thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Though, I'm sure you already knew that.

*Begin Rant*

Before the economy tanked, I got some student loans through Sallie Mae. I'm trying to be a good boy and contribute a little towards principal before repayment begins.

My first payment is through their website. Most of my payment went towards interest. I didn't consider this until after the payment processed. D'oh. Oh well. So I call Sallie Mae and ask them how I make principal only payments and I am told to mail them a check with "to principal only" written on it along with a brief letter that states payment is for principal only.

So, when I do my second payment, I mail it in. I write "For loan XX principal ONLY" in the memo of the check. I also write a letter that states this and included it with the check. A while later, I notice that the payment was applied to principal AND interest.

I call Sallie Mae and the representative says that they'll fix this. Ok, fine, no big deal.

So, I mail in my 3rd payment doing exactly the above except I make it perfectly clear that I want this payment to be principal only. My letter stated:


The check cleared today, so I logged in to check my Sallie Mae payment history. Guess what....

1) The first payment they were supposed to fix was fixed WRONG. They applied 100% of it to interest.

2) My most recent payment is towards principal and interest.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!? They're going to get a VERY angry phone call from me tomorrow morning.

*End Rant*

Hapa DC5

Wow, that's terrible. I feel ya man, anytime I have been on the phone with them I feel like I am talking to my family back in the Philippines.

SirBLaughs

iTrader: (1)

They weren't always this bad. I have been repaying my loan with them for the past decade. Just recently they've been bought out by some other company so of course, with any new enterprise under new management, things will get f00ked up and quality will suffer.

Good luck though . . .

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

That stinks. Make sure you tell them you want them to fix it right. You may even want to get an economic program to see what the payment SHOULD HAVE BEEN had the payments been correctly applied. That way you can tell them exactly what happened.

hornyleprechaun

Can the people you talk to not fix it for you? I'd make sure that they fix it while you are on the phone with them.. don't trust them until it is done! Then make sure when you login to your account that it is fixed properly.

doopstr

What is the advantage for you to pay the principal before normal payments begin?

Your check is probably never seen by a human. It goes into the big payment processing computer and it probably has no idea that you want your payment processed that way.

Do they have a website that you can use to process a payment?

hornyleprechaun

My wife does the same thing.. she is paying $100 toward principal to reduce the balance before she has to make payments.. That way the principal is lower when payments actually begin.

dallison

most of em are a bit shady. citibank was the worst.

Majofo

Stupid question but you weren't clear.. this is a subsidized loan correct, and you're still in school so the juice meter hasn't been turned on right?. Otherwise if it's a non-subsidized loan then you'll have to pay the monthly interest before you can pay down the principal. Your whole story sounds fucked up though.. give us some numbers if you don't mind.

Sallie Mae is just a manager.. who is the lender. You might be able to deal with them or call your bank and get their customer support to bitch them out. BoA is great at not letting someone fuck with your money. I had a dispute and after trying to resolve it with the 2nd party I finally told BoA and the chick straight up said: "Where's our money!" .. the issue was resolved in 5 minutes when it took me 2 weeks to try and clear it up.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

My loans through Sallie Mae are private student loans and have been accumulating interest since origination. Thankfully, two of the three loans are like 3.5%, but the 3rd (the one I'm trying to pay down now) is like 13%!!!!

No paperwork from Sallie Mae has indicated that anyone but Sallie Mae is the one who gave me the money.

My theory behind paying principle is that by knocking down the principle I knock down the amount interest can accumulate. If I pay interest (or interest only), it'd simply "re-accumulate" if that makes sense.

I have others through the Department of Ed (a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans).

At the time I was in a rush to complete school and needed more money than what I could get through the governmnent. I completely regret the private student loans, but what's done is done...so oh well.

I'll be graduating in June and repayment is scheduled to start in December.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I just got off the phone with Sallie Mae and they're supposedly going to resolve the issue with my last two payments. She has to submit a request for payment re-application and that's all she can do.

I'll check on it in a week and see what happens I guess.

I asked the representative why my payments were not being processes as I've requested and she didn't have an answer. She said I'm doing everything correctly.

If I have to call a 3rd time, It's ON.