my servicer because I am so tired of dealing with Windham they are so unprofessional

I just looked at my loans and it states that

Current Servicer: AES

Current Guaranty Agency: PHEAA

Once I call AES would I be able to request a new CA with them or do I have to call Windham back make the request through them? Someone mentioned in a previous post that you are able to make the payments directly to the DOE but I am not sure how that works.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:39:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous thanks for the info I am going to look at my loans today to deternine who's my servicer because I am so tired of dealing with Windham they are so unprofessional

I just looked at my loans and it states that

Current Servicer: AES

Current Guaranty Agency: PHEAA

Once I call AES would I be able to request a new CA with them or do I have to call Windham back make the request through them? Someone mentioned in a previous post that you are able to make the payments directly to the DOE but I am not sure how that works.

I don't know if you can request a new CA but I would call AES. Just call the toll free number listed on any of your AES documents and ask for the default department.

You can ask AES to verify but I don't think your account is with DOE. I believe your account is being handled by PHEAA. Therefore, I don't think you can make payments via DOE.

Everyone I've dealt with at AES has been great. Give them a call. Be sure to ask for the default department.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:51:18 GMT

Hi there,

I am actually a collector for Windham Professionals and believe it or not, we're here to help you. First let me tell you that there IS a solution for you! Let me sum up everything in detail for you so you can make the best informed decision about your default. I will also go into the positives and negatives. Ready? Here goes!

1) Windham is a 3rd party collection agency. We collect on behalf of our client, in your case AES/PHEAA (American Education Services or Philadelphia Higher Education). We do not set the guidelines for RHB, THE CLIENT DOES! The RHB payment is determined by your balance & your current interest rate.

2) With a balance like $62k a $700+ RHB payment, this leads me to believe that you havent consolodated your loans yet. Therefore, your loan is considered the same as a STAFFORD loan, and therefore its loan repayment terms under a 10 year plan. If your loan was consolodated, your loan would be stretched out over 30 years, and therefore a lower payment. Understand so far?

Now lets go into the negatives just so we can get it out of the way:

1) YES, they can and THEY WILL garnish your wages. It is a federal debt, so no court order is needed. They will run your SSN, locate your POE (Place of Employment), and deliver garnishment papers to your HR dept. At this stage, its called NPWW processing at this stage. At this point, you are NOT yet being garnished. You have 30 days from this point to contact us and get on a RHB program before the garnishment hits.

Once the garnishment hits, its a financial nightmare to stop. Client guidelines with AES require that you make 3 RHB payments PLUS the garnishment before its stopped. Believe it or not, we tell debtors this but they come to sites like this, and get THE WORST possible advise and therefore they dont believe it can happen....UNTIL IT ACTUALLY DOES!

2) YES, they can garnish you in nearly every state in the union, including CA, and they do!

Ignoring federal debts are bad news, and it will only end badly for you! So with that being said, call us and let us help you! There is a program you can qualify for income contingment repayment.

Now on the the positives!

1) The RHB program is designed to get your loan 100% out of default within 9-10 months

2) The debt is 100% expunged from your credit report, as if the default never occured. Imagine having $62k disappear from your credit report?

3) Title IV benefits + privs restored at 6 months

4) garnishment & tax offsets stopped

5) collection activity stopped

6) Interest + fees stop accruing

Now, you said a $700+ payment is too much? Im going to give you a solution that nearly every collector will avoid telling you about that will be the answer to your prayers. Ready? Here goes!

Call 877-682-4849 and ask for the WILLIAM D FORD PROGRAM

The WDF program is a way for folks such as yourself to get out of default with NO payment and an income contingent repayment option later on!

Im a top collector on the AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC portfolios. Even I see the gravity of your situation, and if I was talking to you on the phone, Id immediatly send you over to WDF because you seem like thats the best program for you right now

Not all of us are bad, and its our job to collect. However, I'd rather you go to WDF, get out of default, and be able to move on with your life and your children (if u have kids) without having a financial hardship like garnishment hit you and your family!

Good luck, and I hope you take this information to heart. It will truely be the answer to all your problems right now.

Glad I could help!

Windham Collector

AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC

877-682-4849

**THIS HAS BEEN A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE AND THIS EMAIL MAY BE MONITORED AND/OR RECORDED FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE! HAHA (A LITTLE JOKE)

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

InvincibleSummer3 — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:34:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi there,
I am actually a collector for Windham Professionals and believe it or not, we're here to help you. First let me tell you that there IS a solution for you! Let me sum up everything in detail for you so you can make the best informed decision about your default. I will also go into the positives and negatives. Ready? Here goes!

1) Windham is a 3rd party collection agency. We collect on behalf of our client, in your case AES/PHEAA (American Education Services or Philadelphia Higher Education). We do not set the guidelines for RHB, THE CLIENT DOES! The RHB payment is determined by your balance & your current interest rate.

2) With a balance like $62k a $700+ RHB payment, this leads me to believe that you havent consolodated your loans yet. Therefore, your loan is considered the same as a STAFFORD loan, and therefore its loan repayment terms under a 10 year plan. If your loan was consolodated, your loan would be stretched out over 30 years, and therefore a lower payment. Understand so far?

Now lets go into the negatives just so we can get it out of the way:

1) YES, they can and THEY WILL garnish your wages. It is a federal debt, so no court order is needed. They will run your SSN, locate your POE (Place of Employment), and deliver garnishment papers to your HR dept. At this stage, its called NPWW processing at this stage. At this point, you are NOT yet being garnished. You have 30 days from this point to contact us and get on a RHB program before the garnishment hits.

Once the garnishment hits, its a financial nightmare to stop. Client guidelines with AES require that you make 3 RHB payments PLUS the garnishment before its stopped. Believe it or not, we tell debtors this but they come to sites like this, and get THE WORST possible advise and therefore they dont believe it can happen....UNTIL IT ACTUALLY DOES!

2) YES, they can garnish you in nearly every state in the union, including CA, and they do!

Ignoring federal debts are bad news, and it will only end badly for you! So with that being said, call us and let us help you! There is a program you can qualify for income contingment repayment.

Now on the the positives!

1) The RHB program is designed to get your loan 100% out of default within 9-10 months
2) The debt is 100% expunged from your credit report, as if the default never occured. Imagine having $62k disappear from your credit report?
3) Title IV benefits + privs restored at 6 months
4) garnishment & tax offsets stopped
5) collection activity stopped
6) Interest + fees stop accruing

Now, you said a $700+ payment is too much? Im going to give you a solution that t thatnearly every collector will avoid telling you abou will be the answer to your prayers. Ready? Here goes!

Call 877-682-4849 and ask for the WILLIAM D FORD PROGRAM
The WDF program is a way for folks such as yourself to get out of default with NO payment and an income contingent repayment option later on!

Im a top collector on the AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC portfolios. Even I see the gravity of your situation, and if I was talking to you on the phone, Id immediatly send you over to WDF because you seem like thats the best program for you right now

Not all of us are bad, and its our job to collect. However, I'd rather you go to WDF, get out of default, and be able to move on with your life and your children (if u have kids) without having a financial hardship like garnishment hit you and your family!

Good luck, and I hope you take this information to heart. It will truely be the answer to all your problems right now.

Glad I could help!
Windham Collector
AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC
877-682-4849

**THIS HAS BEEN A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE AND THIS EMAIL MAY BE MONITORED AND/OR RECORDED FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE! HAHA (A LITTLE JOKE)

Hi WindhamCollector! Nice to bump into you. I'd love the chance to ask a few questions of someone in the industry.

1) "Windham is a 3rd party collection agency. We collect on behalf of our client, in your case AES/PHEAA (American Education Services or Philadelphia Higher Education). We do not set the guidelines for RHB, THE CLIENT DOES! The RHB payment is determined by your balance & your current interest rate."
So, are there different minimums for rehab based on different lenders? Are the rehab payment minimums different for loans from AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC portfolios?

2) I think we can all understand your point about stretching the payments over a longer term - 25 instead of 10. But that does result in substantial increases to the debt, correct? On $62k worth of debt, assuming a 6.8% interest rate - that takes what would have been a $85k debt to $129k. This is really the best option for someone who is already in serious financial straits?

3) When you say that sites like this offer the worst possible advice - what exactly are you taking issue with? That seems an unfair categorization for someone who's only got a single post under his belt.

4) You said "The RHB program is designed to get your loan 100% out of default within 9-10 months". What advice would you give to borrowers who's rehab experiences are dragging out longer than this? Or who are not seeing credit reports updated in a timely manner? Any advice?

5) Also, "The debt is 100% expunged from your credit report, as if the default never occured. Imagine having $62k disappear from your credit report? " You mean the default is expunged, right? Because the debt is still there, and shows up on the credit report. Do you tell people that the entire loan will disappear? Because we're not seeing that happen post-rehab. The debt is still there, only the default is removed.

6) Do you mean the William D. Ford CONSOLIDATION program? Because Wiliam D. Ford is actually the name of the student loan program itself. If you're referring to consolidating, that's a bit misleading given that you've just told us about all the benefits of REHAB but then advised someone to call and ask about consolidation. Two different animals entirely. In case you were worried - nearly all collection agents will tell borrowers about consolidating as an option. It's in no way is it "something nearly every collector will avoid telling you about that will be the answer to your prayers." We know. Not to worry.

Thank you for your time and attention to our forum. I appreciate your input.

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:10:49 GMT

I will be happy to answer....

Q: "Windham is a 3rd party collection agency. We collect on behalf of our client, in your case AES/PHEAA (American Education Services or Philadelphia Higher Education). We do not set the guidelines for RHB, THE CLIENT DOES! The RHB payment is determined by your balance & your current interest rate."
So, are there different minimums for rehab based on different lenders? Are the rehab payment minimums different for loans from AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC portfolios?

A: Yes and No, the RHB minimum will always depend on your balance + your current interest rate no matter what portfolio client it is. However, the RHB options do differ from portfolio to portfolio. Each client has different guidelines + requirements, therefore the RHB repayment options may be different depending on what client has your loan at the present time.

Q: I think we can all understand your point about stretching the payments over a longer term - 25 instead of 10. But that does result in substantial increases to the debt, correct? On $62k worth of debt, assuming a 6.8% interest rate - that takes what would have been a $85k debt to $129k. This is really the best option for someone who is already in serious financial straits?

A: No it does not, it results in a LOWER payment amount for the RHB payment program. Remember when we are calling you, its to set you up on the program, not get you into a payment plan for the entire balance. Once your loan is out of default, it will be taken over by a new lender, who you can then negotiate your repayment options, interest rates, etc.

Take for example the following formula:

Joe has a federally defaulted balance of $52,000 w/ a 6.8% interest rate. When we contact him, we will advise him that his RHB payment will be calculated by his balance + interest rate based on a 30 year loan repayment period instead of a 10 year one. This would make his monthly RHB payment $340 for 9 months.

Now depending on what client has his loan, he can negotiate a lower monthly payment and still get the RHB benefits by asking for an R&A (Reasonable and affordable) program. The debtor is NOT penalized later on with higher payments for participating in the RHB program.

Q: When you say that sites like this offer the worst possible advice - what exactly are you taking issue with? That seems an unfair categorization for someone who's only got a single post under his belt.

A: I don't need a single post "under my belt" to identify bad advice when I see it. People telling a debtor that they cannot be garnished without a court order is collossally bad advice. Folks who are not professionals in the industry should refrain from giving advice, especially legal advice unless they're an attorney. Understand?

Q: You said "The RHB program is designed to get your loan 100% out of default within 9-10 months". What advice would you give to borrowers who's rehab experiences are dragging out longer than this? Or who are not seeing credit reports updated in a timely manner? Any advice?

A: There are some borrowers who are on the program longer than 9-10 months, but this is very rare. 100% of borrowers that complete the RHB program are funded by a new lender However, some borrowers have trouble finding new lenders due to their history, their history of on time payments while on RHB program, etc. Credit reports are usually updated 45-90 days after the RHB program is completed. If a borrower STILL has the debt on their CR after this point, I encourage them to call the client where their loan was to get that issue resolved. Again, this situation is very rare.

Q: Also, "The debt is 100% expunged from your credit report, as if the default never occured. Imagine having $62k disappear from your credit report? " You mean the default is expunged, right? Because the debt is still there, and shows up on the credit report. Do you tell people that the entire loan will disappear? Because we're not seeing that happen post-rehab. The debt is still there, only the default is removed.

A: No, the entire debt is expunged, meaning it will disappear as if the default never occurred to begin with. The new lenders report to the credit bureaus now with positive or negatives depending on the status of the RHB'd loan. However, the original default/debt that was there previously should not be there. If it is, I encourage you to contact the client who originally had the loan and get that resolved.

Q: Do you mean the William D. Ford CONSOLIDATION program? Because Wiliam D. Ford is actually the name of the student loan program itself. If you're referring to consolidating, that's a bit misleading given that you've just told us about all the benefits of REHAB but then advised someone to call and ask about consolidation. Two different animals entirely. In case you were worried - nearly all collection agents will tell borrowers about consolidating as an option. It's in no way is it "something nearly every collector will avoid telling you about that will be the answer to your prayers." We know. Not to worry.

A: WDF Consol gets the loans out of default in 45-90 days without payment and allows the debtor to again deal directly with the DOE (Dept of Education). Its not a student loan program, but merely a hardship program designed to allow the borrow time to get back on his/her feet. The loan doesn't go away, but the debtor is removed from default.

Yes collectors WILL and DO avoid offering the service because of the simple fact they do not get credit towards their monthly numbers for WDF sendovers. A collector thats confident he can RHB a $50k account will not immediatly offer the service. Thats just the nature of the industry.

Glad I could help

Re: Windham Professionals (please help)

InvincibleSummer3 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:22:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I will be happy to answer....

Q: "Windham is a 3rd party collection agency. We collect on behalf of our client, in your case AES/PHEAA (American Education Services or Philadelphia Higher Education). We do not set the guidelines for RHB, THE CLIENT DOES! The RHB payment is determined by your balance & your current interest rate."
So, are there different minimums for rehab based on different lenders? Are the rehab payment minimums different for loans from AES/PHEAA, NYHESC, and ECMC portfolios?

A: Yes and No, the RHB minimum will always depend on your balance + your current interest rate no matter what portfolio client it is. However, the RHB options do differ from portfolio to portfolio. Each client has different guidelines + requirements, therefore the RHB repayment options may be different depending on what client has your loan at the present time.

Q: I think we can all understand your point about stretching the payments over a longer term - 25 instead of 10. But that does result in substantial increases to the debt, correct? On $62k worth of debt, assuming a 6.8% interest rate - that takes what would have been a $85k debt to $129k. This is really the best option for someone who is already in serious financial straits?

A: No it does not, it results in a LOWER payment amount for the RHB payment program. Remember when we are calling you, its to set you up on the program, not get you into a payment plan for the entire balance. Once your loan is out of default, it will be taken over by a new lender, who you can then negotiate your repayment options, interest rates, etc.

Take for example the following formula:
Joe has a federally defaulted balance of $52,000 w/ a 6.8% interest rate. When we contact him, we will advise him that his RHB payment will be calculated by his balance + interest rate based on a 30 year loan repayment period instead of a 10 year one. This would make his monthly RHB payment $340 for 9 months.

Now depending on what client has his loan, he can negotiate a lower monthly payment and still get the RHB benefits by asking for an R&A (Reasonable and affordable) program. The debtor is NOT penalized later on with higher payments for participating in the RHB program.

Q: When you say that sites like this offer the worst possible advice - what exactly are you taking issue with? That seems an unfair categorization for someone who's only got a single post under his belt.

A: I don't need a single post "under my belt" to identify bad advice when I see it. People telling a debtor that they cannot be garnished without a court order is collossally bad advice. Folks who are not professionals in the industry should refrain from giving advice, especially legal advice unless they're an attorney. Understand?

Q: You said "The RHB program is designed to get your loan 100% out of default within 9-10 months". What advice would you give to borrowers who's rehab experiences are dragging out longer than this? Or who are not seeing credit reports updated in a timely manner? Any advice?

A: There are some borrowers who are on the program longer than 9-10 months, but this is very rare. 100% of borrowers that complete the RHB program are funded by a new lender However, some borrowers have trouble finding new lenders due to their history, their history of on time payments while on RHB program, etc. Credit reports are usually updated 45-90 days after the RHB program is completed. If a borrower STILL has the debt on their CR after this point, I encourage them to call the client where their loan was to get that issue resolved. Again, this situation is very rare.

Q: Also, "The debt is 100% expunged from your credit report, as if the default never occured. Imagine having $62k disappear from your credit report? " You mean the default is expunged, right? Because the debt is still there, and shows up on the credit report. Do you tell people that the entire loan will disappear? Because we're not seeing that happen post-rehab. The debt is still there, only the default is removed.

A: No, the entire debt is expunged, meaning it will disappear as if the default never occurred to begin with. The new lenders report to the credit bureaus now with positive or negatives depending on the status of the RHB'd loan. However, the original default/debt that was there previously should not be there. If it is, I encourage you to contact the client who originally had the loan and get that resolved.

Q: Do you mean the William D. Ford CONSOLIDATION program? Because Wiliam D. Ford is actually the name of the student loan program itself. If you're referring to consolidating, that's a bit misleading given that you've just told us about all the benefits of REHAB but then advised someone to call and ask about consolidation. Two different animals entirely. In case you were worried - nearly all collection agents will tell borrowers about consolidating as an option. It's in no way is it "something nearly every collector will avoid telling you about that will be the answer to your prayers." We know. Not to worry.

A: WDF Consol gets the loans out of default in 45-90 days without payment and allows the debtor to again deal directly with the DOE (Dept of Education). Its not a student loan program, but merely a hardship program designed to allow the borrow time to get back on his/her feet. The loan doesn't go away, but the debtor is removed from default.

Yes collectors WILL and DO avoid offering the service because of the simple fact they do not get credit towards their monthly numbers for WDF sendovers. A collector thats confident he can RHB a $50k account will not immediatly offer the service. Thats just the nature of the industry.

Glad I could help

I'm glad you came back! There are often weird spammy bot posts, so it's nice to see you are indeed a real live person.

I'm not seeing where this thread said that a debtor cannot be garnished without a court order....I realize that this is not the case with student loans, or with government debt. But it is the case with a lender of the non-Uncle Sam variety. Perhaps this might be where the discrepancy in information is happening. I know there are many, many sites on the Internet that engage in giving ethically questionable advice, like "dispute everything regardless of whether the information is accurate" or coming up with schemes on how to get out of paying a legitimate debt. That isn't the case here; while there are a few people who may try, the vast majority of us are not trying to skate out of debts, nor do we advise others to do that. I have a hard time being lumped in with people who are looking to run up bills and then game the system so they don't have to pay. I don't think all collection agencies are the same, nor are all collection agents - so that's why I mentioned that in my response. I didn't mean to offend you, and apologies if I did.

That is really interesting information, the rehab payment formula. I have to say, we've seen widely varying payments. I was originally told that on 12K worth of debt at 2.140% interest, that my rehab payments would be $550/month. (Which is about 35% of my income.) It took a great deal of time and effort to come to some kind of agreement, and it seems there's no standard - which makes it incredibly frustrating for consumers who would like to pay debts but the payments are out of reach.

Last but not least - with regard to the bolded: this is in no way what we're seeing across the board. In most cases, the original tradeline remains. It's actually rare to see it removed completely. I've got mine open in another window, and it shows the original tradeline, with the default notation in the comments. The balance is now zero, with payments in good standing shown from the date of default forward, but it does show a high balance for the original loan plus all the lates that led to the default, so it's not gone from my report by any means. I've had the collection agency, DOE, the original servicer, and the DOE's Ombudsman's office all involved, and they are telling me it's reporting accurately. There are copies of the Dept. Of Ed's 2009 PCA procedures manual floating around the internet, and from it we've gotten the following:

"Collectors must not state or imply to borrowers that the default information reported by the original lender (e.g., the bank that made the FFEL) or by the guaranty agency or Department will be deleted or expunged before the applicable 7-year period has run. Adverse information (default status) reported by a guarantor or the Department will be expunged earlier only if the loans has been rehabilitated. Adverse information reported by the original lender will not be expunged or excluded from credit reports before the 7-year period that runs from the lender’s report of that default, even if the loan is rehabilitated."

This is confusing, because the law that applies to Stafford loan rehabs says:

"Upon the sale or assignment of the loan, the Secretary, guaranty agency or other holder of the loan shall request any consumer reporting agency to which the Secretary, guaranty agency or holder, as applicable, reported the default of the loan, to remove the record of the default from the borrower’s credit history." 20 USC § 1078–6 (C)

It's entirely possible that there have been post-2009 updates to that PCA manual, and that maybe there is information I don't know. I am by no means a lawyer. But from a consumer perspective, it's really difficult to not know exactly what one is going to end up with at the end of rehab, and to see people who post here get wildly varying results makes the situation worse. For what it's worth, despite all the hassles and confusion I still feel like rehabbing was a positive choice and I would do it again. I definitely advise people to consider it as a serious option, because it's for sure far better than just ignoring a federal debt. But I'm really careful to mention that my experience may not mirror someone else's, even if they have the same CA assigned to collect. This really does seem like one of those cases where "your mileage may vary", as the saying goes. Even the Ombudsman's office seems like they may not know exactly how the reporting is supposed to work post-rehab, and if they don't know where does that leave the layperson? Yikes.

Thanks for coming back. I think it was fabulous that you did. I hope you stick around some more.