Administrative wage garnishment (AWG) hearing services

For almost 20 years, ECMC has provided AWG hearing services for other guarantors and their contracted collection agencies.

When a guarantor initiates the AWG process (either on its own or through a collection agency acting on its behalf), federal regulations require that the borrower be provided an option to request a hearing to object to the wage garnishment. If the borrower requests a hearing, it must be performed by an independent party.

ECMC's professional staff—experienced and with in-depth knowledge of federal student loan programs—provide agencies and borrowers a fair hearing conducted by an impartial hearing officer. The hearing officer reviews each hearing request thoroughly and provides the agency and the borrower a final decision regarding the AWG order.

What to expect when using ECMC for AWG hearing services:

• Prompt servicing, which includes scheduling, notifying, conducting and rendering each final decision within 50 days from ECMC's receipt of the hearing. This response time supports the regulatory requirement to render a decision within 60 days.
• Monthly status reports, including files received, completed hearings and the outcome of each completed hearing.
• Dedicated systems that have been developed on and housed within our IT infrastructure that is built to meet NIST 800-53 standards, which is the basis for the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).