BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Nov. 22 that ACS Education Services (ACS) will pay $2.4 million after allegations it failed to properly process struggling Massachusetts students’ applications for federal repayment plans intended to lower monthly payments.
The company also allegedly engaged in harassing debt collection practices.
ACS, a national loan servicer that handles millions of student loan accounts nationally, purportedly charged excessive late fees, failed to protect some active-duty service members and made excessive consumer calls.
“To address this student debt crisis, we need students to be on repayment plans that will help them succeed, not fall further into debt,” Healey said.
“ACS failed to meet this standard and regularly undermined the opportunity for students to access appropriate repayment plans. This conduct increases the already high cost of education, damages credit and prevents students and their families from achieving long-term economic security.”
Deputy division chief Shennan Kavanagh and assistant attorneys general Samantha Shusterman and Jared Rinehimer, all of Healey’s Consumer Protection Division, handled the case for the state. Arwen Thoman, investigations supervisor in the Insurance and Financial Services Division, assisted.