Sallie Mae Bank
Reviews and Complaints

However, Fdcpa arguements can be made in small claims court and do not have to be made only in federal cases. A contract dispute can be argued in federal court or just about any venue.

First mica you assert a judge can not "legally" void a contract unless certain circumstances apply. ( one assertion which is incorrect. Initial intent to defraud, is only one of MANY reasons a judge can declare a contract void. Acting dishonestly in the process of performance is the one which may apply here.

Second you assert misrepresentation by a collector would fall under the guidelines of fdcpa leaving only the collector and agency liable. This assertition (#2) is also incorrect. The original creditor is in fact responsible should they have a contract for the collector to act as their agent.

There are also a few other minor comments in your post which are not 100% correct but I have already proven your comment of only one assertion incorrect...which is all I need to do to prove you are full of it.

Many incorrect assertions in your argument Mica. A contract can be ruled void whether the intent was "initial" or subsequent or even by the actions of a party acting as the agent for either party. Fdcpa does not encompass the only remedy for a party to a suit. One could argue under various UCC code violations pertinent to the specific state it is argued in. Futhermore, a federal suit is a sure way to make many creditors and collectors beg for a settlement. The original creditor is in fact very liable for the actions of a party acting as their agent.

If it they are acting as their agent and they have a contractual agreement to act as such then yes it would have bearing in a case heard in court. Judges are leaning more and more on the side of the individual now that fraud is rampant by these collectors and robo signers.

Once again psuscum you seem to think that fraud within a contractual agreement does not in any way release the other party. I have many years of contract law ( all A's top 20 school ) and everytime you spout off your views on one side being still liable you never seem to consider in your ramblings that deliberate fraud within an agreement can easily nullify that agreement. Strange you never write about that. WAIT! you do not have any contract law background do you? You sick demented clown.

"I have been paying on my Sallie Mae loan for a little over 2 years now and yet I still owe $79, 000 even though I borrowed $80, 000 I cant believe it has not gone down even though my payments were $800 a month the first year and $550 a month this year."

Do you understand how interest works? If you borrowed 80k, it likely accrued interest while you were in school. If you find fault in their calculations, I'd point that out to them, but somehow I don't think they made any error there.

Why would SM release your parents as cosigners when you have no job nearly 3 years after graduating and present a high default risk? If I were a creditor I would not release your parents either.

" the lady told me it would be another 2 weeks to do a background check on me which was a complete lie because it does not take that long to do a background check."

If you were SM's only customer, you're right, it wouldn't take 2 weeks. But you are one of MILLIONS of borrowers they deal with. The background check does not take two weeks, GETTING to your bg check takes 2 weeks.

SM isn't a scam, it's a lender, essentially a bank. You borrowed close to a hundred grand from them. They enabled your education. You have to pay back the money that you took, with interest, as you agreed. They have millions of students they lent to and need to get paid back so that they can bankroll other students.

SM is also a large corporation and they have bureaucracy you have to cut through, which can be frustrating. But you seem to be blaming SM for trying to get back the money you borrowed. I don't see what you're complaining about.

I agree with everything you said about Sallie Mae. They are like loan sharks. Students stay away from Sallie Mae if you can. Once you sign with them your life is over. They will suffocate you. I am a cosigner on my granddaughters loan and I have excellent credit, When I went to get a line of credit from my bank they said I had too much debt compared to income due to the student loan. I would love to get a release from Sallie Mae since she graduated in 2007 but you know they wont make it easy.

You need to which your payments to Mohela. If you pay online you can get your payment % lower and also they maybe able to help you get your payments lowered. But whoever you are paying to is taking the interest first. That is not how it is suppose to be. But anyway, consider this: I have a student loan and it has taken me 10 years to pay down to $800. That was out of $3500.00 You also may want to pay your $800 at the first of the month then send in like $150.00 extra mid month if you can afford it. The $150.00 would have to go on your principal.

This is one of the worst companies for customer service since Dell. If you try to get online, their site is ALWAYS screwed up. It is VERY insecure and a lot of the information is leaked. If you call, half of the people do not speak English and almost all are a nightmare to work with. This is one of the outsourced companies that basis their future projections by the difference in complaints to income. The are making plenty of money with their uneducated crew so we are the ones who pay.

Do what ever you can to get a loan with someone else, or you will be BURNED.

Hello everyone that has been screwed over by Sallie Mae . As we all know, Sallie Mae is an evil company and I have been doing everything to make sure that all of my friends no longer have Sallie Mae as a holder of their loan. What you need to do is see if you are eligible for loan consolidation through the William D. Ford Direct Loans, which is basically the federal government. Here is the website: https://www.dl.ed.gov/borrower/BorrowerWelcomePage.jsp
There is an online form to fill out and it takes about 30 days to go through (at least that what it took for me). Once it goes through, no more Sallie Mae and them hanging up on you. I hope this helps many of you. If not, there are plenty of private loan consolidation companies out there that are better than Sallie Mae, you just have to do some research. By the way, Sallie Mae is not run by the government, it is a private company that guarantees student loans through financial aid. Basically the government couldn't afford to give this much money out in loans so they opened it up to private companies allowing more money to be lent out and giving many of us an opportunity to attend college. Unfortunately, Sallie Mae banks on the fact that many of us are/were not up to speed on how financial aid loans work so they are screwing over a lot of people. Anyway, I hope this information helps some if not all of you. And may you all be free of Sallie Mae some day. :)

Sallie Mae is a total rip off. If you're even one day late they charge you for the late fee. I have about 50, 000 in loans with them that I know regret ever taking out with them. They refuse to understand my situation as I am not employed right now but they still don't care about that. They only care about getting your money and refuse to help you out. Every time I call customer service I get someone who I can barely understand. Then I'm told 3 different stories by 3 different reps as to what forms I need to fill out for unemployment. This company is the WORST lending company that I've ever dealt with. They make it impossible to never pay back your loan with them.

This was the WORST customer service experience I have ever come across. I was looking to apply for a student loan and decided to call to do the application because I had a few questions. The first lady (unfortunately I she never provided her name) was rude and kept cutting me off every time I tried to ask a question. Halfway through the application I was fed up with it so I politely asked her if another representative could finish my application. She got very quiet and asked, "Why?" I simply told her I would just prefer to finish up my application with another representative|. She then got very quiet and HUNG UP ON ME! I was furious! I then called back to try and put in a complaint and finish my application and got a gentleman on the line". He was nice, however I could clearly tell he kept talking to someone else in his office". He would mute his line for 10 seconds at a time and when he would un-mute it, I could hear them laughing/. I cannot be certain of course, but I have a feeling he was laughing about me with the previous representative who hung up on me'. He ran me around in circles with the application and kept asking me the same questions over and over and over!. I was so fed up with it I told him I would do it later.. Based on this experience though, I will never do business with Sallie Mae, EVER.

Seven times since Dec of 2017 I have submited the proper paper work to discharge my loan due to the fact that I have become disabled. I have taken to send it by mail in a way to have them sign for it and have received the card back that says that they have received it yet have been told repeatedly that either did not get it or it is not filled out corectly, yet I responded and filled it out as was directed by them. In January I requested that I receive further deferral for hardship, even though I have the receipt from the U.S. Post Office. I will now have to reapply for deferment even though the corrected medical form was attached to the deferment. They acknowledge that they now have the medical form and are processing it, they deny having the deferment form. I will now have to submit another form. The processing is done in another country on the grounds that Americans won't do that kind of work. I know many Americans who would be more than willing to do the work. Sallie Mae is regulated by our govenment and should not be able to outsource the work, especially in this time of economic heardship. Half the time you get someone who does not understand English well enough to solve the problem. Really frustrated in Oklahoma. Patt777

So, my wife has several small student loans from Sallie Mae because her school decided to take a new loan out every quarter. No biggie... right... wrong. Now my wife has been out of school for over a year now and we are still trying to get those loans consolidated. We were first told about three months ago that they would be start offering consolidation again in September. We called in September. We were then told to call back in two weeks. We called back and then they told us to call back in middle October. So we called in October and they said call back in early November. After much frustration, we decided to call one last time but this time they were officially offering consolidation. Sounds great... WRONG... they decided to inform us now after four phone calls that they are only offering consolidation to people who attend state schools and not private schools (which was what my wife attended). Now instead of getting relief from 17 student loans totaling 900$ a month we are left with no help what-so-ever. Thanks Sallie Mae!

For all those who have Sallie Mae loans they are offering student consolidation to anyone who went to a state school. For everyone else, we are being discriminated.

Oh and one last thing Sallie Mae costumer service decided to inform us by accident that they are not advertising their so-called consolidation. So if you want to know, you will have to ask.

Nothing is being done to stop this company from its fraudulent terms. They play games with you and continue to increase your payments so that you will forever be in debt to them. I placed my loans in deferment for 10 years because I was still in school. When I started to pay the loans off they had accumulated so much interests. I have now being paying on the loans for 10 years. They can not give me the expiration date, meaning when the loans will be paid in full. They have given me payments as high as $550.00. None of the payments I am making is going towards the principal of the loan. Sallie Mae plays games and sometimes refuses to pick up the phone. I believe somehow they have your account tagged through the computer. My payments were changed 3 different times without authorization. Each time the payments were for higher amounts. I sent Sallie Mae a letter explaining to them the amount I could pay them and each time they intentionally sent me a higher pay. I have figured out that this company is fraudulent and I encourage anyone not to get involved with them. They are ruining folks lives by placing high interests rates on them and never allowing them to pay their loans off. The cost of college for me was around $18, 000. Now I owe them nearly $60, 000. I do not understand how they can continue accumulating interest on you every month. I was explained that the interest rate changes. However, my loan states that I have a fixed rate with 8% interest. My mortgage is a fixed rate. I know the pay off date and the amount that I will pay monthly. My car note was 60 months. I know when the pay off date is and I know how much interest I am paying. The purpose of this company is to manipulate customers. I feel like they are punishing the customers that are paying for those that can not pay their loans off. What is sad to me is the fact that nothing is being done about this company. When I ask to speak to a supervisor they give me the same Chinese speaking person to talk to who acts like he can not understand plain English. Often times I feel like they do not wish to come to a reasonable solution. When you get off the phone with them three days later you check your account and you will find that they have placed a much larger payment on your loan. It seems like they're doing this on purpose. I have yet to speak to a person that can speak English to me clearly, an American. It appears that their are foreigners operating this company and they could care less about how things are done in America. Their plans are to hurt people and impair them by making sure they never get out of debt. What is sad to me is the fact that nothing is being done. The $18, 000 loan I borrowed has been paid and then some. I will probably pay my mortgage off before I finish paying this company. Their goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. They are also incompetent. How on earth can you have such a huge responsibility and can not give people a direct answer on anything. Sallie Mae was open on Monday, February 4, 2017; however, their recording stated that they were closed. It then stated that my wait time would be 3 hours. They gave me an option of leaving my telephone number so they could call me back. When they called me back I was on the line listening to music for nearly 20 minutes, then suddenly the phone hung up. This company is brushing folks off deliberately simply because no one has investigated the matter and they can get away with doing it. I have been paying this company nearly $300.00 per month under what they call Income Based Payments. After my twelve months ended they sent me another payment for $441.00. They have sent me payments for over $500.00 a month. My car payment doesn't even cost that much. I can't understand why it isn't set up where you pay the same payments until the loan is paid in full. It is set up for failure. This is why they say they will accept loan forgiveness after 20 years. By then your life will be ruined and you will have given them your life savings. Please Help! President Obama, FBI, or anyone who investigates these type cases and for all those who have been affected by this I promise you that if no one else helps us GOD WILL so start praying for victory and that this company is brought down to its lowest state, without nothing.

They called me several times for a loan that I co-signed on. They made several attempts and threatened me that they were not receiving any payments. I found that quite funny, because the loan I co-signed on was my sister's, and she had been sending them a check every month. Furthermore, the check was going to Sallie Mae and it was being deposited! Yet they called me to tell me they had not received any payment and were threatening to put my loan in forebearance and screw my credit. What's worst is that I clarified the whole situation with one person, and another person from Sallie Mae called me telling me that these things go from "one department to another" and this time it was in his department and he saw the last payment was made, and he saw that we had worked out a payment plan, but he needed the payment to be setup with him too! What kind of nonsense is this!? Its like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. They need to get it together, and stop claiming they are not receiving payments, when they are actually depositing our hard earned checks.

I have been dealing with Sallie Mae for over 5yrs on a student loan from TCA in Austin. They demanded me to pay $500 a month for my loan, but a chief graduating from that school starts from the bottom getting paid $6-$7 a hour, how do they expect to get $500 a month? I tried working to an agreement with them to pay my loan back, but they woud not take a payment less than that. They are a total rip off, my interest itself is almost as much as the loan. They are not willing to work with ppl...and this is an education loan...and now I cant go back to school because of them being on my credit.

This is a true story based on my experience, and all statements reflect my direct experience or opinion.

Five years ago, due to an illness, I had trouble with a student loan and it was referred to Sallie Mae. A representative told me that if I was able to make payments on time for a year, they would be able to transfer the loan -- and that if I did this, I would regain the ability to receive student loans in the future and that the negative item on my credit report would be erased.

I busted ### and dug deep, and I was able to financially dig my way out and make the on-time payments, and the loan was transferred and is current. It was very hard, but I did everything they said to do, for them things went perfectly.

When I pulled my credit report recently, the negative entry was still there. I wrote Sallie Mae and they told me to buzz off, in so many words.

Sallie Mae lied. I understand lying to collect a debt, it's done every hour of every day. But when people find out you're full of it, don't be surprised when you're called out.

If you are a person with a student loan, and you get into financial trouble, be warned by my experience: Sallie Mae will make deals they have no intention of honoring. Pay your student loans (obviously), but if you are in financial trouble make sure you take into account Sallie Mae's dishonesty when prioritizing how you're going to get out of debt. In other words, put the money where it will do the most good first, because Sallie Mae won't do any good for you.

I am co- signer on my son's loan. I used to be able to log in and add to the principle on his loan up to about two years ago. I started to have the same log in problems and after spending wasted time on numerous calls to customer service, I sort of gave up. About a month and a half ago, I tried again to get the problem fixed. All I get is the run around and they reset my password to no avail. I have tried to talk to a supervisor but there is never one available. I truely believe this is a tactic so the loan will not get paid off early and my son's $40, 000.00 loan will not be paid off until he is 80! As a matter-of-fact, it has only gone down about $1000.00 in 10 years. I think we all should contact our Congressman for help.

Yes I'm having the same issue at about the same time frame. I am still unable to access my account to make a payment. Since i receive no paper bills in the mail this is my only way of paying my loan easily. They have sold my loan to the department of education so I can not send a check to them. I was able to make a payment to them over the phone after being on the line for 5 minutes and they did give me a different address to send my payment to but I don't trust sending checks in the mail with no conformation of payments received. It seems as though they are setting people up to default on their loans by making it very difficult to make payments.

I am on unemployment deferral for my federal student loans. I insisted that Sallie Mae approve my IBR application so that I could get the months ticking toward my 25 years. They approved it but arbitrarily picked a payment of $750 a month for my payments. How can they come up with that monthly payment when I am unemployed? Even when I was employed I NEVER made enough money for my monthly payment to be $750. I've tried to call them several times but cannot seem to get through. Also, I have 2 private loans through Sallie Mae. I always pay my bills online and pick exactly which loan I want the payment to go to because my parents are paying off the other one. Sallie Mae applies my payment to whichever loan they want and now say I am behind in my payment. I paid my payment but they applied it to the wrong loan. I have been dealing with these kinds of problems since I got out of law school in 2004. If I had it to do over again, I would NEVER have gone to law school and taken out student loans. They will be hanging over my head for the rest of my life unless something changes. They prevent me from getting credit and even buying a house. Basically, they have ruined my life and Sallie Mae continues to wreak their havoc with my credit.

Hello!
I graduated University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Theater, and a hefty Student loan bill of about $70, 000, 40, 000 of which came from Sallie Mae as a private loan and 30, 000 of consolidated government loans.

I am paying about 500 per month on a regular basis and I am getting the hang of it, making the best out of a bad situation is what I call it. I had an idea to postpone payments for about 8 months, and raise money to knock the debt out on a bigger scale. I went into a forbearance with the Department of Education and all went well. When I went to Sallie Mae, They charge a $150 forbearance FEE for a 3 month forbearance period, and not a dime goes toward the student's bill. I am aware that private loans have totally different stipulations but is this even fair? Is this OK?

As a consumer, I think other students should be aware of this when making a private loan. Most companies try to tell you they will work with you in the event of hardship, but Sallie Mae is CAPITALIZING on hardship! We are PAYING to postpone payments...can you help? Or do you know someone who can? I would like to find out if this is legal. If it is, I would like to petition for Sallie Mae to either remove the fee altogether or Extend the length of time it covers to at least 9 to 12 months. Thank You!

My prayers are with you. Though I have a Sallie Mae loan, I have been unable to find employment since 2007 graduation. Despite their kind "deferrments", it only goes towards the private loan and not federal. However, lately Customer Service is geting a bit hasty. I do attempt to pay what I can when I can. I think my situation is mild compared to yours. I do pray they catch the person, you are re-established in every aspect, and Sallie Mae takes more rigid steps in approving such loans.

D&W

Sallie Mae sucks...not only do they engage in unfair, unethical and low down business tactics but they don't keep good records. I contacted Sallie Mae this afternoon and was hung up on after requesting to speak to a supervisor. I spoke to a total of 5 reps before I could get one on the phone who had a record of my student loans. When I called back and asked for the name and id# of each customer service representative I was speaking to, it was a miracle they found my record. My loan "defaulted" after Sallie Mae never contacted me for 6 months to tell me I owed them anything. I was told that I was given a forbearance but they lied. It appears that Sallie Mae has been putting borrowers into premature default to collect the lump sum from the guarantor, while in the process screwing you the borrower and your credit. Now, today they told me they know that my loan has been paid off, but they have no records pertaining to the payoff amount to the guarantor. I asked this because I want to know how much of a kickback/premium they get on causing a premature default. The next steps for me include, US Attorney General - Eric Holder, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Education, FSA Ombudsman, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, and the Better Business Bureau. I hope you will join me. Report their abuse and put them out of business.

The Student Loan Marketing Association was originally created in 1972 as a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and began privatizing its operations in 1997, a process it completed at the end of 2004 when Congress terminated its federal charter, ending its ties to the government. The company remains the country's largest originator of federally insured student loans. Through its specialized subsidiaries and divisions, Sallie Mae also provides debt management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, including colleges, universities and loan guarantors.

In 2005, Sallie Mae was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250, 000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[6][7][8]

In August 2006, Sallie Mae acquired Upromise, a company that provides rebates to buyers of certain brands, which can be applied to college savings accounts. Sallie Mae and Upromise plan to market comprehensive financial packages to parents and students, including investment plans, financial aid information, and student loans.

On April 16, 2007, Sallie Mae announced that an investor group led by J.C. Flowers & Co. signed an agreement to purchase Sallie Mae for approximately $25 billion (USD). Had the transaction completed, J.C. Flowers along with private-equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe would have owned 50.2 percent of Sallie Mae, and Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase would each have owned 24.9 percent. Sallie Mae would have ceased to be a publicly traded company.[9] The deal fell through in September 2007, with the buyers blaming adverse changes to the business's outlook as a result of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 and the tightening of global credit markets following the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[10] Sallie Mae subsequently began legal action, only to drop it in January 2008 upon completion of a $31 billion funding round, including funding from Bank of America.[11]

On April 6, 2009, Sallie Mae announced that it will move 2, 000 jobs back to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas.[12]

On March 31, 2010, Sallie Mae announced the impending layoff of 2, 500 employees in response to the signing of new legislation calling for the federal government to lend directly to students, bypassing institutions like Sallie Mae.[13]

On July 1, 2010, Sallie Mae announced that it will be moving its headquarters from Reston, Virgina, to its existing facility in Newark, Delaware, in 2011.[14]

On September 18, 2010, it was announced that Sallie Mae will acquire federally-insured loans from Citigroup-owned Student Loan Corporation worth $28 billion.[15]

[edit] Corporate information
Sallie Mae operates servicing centers in Gilbert, Arizona; Lynn Haven, Florida; Indianapolis, Indiana; Muncie, Indiana; Mount Laurel, New Jersey; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Killeen, Texas, and Whitewater, Wisconsin, as well as 71 other offices in the United States.

Sallie Mae is listed on both the Fortune 500 and the Forbes Global 2000. The company has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens according to Business Ethics magazine and one of the top 30 companies for executive women by the National Association of Female Executives.

[edit] Corporate board
Anthony P. Terracciano is Chairman of the Board of Directors. He joined the board in January 2008 following the failed sale of Sallie Mae to J.C. Flowers. Terracciano was formerly President of First Union Corporation (now Wachovia), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Fidelity Bank Corporation, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mellon Bank, Vice Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, and non-executive Chairman of both The Dime Bank and Riggs National Corporation. Albert Lord currently holds the positions of Vice Chairman and CEO. Lord joined Sallie Mae in 1981, took over as CEO in 1995, and led the company's privatization.

[edit] Social responsibility
Corporate Responsibility Officer has named Sallie Mae one of America's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" five times. Corporations (over 1, 100 are evaluated) are selected according to community, governance, diversity, and environmental best business practices.

Sallie Mae sponsors The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization with a mission to increase access to higher education for America's students by supporting and starting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education. The Sallie Mae Fund prepares families and students for college and provides scholarship funding that focuses on minority, low-income, and "first in the family" students. Since 2001, The Sallie Mae Fund has awarded $10 million in scholarships to help 4, 000 students enroll in college. That is $1 donated for every $12, 690 under their management.

Through The Fund's work, Sallie Mae was named among BusinessWeek's Top 15 Corporate Philanthropists in 2004. The Washington Business Journal identified the company as the top local corporate philanthropist in 2005.[16]

Sallie Mae won the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership in 2006. It was honored for three college-access programs developed by The Sallie Mae Fund: Latino College Access Campaign, Project Access: DC, and The Sallie Mae Fund Scholarship Programs.

The Sallie Mae Fund earned the 2007 Insight Award for Customer Advocacy in Financial Services (from Insight Forums, LLC). The award recognizes financial communications initiatives that proactively enable customers to make fully-informed choices.

[edit] Controversies
On November 9, 2005, former Sallie Mae employee Michael Zahara filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging that it had a pattern and practice of granting forbearance in a purposeful effort to increase total student loan debt. On October 29, 2008, permission was granted to his legal counsel to withdraw from the case, citing "From counsel’s perspective, a breakdown in trust has resulted from the discovery that Relator has been arrested for extortion, the circumstances surrounding that arrest, and Relator’s failure to disclose the arrest to counsel."[17][18] On March 12, 2009 the court ruled "dismissal without prejudice" because "the plaintiff has failed to obtain substitute counsel by the deadline."[19] Zahara was seeking new counsel.[20]

A 60 Minutes segment (originally aired May 7, 2006) examined Sallie Mae, including its business practices.[5] A professor of law at Harvard Law School, Elizabeth Warren, who is also an expert on bankruptcy and an outspoken critic of consumer lenders, questioned Sallie Mae's dual role as both lender and collector.[21]

In February 2007, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched an investigation into alleged deceptive lending practices by student loan providers, including The College Board, EduCap, Nelnet, Citibank, and Sallie Mae.[6] On April 11, 2007, Cuomo ended his investigation of Sallie Mae and announced that Sallie Mae had voluntarily agreed to change its lending standards to satisfy a new code of conduct for student loan practices established by Cuomo, and to donate $2 million (USD) to a fund devoted to educating college-bound students about their loan options.[22]

On October 10, 2007, documents surfaced showing that Sallie Mae was attempting to use the Freedom of Information Act to force colleges to turn over students' personal information.[23] The university involved, the State University of New York system, is expected to decline the request and be forced to defend its position in court.

In December 2007, a class action lawsuit was brought against Sallie Mae, alleging that the company discriminates against African American and Hispanic private student loan applicants by charging them high interest rates and fees. The lawsuit also alleges that Sallie Mae fails to properly disclose private student loan terms to unsuspecting students. The lawsuit is pending in a Connecticut Federal Court.[24] New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, raised similar concerns about possible student loan redlining in June 2007.[25]

I have even called the ftc onthem to no avail

sallie mae is the worst my school shut down 2 day s after I grad I told sallie mae I 'm not inthe field I can't pay it not enough money coming in they callevery day including sunday saqllie mae in a lawsuit with my school jesu christ don't they get the picture

You need to call your senators and your Congressman and tell them this story and then...ask them why they allowed the Department of Education to give a contract to service Federal Loans to Sallie Mae. This is after they received many, many, many calls and letters about their bottom of the barrel customer service and after they told me that quality of service was one of the components to get the contract award. Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Why would our government give a contract to a known bad provider? Your complaint doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what this company has done to so very many young people. This company has gotten away with "murder" and the big question is WHY? Can you say lobbyists and campaign contributions and a not so honorable Congress who is willing to sell out our young adults for the favor of a large corporation. It is beyond shameful.

I too have had a bad deal with this company. Sallie mae is not a good loan company for students. I have student loans with them that amount to $25k. I have sucessfully put most of them into deferment or forebarence. However I have 2 private loans with them that at the time I didn't know were private. I have Since Oct. 2011 been trying to tell them to put my 2 private loans into forebarence they are refusing to. I am not able to return to school yet or get a job due to recovery from a broken leg. I told the rep that I spoke to to put the 2 private ones into forebarence but he said that it would not be wise and to continue to make my payments. I told him I can't and I would have the $100 for the forebarence sometime in Feburary 2012. He refused to do that I hung up. I keep getting calls at least 15 times a day to pay the payments. I finally couldn't take the phone ringing and sent a cese and decist letter. They have stopped the phone calls. However, I am showing deliquent of 141 days on my acct. If I told them I could not make the payment monthly then they should have let me pay the $100 forebarence fee to stop the payments. I am very mad and do not care anymore. I still want to finish school and hope that I can, however, I am not taking out anymore student loans. I will work part time and pay that way. I am on food stamps and have a 10yr old daughter to take care of. My soon to be husband offered to pay the fee for me but they refused to take it. I hope everyone else reading this does the same and not deal with liars Sallie Mae. They are crooked and don't care. If a lawsuit is started aganist them then I want in. They need to be taken down.

IF you gave them call before the payment was due the following week, like maybe call 3 weeks prior to the next due date...it would never have been late. Most companies, as large and consumer wide like SallieMae, do not have fax machines lying around to send incompetent borrowers letters. All info is easily accessible online for most of these large firms. If you idiots read your agreements and contracts when you took out loans with any company...you'd realize how stupid YOU sound when YOU call into these places complaining.

One can go on line and read thousands of complaints about the abusive collection techniques of private student lenders, with the worst offender being Sallie Mae. People whine and complain to the Better Business Bureau and think somehow that will help solve the problem. Wrong! What will solve the problem is to complain to the people that granted Sallie Mae an exemption from all of the laws governing other lenders.i.e., the Congress. Right now there are two bills being debated, one in the Senate (S-3219) and one in the House (HR 5043). These bill would allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy. I'm not suggesting that everyone in default on their private student loans run out and file bankruptcy, but the possibility of doing so should result in a kinder and gentler Sallie Mae. There is also legislation being discussed to require Sallie Mae and other private student lenders to adhere to the FTC Fair Credit Reporting Act.

STOP WHINING, EDUCATE YOURSELF QUICKLY AND WRITE YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN.
Get your parents involved as well. Most everyone wants to pay their student loans but sometimes they need time and understanding while they position themselves after graduation.

LISTEN TO ME PLEASE. SALLIE MAE HAS RUINED MY FINAL SEMESTER IN COLLEGE. I AM IN MY FINAL MOMENTS IN MY DEGREE AND I AM NOT ONLY HARASSED, MY DEBT JUMPED 30, 000 INCREASE WHILE I WAS PAYING THEM BACK DURING A SEMESTER IN WHICH I DID NOT TAKE A LOAN AND A SEMESTER IN WHICH I HAVE NO MONEY SINCE MY SCHOOL TOOK EVEY PENNY RTO MY NAME. WE NEED TO ORGANIZE A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO REFORM THESE LOANS AND AUDIT THESE CROOKS. THE HARASSMENT IS AN ADDED BONUS I GUESS.

My son is having a similar problem. I too told him he should file a suit. Sallie Mae back in July 2010, sent back his loan payments, with a note attached that he had the wrong account numbers. Keep in mind, these are the same account numbers he has used since he started repaying the loans. I really wish everyone who has loans through them would nail them to the wall.

Same EXACT problem. I have faxed them proof of payment AND my statements and still they don't apply the payment to my account. I have spent hours on the phone and also going back and forth via e-mail, all to no avail. I feel totally helpless since they are a government agency. I would love to know what recourse we have!

I have had the same problem with my checks being cashed but not applied. The harrassing phone calls are rediculous. I was told at first to fax copies of the cashed checks to a fax number they provided to take care of it. Meanwhile the calls came every day, sometimes two times a day. I know the faxes went through because I have the proof it was received. A week later I was still getting call. I told them that I had faxed the proof of checks cashed but then got transferred around the world trying to get the issue taken care of. Finally one guy told me the other faxes weren't enough and I had to fax them copies of my entire bank statements. I told them that was rediculous and that I wouldn't even send my statements to my parents, let alone them! After talking to a "supervisor" using the term loosely, he told me that sending the statements was the only way to fix the problem. I told him I was going to file a complaint and he told me he was as high as I could go and he would pass it on. What a jerk! I finally did fax over my statements, with everything blacked out but the bank name and the place showing the checks cashed by sallie mae. Of course I'm still getting the harrassing phone calls. If anyone knows how to start a class action suit I'm soooo on board! Pam, Tampa Florida

I am having a similar problem with Sallie Mae right now. I made a payment at the beginning of the month, which they are insisting they did not receive. They keep calling and sending collection letters. Meanwhile, not only is my account is listed as up-to-date on their online site, but they also emailed me a statement reflecting that. My bank informed me that the check was indeed cashed by Sallie Mae. When I call the customer service people and explained the situation they keep telling me that my account is delinquent---as if they haven't been listening to a word I said. I told on rep that check was cashed and he said I must have sent it to someone else! I told him that my account was listed as current on their site and he said that it couldn't possibly be!

Today one of their reps asked me to fax the last statement they emailed me (!) reflecting that the payment had been made. Then when I asked to speak to a supervisor, he disconnected me. I called back and had to go through the same thing all over again with another person. It's hard to believe that this company actually operates in such an unacceptable, incompetent fashion.

Sallie mae called me using my own telephone number.I feel this is wrong.They are unsympathetic when I am on unemployment and nearly homeless.They are rude and should be reprimanded for their actions in harassing people.

to maxieru- the pymts are delinquent . thats why the tax check was taken . its like you are still making delinquent pymts . as long as the acct. has a delinquent status, the govt has the right to take the check, even if you have pymt arrangements on the delinquent amt. it sucks, but it definitely pays to read the prom note carefully before signing !

My son applied for Sallie Mae loans to attend a vocational school. Unfortunately the school provided little in the way of education and marketable skills. Also, financial crises prevented him from completing the remainder of his second year.
Since then he has had to settle for crappy jobs with crappy pay and now has a debt to repay that adds interest exponentially. My son tried to talk to them, when he could actually get hold of a human being and to try to find a middle ground of compromise such as how about a payment that is realistic with the cost of living and wages…all for naught. He was unable to eke out a living with his wages and when it came down to buying food or paying a student loan payment, he opted for the food. Sallie Mae's debt collection and customer service techniques border on criminal and cruel and unusual punishment. They make resolutions impossible and their monthly payment programs are disproportionate to my son's, to anyone's income I would surmise.
The debt was eventually turned over for collections and we all know there is a special hell for those folks their methods are inhumane, unethical and unreasonable. He now has to deal with the collections and the government in some form or fashion; needless to say he comes up against two very unreasonable and unmerciful entities. The government has their agenda and and collections has theirs and neither the twain shall meet.
He has currently lost his job and he decided to go back to school and was doing some research on the student loan debacle and discovered there might be some way that not only would he benefit from but that it would make it possible to make some head way into eventually paying back his student loan. He contacted the collection agency that holds the student loan and they told him that if he could consistently make monthly payments for 10 months his loan would go out of default and then he could reapply for student loans. He was also told that they would not attach his tax refund. Well that was a lie because they did and my son received a letter from the treasury department that they had indeed withheld and applied his measly tax refund to the student loan. So now I am thinking if they lied about that they might be lying about the “10 month” deal. He has enlisted my help in assisting him in making these monthly payments and I can’t afford them either. I am now though skeptical if making these payments will actually help him out of the “default status”, allowing him to indeed apply for more student loans to finance a better education for a better paying career. What’s the deal!

First, make sure that they are NOT mixing you up with this person that has the same name as you. Check SS#'s, account number on loans etc. Second, call the customer advocate unit ASAP and tell a rep your situation. They can comb over your case by each hair and pluck out the inaccuracy in your situation. The number is [protected].

Agreed. Im a graduate of Devry and Sallie Mae and Devry are scams. Im 150, 000 in debt. They can suck it though. I dont have the money, so they arent getting it. If they want to garnish my wages, ill quit. Want to take my tax returns? I wont work, thus wont be any. The government is siding with these big companies, so us little people who want nothing more or less than an education are hopeless.

We'll Im here to say IM IN DEBT FOR LIFE. THIS COUNTRY WORKS BECAUSE OF DEBT. THIS SYSTEM IS SO MESSED UP, THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO BUT LAUGH AND NOT TAKE ACCEPTANCE.

Dont let it ruin your life. I let it ruin mine for a while and it sucks. Now I'm carefree (well a little bitty concerned). I know I will NEVER pay back this loan in full. Its too high and the interest is at 13%, making the interest 1000/month. Unless I win the lottery, good luck getting your money. Im a responsable person, and I have always been, but Im not playing these games no more with them. I dont have a million years on this earth to sit a cry about a scam I feel victim too. And the sad part about it is that the government will back them no matter what.

I am on unemployment deferral for my federal student loans. I insisted that Sallie Mae approve my IBR application so that I could get the months ticking toward my 25 years. They approved it but arbitrarily picked a payment of $750 a month for my payments. How can they come up with that monthly payment when I am unemployed? Even when I was employed I NEVER made enough money for my monthly payment to be $750. I've tried to call them several times but cannot seem to get through. Also, I have 2 private loans through Sallie Mae. I always pay my bills online and pick exactly which loan I want the payment to go to because my parents are paying off the other one. Sallie Mae applies my payment to whichever loan they want and now say I am behind in my payment. I paid my payment but they applied it to the wrong loan. I have been dealing with these kinds of problems since I got out of law school in 2004. If I had it to do over again, I would NEVER have gone to law school and taken out student loans. They will be hanging over my head for the rest of my life unless something changes. They prevent me from getting credit and even buying a house. Basically, they have ruined my life and Sallie Mae continues to wreak their havoc with my credit.

Our daughter had loans from Sallie Mae. When she became delinqent, a letter was sent to me, saying that I had co-signed. My daugter was a senior, with months to go before graduation. She had not asked us to co-sign for her. We asked for proof showing me as a co-signer. They sent forms with e-signatures, one form had an amount of over $8, 000/00. The second form, did not have a dollar amount. Our daughter told me and wrote a letter to Sallie Mae, telling them that she did not have a co-signer. The information on the forms were incorrect. Our daughter suddenly, died in May of this year. I have a lawter handling this. We can't do anything until they take me to court.
Salle Mae had me file a Theft Idenity report. The police said there was no theft Idenity. Today, they sent a bill addressed to me, not as a co-signor for an amount over $24, 500.00. -

I have written letters, my daughter wrote letters, our Attorney stopped the phone calls. I am going to send the correspondence to Washington, until, I find someone to make this go away. I don't want to look at my credit report.

I had a forbearance on a private tech school loan (Career Training Loan) 2 years ago without any fee. Today, though, they tried to charge me that $50 fee DavidMe referenced. As far as I can tell, this is unfortunately legal. Nikkinosocks mentions limited forbearance time, which is true, but in my case I ran out of forbearance time through Sallie Mae error. They had screwed up the date I quit school and had me leaving a year earlier than I was. Instead of correcting the leave date on the computer, they processed a forbearance without paperwork and without my request, leaving me now with no months left. So all in all, I believe DavidMe who says he thinks it's a scam, because some funny business is going on with Sallie Mae and forbearances. Sadly, I think it's all legal, and there's nothing we can do to correct it short of hiring an attorney.

It IS your right if you QUALIFY for a forbearance and they make it a living hell. I have 1 private and 1 fed loan with sallie mae. They expect me to pay 3 days after finishing my undergrad. I don't get a grace period because a few years ago Sallie Mae told me they're no longer giving loans to students under 21 w/out a co-signer so I had to drop out of school and transfer. They then used my grace period then...instead of forbearancing it. NOW I'M SCREWED. Also, their reps are extremely rude and need attitude adjustments.

You are terribly mistaken...FORBEARANCE is not your right...DEFERMENT is your right on FFELP loans but not private loans. FORBEARANCE is lender discretionary.

Guess what people? You are allowed a limit on that forbearance time! SOO if you use all but 6 months of it and it will only bring you current for a certain amount of time, that's all you have. Use it wisely

How did you actually speak to someone who could help you? My wife has more than 260k in student loan debt. We asked for a Forbearance last year and were told that a month in advance was not enough time. This year, we filled out the app. well in advance to ensure that we would not have the same accidental huge payment deducted from our account. Now just a few weeks away from the cutoff, they say that our application is more than 30 days old and we have to fill out a new app. So now, you cannot file early nor late. You can't talk to anyone that is helpful. They dance around questions like: Why wasn't our 6 week old application processed yet? Now we have to fill out a new app. and get slammed with another mortgage sized payment this month. They did manage to bump our payment back a month so that they could collect more interest however. This is so frustrating. There must be some place to call that regulates this terrible loan giant?