ACS - CHECK YOUR AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE!!!

I've been dealing with ACS since our loans were transfered to them in January, 2006. At least once a year they lose a payment, attributed it to one loan and not the other, and in both cases charge me late fees and contact the credit agencies. We pay our monthly payment directly through our bank on the same date every month - 10 days ahead of the due date. I had proof that my check was sent on 8/4/10 and that it cleared on 8/29/10. But ACS said they had no record of it and I would need to get a copy from my bank to prove it. In the meantime, they are charging me late fees and sending notices that they will be reporting me to the credit agencies. Curious because of their chronic mismanagement of my accounts, I signed into their site and reviewed the history of my account. It was shocking to see that my payments were going to mostly interest and barely paying down the principle - after 8 years of payments, I'd barely made a dent. I called and spoke with a representative who told me that that the amounts paid to interest vs. the principle are dependent upon what day of the month the check arrives. Now, my checks go out on the 4th every month yet somehow they were cashed and credited to my account on all different days - sometimes the 12th, others the 29th. When I asked the rep to further clarify, she said that the interest is accrued daily and that when my check is applied can significantly alter whether or not my principle decreases. Yet, I send my check on the same day every month and there's great variance to when it gets cleared by ACS.

Growing frustrated and more curious, I searched online and found this case...Fensterstock vs. Education Finance Partners/ACS - Affiliated Computer Services. Apparently I'm not the only one who finds this company's actions questionable.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1531053.html

Also read this story:
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/law/20100803/13/3327

And this one titled: Recent Case Over Misapplied Student Loan Payments Opens Door for Possible Class Action Lawsuit
http://studentlendinganalytics.typepad.com/student_lending_analytics/2009/03/recent-case-over-misapplied-student-loan-payments-opens-door-for-possible-class-action-lawsuit.html


In short, taken from the first story cited above:

In ruling on Fensterstock's suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan, just handed him a major victory. In a decision written by Judge Amalya Kearse, Fensterstock won the right to form a class action with others who entered the same agreement with the defendants. He also won the right to litigate in federal court rather than submit to arbitration.

Shortly after he graduated from Law School in Hempstead, N.Y., and become a lawyer, Fensterstock had accepted the defendant's offer to consolidate his student loans into a single loan of $52, 915.49 at an annual interest rate of 9.32 percent. At the end of the loan period of 29 years, he would have paid approximately three times the amount with monthly payments being applied "first to charges, costs and fees; next to unpaid interest and then to principal."

Fensterstock's payments were due on the 14th of every month, and he always mailed them in ahead of that date. After seven months, he had paid $7, 051.84 but he realized that by far the largest share of his payments was being applied to interest. In other words, his debt was being reduced by only $17 a month.

This, he was told was because payments had to arrive on exactly the 14th -- not sooner, not later. On this basis, he calculated, there would be "an enormous" payment due at the end of the loan period -- not a final payment of $335 as he had been told at the inception.

I've contacted the attorney who represented Fensterstock. Please do the same if you believe you're wrapped up in these deceptive practices as well.