Loans serviced by Sallie Mae, any Problems?

<p>Hi, Has anyone have problems with Sallie Mae Subsidized or Privite loans?
My story:
These are the preferred choices given by Marist. I have already selected Citizen bank (backed by Sallie mea) for the “subsidized” portion of the Stanford loan ($3,500)
I guess from what I have read from multiple post, I should forget about the convince of having both my daughters Subsidized and private loans with the same citizen bank and choose another such as “Citibank” for the private loans since I have multiple accounts with them already.
The Citibank default 1% scared me away but come to think of it, I would pick-up the payments if my daughter could not pay to protect my credit rating.
I will also look into changing from citizen Stanford, if possible once I do my Due diligence
Thanks All. John G.
MARIST INFORMATION>
Lender Information
Default Fee Origination Fee Benefits Guarantor Select
CitiBank (826878)
Loans serviced by CitiBank</p>

<p>(800)967-2400 1%Default / 3% Origination / .50% automatic interest rate reduction for on time monthly payments and .25% interest rate reduction for automatic debit payment program and the borrower agrees to receive electronic statements only USAFunds </p>

<p>Sallie Mae Education Trust (802218)
Loans serviced by Sallie Mae</p>

<p>(888)272-5543 0%Default 3%Origination
.70% interest rate reduction for automatic debit
USAFunds
Ed America (831453)</p>

<p>Loans serviced by EdFinancial</p>

<p>(800)337-1009 0%Default 3%Origination .60% interest rate reduction for automatic debit with continuous on time payments TG </p>

<p>Citizens Bank (810240)
Loans sold to and serviced by Sallie Mae</p>

<p>(888)272-5543 0%Default 3%Origination .70% interest rate reduction for automatic debit USAFunds</p>

<p>The below is from consumeraffairs.com, quite a few organizations and consumer rights organizations have expressed similar concerns. Granted there are always complainers, however given the incredibly large percentage of these kind of responses it’s fairly indicative something is wrong. And indicative of how poorly some have been treated that they’d be irate enough to post personal information on the internet, and on consumer rights sites. So in answer to your question there is an entire legion of people who’ve had problems with SM, be it subsidized or otherwise. As such it would be wise to be careful when working with this company. </p>

<p>ConsumerAffairs.com
Sallie Mae </p>

<p>Powered by Mochila
Matthew of Ocean View NJ (04/23/08)
I took out a small loan with salle mae to attned Harris School of business. Ive paid of student loads with VSAC, so I knew paying back loans is something Im able and willing to do. My house burned down - I lost everything, including my little brother. A month later my job was terminated. I continued to pay sallie mae my monthly payments untill I eventually ran out of money. Ironicly at that point the bills stoped comming, I wasnt sure why. 3 months later I get a call saying I owe $600 dollers in late fees. They asked to verify my address, and they had been sending my bills to Maryland. I have never set foot in maryland. </p>

<p>Due to thier error I did not get a bill for 3 months - I paid them the $600 dollers, the last ammount in my bank account. The day after I made that payment they started calling me almost 5 times a day, it hasnt stoped. So it seems even when IM caught up with the payments they still call me and say I am late. My bill says one ammount while the agent on the phone says I owe a higher ammount. I want to pay this loan off, but IM still searching for a place to live, and finding work is proving to be a task of its own. I just cant believe sallie mae wont work with me to help me out. does anyone have any ideas?</p>

<p>I havnt slept more than 2 hours a night for the last 7 months, IM constantly feeling like IM failing at life. Every time I get one of those calls and a person tells me how much I owe and how bad of a person I am for not paying, Im starting to believe them. The moment I start to get paid they will too. </p>

<p>Carmen of Elizabeth NJ (04/23/08)
In 2006 I attended NJCU. In order to attend the university I had to apply for a loan through Sallie Mae. I submitted all the necessary paperwork to complete the loan process. In March, I was told to sign a promissory note to close the deal; so I did. Months later I received a notice stating there is a hold on my account due to non-payment. I then contacted the financial aid office; I was told the promissory note was not signed and the loan was canceled. </p>

<p>I now have a collection agency calling me demanding payment. I once again called NJUC and explained the situation; the financial rep. said to me the loan was canceled by Sallie Mae. I then called Sallie Mae and was told the promissory note was received on March 16th 2007, on July 1st the money was ready for disbursement and was put on a hold by the school, she then said on Sept 15 2007 it was canceled by the school without reason. </p>

<p>My situation now is the loan cannot be reversed, I have to pay 3,768.25 cash, and it is in collection due to lack of communication with NJCU. If I had the money to begin with I would have paid it; I have applied for school loans in the past and never had difficulties like I am having with NJCU. Please advise me on what can be done to satisfy this matter. Thank You.</p>

<p>I was reported to a collection agency due to NJCU incompetence. </p>

<p>Lisa of Phoenix AZ (04/21/08)
This was a salliemae services student loan that was paid off in jan 2007 (25,000 pay off). Somehow got turned over to diversified collections and they have been harrassing me for payment since march of 2007. I keep telling them to contact salliemae because this debt has been paid. I have contacted salliemae with registered mail to alert them that I am being harassed and explained my situation with no avail, even speaking to a customer service rep in the US. They cannot solve the problem and I am tired of them making 3rd party contacts to my relatives telling them I owe money.</p>

<p>My 90 year old grandmother was contacted and told that I am not paying my bills. She called me all worried and I had to explain it to her. They have called my parents and made it sound like if I didn’t pay they would assume my debt. I don’t know them any money. My credit has been ruined and I have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to solve this problem. I can’t afford a lawyer so I continue to be harassed. </p>

<p>Teresa of Pleasant Prairie WI (04/15/08)
Capitalizing intrest is nothing more than compounding intrest. I was lead to believe that compounded intrest on a loan was illegal in the United States. If that is the case, how can Sallie Mae and other student loan companies get away with doing this? I originally took out several loans to finish school and the end total was around $35,000. When I had to consolidate the loans because there were too many from different sources, I did not have the capitalized intrest, but Sallie Mae bought the loans from the original company that I was doing business with and they capitalized the intrest without my consent. </p>

<p>I didn’t even know that the company I was dealing with got bought out until I got a letter from Sallie Mae, at which time I called them to ask them why they said I owed them money since I had never dealt with them before. Now the intrest has compounded through this consolidation and my student loans now total $72,000. I believe this is wrong. I also believe it is wrong that Americans have to pay for college education to begin with considering all the people we have to deal with from other countries in our work place do not enter the work place in debt from college because their governments actually pay for them to go to school, but that is another complaint.</p>

<p>I have not been able to pay much on my student loans to begin with, but after the consolidation, there is no way that I can pay anything on my student loans. I can’t find a job in my field, and the retail job I am forced to work to survive does not pay me enought to pay all my bills and my student loans. My loans are not in default that I know of, but they are definatly collecting more intrest as time goes on. I have no way to pay these student loans. I am just happy that they can not take anything I have away from me for owing them money, or can they? I am not too sure what to do. </p>

<p>Erik of Aptos CA (04/12/08)
I called for a payoff amount on my student loans. A check was sent in the amount quoted by Sallie Mae, and I later found out that I had made an overpayment of $4000 which was credited to my account. After requesting that the overpayment amount be returned to me via check, I was informed that it would take up to 30 days to receive my money. It has now been six weeks. </p>

<p>When I call to inquire about the refund, I am constantly given the run-around, and told that the issue will be looked into and I will be contacted within two to three days. Sallie Mae has never called to clarify why the repayment check has not been sent out. </p>

<p>My first issue with this situation is the fact that I was over-quoted by $4000 dollars. How can a Sallie Mae customer service representative make a $4000 error (four months worth of interest on my loan)? Basic math skills are generally required to work in finance aren’t they? Consumers including myself are charged compounding interest on a daily basis, but no interest will be added to the amount owed to me. In my opinion they owe me $4000 plus four months worth of interest at 8% APR. </p>

<p>My second issue is the amount of time Sallie Mae has put off paying me what is rightfully mine. One month to cut a check? With a deadline that is about ten times what is needed to accomplish this basic task, they have already surpassed it by over two weeks. No explanation is ever given, and no clarification as to when the check will be mailed has been communicated. </p>

<p>Third, the constant promises of follow up. Sallie Mae representatives told me verbatim that they promise to call me with in three days. Two supervisors and one operator have made such promises, and not one has lived up to them. What kind of moral integrity do we have running our educational finance in this country? Overall I am absolutely discussed by the level of service and basic treatment (or lack thereof) of Sallie Mae customers by it’s employees. If this were any other industry, offences such as these would not be tolerated. I am owed money plus interest. Sallie Mae should be scrutinized as much as Bear Stearns or American Airlines for their lack of decent business practices.</p>

<p>I am out $4000 plus interest with no idea when it will be returned to me. When asked to provide proof that an overpayment was made, my bank (Wachovia) faxed the canceled checks. Still, my phone calls are passed on to supervisors who promise to follow up. Needless to say, follow up never occurs. </p>

<p>Candice of Temple TX (04/01/08)
I have read many of the complaints against SallieMae on this website. I am a former employee of theirs and I understand the heartache of everyone on here. I don’t like the way the company is being run and am so glad that I got out when I did. I went through extensive training for the federal loans that they provide but once I was put on the floor to help customers I was not given the opportunity to do what I felt was right. I left SallieMae in 2006 (I only worked there for about 8 months) because I couldn’t take it anymore. There are some good people working there but they don’t last very long and as I said the representatives aren’t given much choice but to forward ‘difficult’ calls to someone higher (which are usually rude or just don’t care). I wish I could help ALL of you guys with your problems.</p>

<p>Shame of working for this company is the only damage that has resulted. And I think that is horrible enough. </p>

<p>Andre of Inkster MI (03/30/08)
I called to see if we could come up with a settlement for my loan and they treated me horribly. After hanging up on me a few times we came to a settlement. It was for $2,900 and after I paid they stated that I was getting a fax letter but I never got it. They claim it was send out but till this day I have never received a letter or fax in the mail or otherwise. When I call Mr Marvin Nickles he transfers me and then the line goes dead. Now they got their money and now they don’t want to deal with me. I have been calling them everyday now trying to speak to a mgr/sup and have been getting the same runaround. The other day I was on the phone for 2 hours being transfered. Is there any help out there? Is there a corporate number where someone can help me with this? I just want to get my settlement letter. </p>

<p>Zanna of Inola OK (03/26/08)
My adult son took out a student loan with SallieMae to go to welding school in Tulsa. He has since graduated and refuses to keep any job and stays in cognito most of the time. I never know where he is staying or who he is staying with.</p>

<p>SallieMae has began to harrass me because he used me as a reference. They call me constantly wanting to know where he is. They act as if I’m lying when I tell them that I do not have an address or phone number for him. Now when they call or send me letters, I’ve gotten to where I don’t answer and the letters goes in the trash. </p>

<p>What is the use in wasting my time with these idiots? And I dare them to try and get me to pay his bill. He’s an adult and on his own. I’m only his mother and I’m NOT responsible for his debts!!! I never co-signed for him. I knew he wasn’t going to pay it back, I sure didn’t want to be held responsible for it!!!</p>

<p>Brian of Indianapolis IN (03/23/08)
I have had nothing but problems with Sallie Mae since graduating college and paying on the loans I have through them. To begin with, I had a grace period after I graduated of 6 months and I was waiting for a bill to come in the mail. Well it never came. It was about 3 months later and I never got a bill from them and in that time racked up late fees. Now I have recently applied to have my loans consolidated so I could have lower monthly payments. Little did I know that I would be charged a 43,000 dollar finance charge for doing this on top of my original loan amount of $25,000. So I now owe them 68,000 dollars and this is on a variable interest rate. I have to pay interest on top of a huge finance charge like that? That is a scam if you ask me. I would never have consolidated if I knew this was going to happen. I didn’t get a huge fee like that when I consolidated my fed loans with Chase Bank. I almost forgot to mention the fact that my monthly payment amount was about $410 and is now $290. So is it really worth consolidating? I say no.</p>

<p>Atana;
Wow. Thanks for the heads up. John G.
Sallie Mae, No more.
Anyone have trouble with Citibank Student loans?
JG.</p>

<p>Your welcome, and anyway there has to a point where the rampant nonsense propagated by these kleptocrats has got to stop. One financially toasted generation is enough…</p>

<p>Ok, Got the new today, all switched to citibank. I hope this works for her. JG</p>

<p>My son will probably use Wachovia ior Citibank if he needs a small private loan (I’m checking EdAmerica too)but they all seem similar, He has had Sallie Mae for Stafford loans for the last 2 years…will consider switching this year but will have to look into consolidation considerations. Some banks aren’t offering that so it is something to look into.
It seems in most of the stories I’ve heard about Sallie Mae and payments, they were “paper payments” not online. Many students have complained about late checks, etc. and I wonder if it would be better paying online if possible or auto-payment? My nephew had Sallie Mae and had a problem with deferment and paperwork when he was laid off, but didn’t have a problem with them getting payments or applying them correctly.
When I pay the interest on my son’s loans, I see it is applied within 2-3 days and I can check how much principle vs interest was deducted depending on the amount. I also get about 2 emails with every payment to tell me it was applied and the amount and confirmation number.
I wish my NJClass parent loan was online…they are a bit behind the times that way, but the lower interest rate couldn’t be beat elsewhere.</p>

<p>I feel that if I keep my Ds loans all together at one bank with all the multiple loans she will need, including the Stafford Sub and now a new Stafford un-sub loans along with the private loans she will be taking each year it will be easier to keep track. I will like to see her set up an automatic payment with any discounts she may get. I tell her that the Schools loans can ruin you Credit life if not paid. JG.</p>

<p>I think anytime you are dealing with a high number of loans, you will find good and bad experiences. It’s a lot harder though to miss payments with auto-debit…some students might not like that, but floating checks and hoping it gets credited to your account, is taking chances.Also it’s easier to keep track of interest, etc. online. My family has used S.Mae without any problems (so far) but will look into others for future as other children go to college.</p>

<p>Might be careful with the auto payment option. As noted by others there has been a tendency for payments to not be credited on time. But once your routing number and acct are within their system it is essentially also available to the collections department. And certain of these loan companies do have a implied and applied policy of attempting to drive these loans into collections as it is much more profitable. It’s common practice for their agents (when dealing with slightly late payments be it eft or paper) to ask for account and routing numbers. Something which they do not have the legal right to do. Although it is common for them the imply they are governmentally sanctioned, which is a shifty intimidation tactic.
And if paper payments which have been sent on time are not being credited in a proper manner is a substantial ethics issue. And if a paper payment is sent on time it should not be a matter of hoping for chances. At the mere fact we tend to even consider the that idea as normal is indicative that this industry has gone too far.</p>

<p>And just maybe handing over eft information to companies which have been routinely investigated for questionable practices is less than prudent. From the Boston Globe…</p>

<p>Sallie Mae called out once again
Officials claim lender’s collection unit uses heavy-handed tactics</p>

<p>By Ross Kerber, Globe Staff | May 13, 2007</p>

<p>A computer mix-up mistakenly showed she owed a $1,040 credit card debt, and for nine months a collections company allegedly harassed the Florida homemaker with automated voice messages or rude telephone representatives who demanded she pay up. One threatened to call her at all hours of the night.</p>

<p>“It was such a shock to get these phone calls,” says Craig. “It puts this pall over your life.”</p>

<p>The calls, it turned out, came from a division of SLM Corp. – better known as Sallie Mae, the student lending giant now under scrutiny over its dealings with college administrators and how it markets loans.</p>

<p>But documents also show Sallie Mae faces questions over what critics say are its heavy-handed tactics to collect debts for student loans and for broader consumer lending.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae says some of the complaints are old, that it has put new policies in place to prevent abuses, and that their numbers aren’t significant compared with the millions of transactions it conducts smoothly. The aggressive collection comes from a little-known unit that generated $157 million in profit on $636 million in revenue in 2006, one reason a group of private-equity investors and banks agreed to purchase Sallie Mae for $25 billion last month.</p>

<p>However, the collections work has also made Sallie Mae the target of several inquiries from officials concerned its practices amount to bullying. In a letter to Sallie Mae’s chief executive on April 26, for instance, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote that he was concerned the company and other lenders “may be engaging in harsh and inappropriate tactics” against borrowers.</p>

<p>Kennedy spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner said the note was prompted by complaints from current and former students that collections agents used profane language, attempted to collect debts that didn’t exist, or harassed neighbors or co-workers.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae’s practices have also drawn the attention of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who filed a suit in January against Arrow Financial Services LLC of Illinois – which is part of SLM’s debt management operations unit.</p>

<p>In the suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, Madigan claims Arrow “engages in a variety of abusive practices in its contacts with consumers,” citing 669 complaints filed with her office. In Massachusetts, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office has received 32 complaints about Arrow.</p>

<p>Deborah Hagan, chief of Madigan’s division of consumer protection, said her office is in settlement talks with Arrow and Sallie Mae.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce said the talks have been “productive” and said the total number of complaints represents just a small part of the 23 million accounts the company oversees. Speaking of Arrow, Joyce said, "We hold our employees there and across SLM to a high standard of compliance. We are confident of the scope and depth of our programs."Continued…</p>

<p>This would be comic if it wasn’t messing up so many lives. In regards to loans and servicing, it appears even if one is paying SM it may not be credited. Whether its paid eft, mail, or etc.
Todays Chronicle of Higher Education…</p>

<p>May 14, 2008
Sallie Mae Borrowers Snagged by Error in Reports to Credit Bureaus
Washington — As many as one million customers of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student-loan company, may be facing problems with their credit ratings after a computer error that the company has worked to fix.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae says it mistakenly reported to credit bureaus that thousands of its customers were delinquent in paying back their loans. That caused their credit scores to drop by 100 points or more, Bankrate.com reported today.</p>

<p>Sallie Mae says the error occurred last Thursday, when it reported extended repayment plans as meaning the borrower was making a partial payment. That report led Equifax, one of the three national credit-reporting agencies, to code the accounts as delinquent, Sallie Mae spokesmen said.</p>

<p>A Sallie Mae spokesman said the error had affected less than 10 percent of its 10 million borrowers. All affected credit reports were corrected by late Tuesday, and Sallie Mae will take corrective steps, including supplying a credit-reference letter to anyone who needs help in proving the source of the mistake. —Paul Basken</p>

<p>Hi, all. Well I switched to Citi-bank but I guess you can’t get away from Sallie mae. I see that the loan is serviced by Sallie Mae. John G.</p>

<p>Well they effectively control about 38% of the student loan market either as direct or as underwriters. Incidentally SMC is no longer doing consolidations. And under current guidelines they have no obligation to turn the note over to another company.
Speaking from some experience, until the regulations are changed, consolidation is a virtual impossibility especially if the larger companies are involved.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Your source please.</p>

<p>Citibank’s student loans may be serviced by Student Loan Corporation, a listed stock company under the symbol * STU *. [Citibank</a> <a href=“http://www.studentloan.com:”>www.studentloan.com:</a> Information for Investors 1](<a href=“http://studentloan.citibank.com/slcsite/fr_about.htm]Citibank”>http://studentloan.citibank.com/slcsite/fr_about.htm)</p>

<p>The STM Corp , aka Sallie Mae, symbol *SLM * is/was the government sponsored agency (GSA) to make a market for student loans much as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac does for the mortgage industry.</p>

<p>SMC was a government sponsored agency when it was formed back in the last century. However in 2004 the Albert Lord and Thomas Fitzpatrick led a move to turn it completely into a corporation-although the preliminaries for that move had been well in motion prior to 2004. In 2007 under increased threat of congressional intervention and investigation Lord and Fitzpatrick were temporarily pushed out and SMC moved into the Christopher Flowers investment group. At that point they were moved into a private company. </p>

<p>Because of their massive PAC and donations to congress, the distinction between the influence of SMC and the government is very fuzzy. Especially since SMC lobbied for privileges unique to their corner of the finance industry. And both state and federal governments have been quite willing to apply their powers in support of and direct benefit to SMC. </p>

<p>But they are no longer a governmental entity, although many do not know this. And that’s a perception SMC doesn’t exactly go out of their way to correct. To the extent that it is a routine tactic, one which came under scrutiny by the NYS AG.</p>

<p>Keeping track of the ties between these companies can be problematic. As LongPrime noted with the information about STU and STM (SMC).</p>

<p>So does Sallie Mae service Citibank student loans?</p>

<p>^I don’t believe so. But like the mortgage industry, sometimes one does not know who has what. </p>

<p>We had Citibank Unsub. Staffords & PLUS for our kid who was in PA. The loans while he was in attendence was serviced by PHEA. We directly applied for the Citi loans, bypassing PHEA and the school. PHEA serviced the loans according to the Citi loan terms. We later consolidated both Citi loans into Citi and we now get statements from Citi. It was confusing to us in the beginning but everyone did take the time to explain it to us.
Call Citibank and ask.</p>

<p>Most lenders have multiple servicer’s so it is a very tricky thing to keep up with who services what. I checked with my guarantee agency and they have two different lender codes for Citibank…but are not sure who is servicing either at the current time.</p>

<p>1) I have a PLUS loan serviced by Sallie Mae and I have never had a problem. They have a fairly efficient system online where it is easy for me to check the balance. I’d add that I’ve never been late with a payment – I have found over the years that there are a lot fewer problems with lenders if you pay on time. :wink: Paying ahead of time is even better – one “trick” with paying off student loans (or many other loans) is to pay at least one month ahead - they calculate the next due date by how much is owed, but if you keep on making the monthly payment on schedule then you are always “early” with your payment and you never run into any sort of issues with late fees. (Same tactic doesn’t work with credit cards, unfortunately)</p>

<p>2) Its a losing battle to pick a lender based on who services the loan, because the loans get transferred and you can end up with it being serviced by a different agency down the line in any case. My son took subsidized Stafford loans at his first college, serviced by Sallie Mae. After 2 years, he stopped attending college, and started making payments via Sallie Mae. After 3 years he returned to college-- he did not take any more loans, but his original Stafford loans went into remission (or whatever they call it) because he was back in school. Then he graduated – and received notice that his original loan is now being served by a different agency altogether. Meanwhile, my PLUS loan, taken from the same lender at the same time, is still serviced by Sallie Mae. </p>

<p>3) My PLUS loan for my daughter’s college is serviced by MOHELA. I really can’t say there is any difference between one or the other. If anything, Sallie Mae seems more efficient, but its not a significant difference. </p>

<p>4) When my son was first out of college and making payments to Sallie Mae, they kept sending bills to my house and I kept telling my son about them and sending them on to him. They ended up calling a lot and saying his payments were late, and my son gave me some story about not receiving their bills or knowing where to send payment, which interestingly enough seemed to happen with many of his other bills, like credit cards – even though I was sending him emails and also sending him his mail. Hmmmm. I think he did end up paying some late fees to Sallie Mae, but I think a huge part of the problem is that my son did not know to be proactive about paying bills. I think he’s much better these days – he is very proud that his student loans are now paid ahead until sometimes in 2010 – but the point is that you should take those on-line complaints with a grain of salt. You are only hearing one side of the story, and a lot of people don’t think to call their creditors and notify them of a change of address; or go online to check their balances, etc. Then they profess a big surprise later on when it turns out that they are delinquent in payments, and say things like “the bills stopped coming.” With a student loan or any other loan, you owe your monthly payment whether or not you got the bill – so its up to the borrower to make inquiry in those situations.</p>

<p>I agree Calmom, I think a lot of students that complain about late fees (at least the ones I talk too) paid by check, paid close to the due date or missed a payment. You never hear those things, they are just angry. I have Sallie Mae for 2 or my son’s loans, we pay online,(interest) and I pay some principle when I can. They have a very easy to use site, you can see payments, what went to the principle vs interest, you can schedule monthly payments (even before it’s due) it’s hard to understand how you can have late payments doing it that way. They send confirmation emails for every transaction also.
One thing my sister told me though with Sallie Mae, deferring the loan while her son was laid off was painful. I don’t know if others would be the same but one hand didn’t seem to know what the other was doing. They had a few phone calls and letters before it was straightened out. They hadn’t done it online at that time if that made a difference. Nowadays, it is so geared to that.
I love the interest rate my parent loan was with NJClass, but I hate trying to call and getting 20 minute waits or having to call back. Nothing but the applicaiton is online and all payments are auto-debit or check, but you can’t see it online. I miss that aspect a lot.</p>