Private College Student Loan

Has anyone had to deal with DCS collections agency before?

After my GREAT LAKES Student loan went default, this agency contacted me about my balance. They say they work for Great Lakes so they have no hidden costs associated with them, even so far as making my payments out to Great Lakes and not DCS. Also, they say they can only take payments electronically, not by mail, because I dont want to give them my bank account number! Please share your reviews, Thank You!

Public Comments

1. Giving them your checking account # is bad for the following reasons: This is like giving the keys to your front door to a burglar. Once they have this info they can attempt to withdraw any amount from your checking account at any time. Student loan debt collectors are notoriously bad record keepers...see link below about this problem. You need to have a paper trail of payments you send to them. ---------------------- Being that this is student loan debt you're going to have to pay this back regardless... Tell them that you will mail the a USPS money order every month (photocopy every one you send and keep with your permanent records). When they invariably state that they will only take your checking account number for payments, state the following: I have documented that you have refused a valid, legal method of payment, a USPS money order. I will follow this up in writing.
2. Some lenders do outsource their collections to debt collectors, if this is the case it will tell you on any letter you receive to make your payments out to ABC Corp. However I personally would never give a debt collector access to my bank accounts and neither should you. When collectors first attempt to collect they can be very aggressive and may refuse to cooperate. They are trained to only accept certain types of payments such as full payments, post-dated checks, electronic payments and so forth. Send your payment offer in writing certified mail/return receipt and let them accept or decline your offer. If they accept, you'll probably never receive anything in writing that says they accept your plan however, make sure that your letter includes this statement, "Please note that accepting (cashing) this payment constitutes a payment agreement between us according to the terms outlined above." Keep accurate records! Keep copies of every letter you send and everything they send including the envelopes.