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(Loans) Subject: Full Conversion to New Debt Management and Collections System

Posted Date:September 15, 2011

Author: Pamela Eliadis, Service Director, System Operations & Aid Delivery Management, Federal Student Aid

Subject: Full Conversion to New Debt Management and Collections System

In a February 4, 2011 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals Web site, we informed the community that the Department of Education (the Department) was beginning to transition to a new debt management and collections system used for defaulted loan accounts and program overpayments (POVRs). Since then, we implemented the new system and added small groups of newly defaulted accounts to it. Last week, we completed a trial period in which we moved a group of approximately 150,000 borrower accounts from the current system to the new system. Beginning on September 15, 2011, we will convert all remaining borrower accounts to the new system.

Debt Management and Collections System Conversion Outage and Impact Information

To support the conversion to the new debt management and collections system, we will need to suspend debt management and collections system operations. The associated outage and impact information is as follows:

Outage Period – The system outage will begin at 3:30 PM (ET) on Thursday, September 15, 2011 and is scheduled to end at 8:00 A.M. (ET) on Monday, September 26, 2011.

Customer Service Representatives at the Default Resolution Group will be available during the outage period, but will be limited in the assistance they can provide until the conversion has been completed.

Borrowers and those making payments on POVRs – Borrowers and those making payments on POVRs should continue to submit payments by the scheduled due date. Payments submitted during the outage period will not be processed until after conversion has been completed.

Important Note: The effective date of the borrower’s payment will be determined by the date it is received, not the date it is processed. For example, if a borrower payment is received on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 and processed on Monday, September 26, 2011, the effective date of the payment will be Tuesday, September 20, 2011.

Schools – Collateral documentsfor Perkins Loan assignments and POVRs submitted during the conversion period will be processed after Monday, September 26, 2011. We anticipate having the backlog processed by Tuesday, October 4, 2011.

Guaranty Agencies – New assignments cannot be accepted during the conversion period. We will notify guaranty agencies when we resume the collection of new assignments.

Future Guidance

Additional information regarding the new debt management and collections system will be forthcoming. We will communicate this information through Electronic Announcements on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

Contact Information

We appreciate the community’s patience and assistance as we convert to our new debt management and collections system. If you have questions about the information in this announcement, contact the Default Resolution Group at 800/621-3115. You may also e-mail drghelp@ed.gov.