Is American Education Services Calling You?*

Is American Education Services calling you?* Here’s what you need to know.

Debt collectors have an unscrupulous reputation for a reason. Many of them use pressure tactics to frighten or intimidate people into paying, all the while confident that people will not try to defend themselves or fight back. This is why knowing your rights as an indebted consumer is so important.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, gives you the right to dispute a debt and tell a debt collector not to call you any more unless it is to confirm that legal action is commencing or the matter is being dropped. It also regulates what third party debt collectors may say and do while trying to collect a consumer debt. Examples of illegal activities include:

• Swearing and calling you names
• Calling you at work after you’ve told them that your boss does not permit such calls
• Calling at all hours of the day and night
• Showing up at your house
• Claiming that you have committed a crime and threatening to call the police on you if you don’t pay
• Talking to uninvolved parties such as your friends, family, and co-workers about the debt

Company Profile: American Education Services

American Education Services is the student loan servicing branch of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1963 and collects defaulted student loans all over the country. Civil litigation files retained by the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website reveals that American Education Services has been sued for allegedly violating the FDCPA while pursuing debt settlements.

Alleged Violations against American Education Services

Randall John Callison vs. American Education Services

According to PACER**, on December 18, 2012 Oregon resident Randall Callison allegedly received a letter from the Administrative Officer of Loan Assets Management at American Education Services. The letter, which was later submitted as an exhibit, stated in part, “AES honored its guarantee by purchasing your loan on August 20, 2010.”

Mr. Callison sent a response letter requesting proof of purchase of his student loan. He later claimed that it went unanswered. He sent another letter dated February 20th, 2013 notifying American Education Services that the time to provide evidence that the loan was purchased had expired, but there was allegedly no answer.

Concerned that American Education Services was not actually the true creditor for the account, Mr. Callison sued the organization for failing to validate the debt and confirm its right to collect it as per FDCPA guidelines.

The matter was later dismissed.

Hire an Attorney

The phone numbers for American Education Services are:

• 1-717-720-3100
• 1-800-233-0557

If either of these numbers appear on your caller ID, it means that a debt collector is attempting to contact you. If American Education Services fails to provide evidence that you owe the money and they are authorized to collect it, hire an attorney. Failure to validate a debt upon request is against the law, and a judge could order the organization to pay you $1,000 per FDCPA violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. When a debt collector disregards your rights, the law is there to rectify matters.

**Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is (Case 3:13-cv-01367-ST from United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division)

*Disclaimer:

The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against American Education Services or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.