<p>All I know so far is that I should stay away from Sallie Mae and affiliated companies.</p>
<p>why is that? what about Chase or Citibank?</p>
<p>Unfortunately its because SM has been noted to have problems with enhancing loans with hidden fees, and at times has had almost abusive relations with borrowers. Especially with those unable to pay the occasionally flexible loan amounts and fees levied by SM and their subcontractors. Collection of just debt is one matter, but SM has one of the largest and most aggressive collection agencies in the country.
Which indicates their interest is as much driving these loans to default and refinance than it is in working with borrowers. SM higher ups including the president have as much admitted to this tactic. And as far as SM being a private lender, well that's very subjective. SM has its former employees setting policy in the Bush administrations education department. To the extent that the recent legislation to provide liquidity and save the SL industry is largely expected to benefit SM. A recent "Chronicle of Higher Education" article noted that one of the expected outcomes of the recent legislation will be a 30+% of that SL market being directed to SM. Their lobby power and co-opting of government policy is so overt that its hard to say who's actually setting policy.
Additionally several consumer protection organizations have repeatedly noted problems in SM's lending and collection policies. To the extent that there are some organizations which are specifically oriented to addressing problematic SM's practices. Which is to say the least, very disturbing. And that's along with the recent investigations and court orders by the NYS AG. Court orders some of which are currently not being complied with as stated in another recent Chronicle article. The article pasted below is from a consumer rights website wherein people have listed specific problems with SM. The mere fact that they are driven and desperate enough to provide personal stories in such a forum is indicative of some very serious problems.
Essentially the situation within the loan industry, especially the large players like SM, is so bad as to almost defy comment. And seemingly it certainly defies reform. Boss Tweed and Fisk would be envious...
Within academia the influence of SM and like lenders is so strong that it is hard to comment. Faculty often are constrained because of administrative policies. Administrations often dare not push back too hard to protect student interests because of the money and lobby power involved-especially at underfunded state schools. But as the articles in the chronicle indicate, and personal discourse within academe also betokens there are some who are getting very concerned about the whole misdirected situation.
......................................................................................................
ConsumerAffairs.com
Sallie Mae</p>
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Matthew of Ocean View NJ (04/23/08)
I took out a small loan with salle mae to attend Harris School of business. Ive paid of student loads with VSAC, so I knew paying back loans is something I'm 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 stopped coming, I wasn't sure why. 3 months later I get a call saying I owe $600 dollars 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 dollars, the last amount in my bank account. The day after I made that payment they started calling me almost 5 times a day, it hasn't stopped. So it seems even when IM caught up with the payments they still call me and say I am late. My bill says one amount while the agent on the phone says I owe a higher amount. I want to pay this loan off, but I'm 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 haven't slept more than 2 hours a night for the last 7 months, IM constantly feeling like I'm 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 harassing 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 interest is nothing more than compounding interest. I was lead to believe that compounded interest 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 interest, but Sallie Mae bought the loans from the original company that I was doing business with and they capitalized the interest 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 interest 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 enough to pay all my bills and my student loans. My loans are not in default that I know of, but they are definitely collecting more interest 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, offenses 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 harass 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>Bumperooni</p>
<p>i guess citibank is a good one they have the one where u need school certification and the other where u dont need school certification.</p>
<p>Any other personal recommendations?</p>
<p>Try U.S. Bank or Suntrust Bank</p>