ECMC Educational Credit Management Corporation Total RIPOFF - They STEAL your money Oakdale, Minnesota

I am sitting here so angry right now because ECMC (electronically cunning manipulating crooks) has literally left me penniless.

I admit to being in default of my student loans. What I went to school for is NOT the field I am working in. I have $6,000 in student loans for a stupid career that pays $8.00 an hour. JOKE! Anyway, I was in contact with Dave with ECMC. I was in the process of filing bankruptcy and he told me that if I did, my student loans would not be dismissed and that I would still be responsible for paying them. OK, not a problem.

Then he tells me that ECMC is going to be intercepting my tax return unless I enter into an automated payment, where they debit my checking account each month. Dave did the numbers and came back with my paying $15.00 per month because I am at a low income ratio. OK, not a problem. Dave says that if I file for bankruptcy, it will mess up my agreement to ECMC because the person who oversees my bankruptcy will not make ECMC a main priority creditor to pay. So since I don't want ECMC to take my tax refund, I cease my bankruptcy and commit to a payment plan. I figured that if I could make the payments for 9 months, my student loan will no longer be in default (per Dave at ECMC) and then I can file bankruptcy after that.

Dave sends me all of the paperwork, which I fill it out and send it back in. At the time of my original student loan application, my mother was my contact person however since then, she has passed away. The only contacts that I have are my kids and my close friend. So I filled in the current contact info with my close friend's information. Apparently, this wasn't good enough for ECMC and they are using that excuse...the excuse that my contact list isn't good enough because I share the same address with my close friend (gee...didn't we just go over my income and aren't I at a low income ratio? Hmmm...) so my contact isn't "valid".

Now in the meantime, ECMC cashed my initial check of $15.00...and then also debited my checking account $15.00, so clearly I am making the payments. I filed my taxes early so that myself and my children can move but I guess that won't be happening anytime soon, thanks to ECMC. When I realized that ECMC was taking my ENTIRE tax return, I was heartbroken. I now have NOTHING to use to move. I have no money. Nothing. I can't do anything except go to work and that's it. I have no money to move. I have no money for the deposit. I am left with zero, zilch, nada.

When I called Dave, it was a joke. I'm sure that he sat at his desk drinking his Evian water and having a nice lunch with his colleagues, and then driving home in his fancy car and walking into his $300,000.00 home. Well, I can't live like that. I'm on a fixed income.

I can not believe that this company is supported by the government. I need to petition my state governor. I am floored. How can you enter into an agreement and then that company start taking payments out of your account...and then go back against their word and take my ENTIRE tax return? How can they do that? If I would have known that they were a bunch of dishonest people and were going to rape me of every penny that I have...I would have waited until April 15th to file.

I asked Dave how he could sleep at night, knowing that he was taking the money that was providing a roof over my children's head. He asked me if I'd like the complaint department. Karma.....oh ya. Please Dave...keep me updated on your life circumstances. I'd LOVE to see you in the same boat as me. Jerk. I sincerely hope that one day, you are faced with a financial blow and you have to go hungry so your children can eat. I want to see you shopping at Goodwill for work clothes. I want to see you living with friends and sleeping on the floor with nothing and no one to help you. Maybe your parents will be deceased like mine are, and maybe you'll ask someone for help like I did you..and maybe they will give you the 1-800 number to a complaint department.

This CAN NOT be legal. If you have a contract, how can they go against it and find something to find "uncredible" and then just take a lump sum of your entire tax return? That is my friggin' money that I've overpaid the government. It's not like the government gave me a gift. It's MY MONEY! I don't receive welfare. I don't receive anything. I work and I provide the best that I can for my family.

Please, DO NOT USE ECMC. They will rip you off if you get into the least bit of financial trouble. You are better off to apply for grants through the government than to get a loan.