Consumer complaint received 2022-03-08
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: MA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
I have had Sallie Mae student loans since XXXX. I have paid Sallie Mae for 12 consecutive years, starting while I was in XXXX college. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, shortly after the purchase of my first home ( in XX/XX/XXXX ), Sallie Mae doubled my minimum payment from $ XXXX monthly to $ XXXX monthly without any formal notice. Soon after this, I started to struggle making payments. In XX/XX/XXXX, I had trouble making my payment but made the payment on XX/XX/XXXX ( within the 30-60 day past due window, which is not reported as delinquent ). I then called Sallie Mae on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss payment options as I was struggling to make the payments on time. When I called on XX/XX/XXXX, I was placed into a " 3 month pay forbearance program '' where it required auto debit payments. I had set the payment dates in advance and could not change the payment dates. The first payment in late XX/XX/XXXX came out of my bank account successfully. When the 2nd payment came due ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I had the available funds in my bank account ( XXXX Checking Account ) and checked both of my online accounts at XXXX and Sallie Mae for 3 consecutive business days to ensure the payment was cleared, which showed that all was paid and my account was current. My next payment was not until 2-weeks later ( XX/XX/XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I got my Sallie Mae billing statement showing that I was {$2400.00} past due. I immediately called Sallie Mae on XX/XX/XXXX and was told my payment failed on XX/XX/XXXX despite my bank account and Sallie Mae initially showing it was paid. When I called Sallie Mae on XX/XX/XXXX, the representative I spoke with suggested I be put on another " 3-month payment forbearance plan '' and was told that my credit report and account would not be shown as delinquent as long as I made those following 3 payments without issue, which I completed successfully ; however, this program did not allow me to pick my payment dates but the same date each month for 3 months. In XX/XX/XXXX, while preparing to purchase a new home, I noticed 16 late payments from Sallie Mae on my credit report from XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX with some payments reporting as much as 90+ days late. Again, I immediately called Sallie Mae and expressed my concern that I have never been 90 days late in paying them and that this was inaccurate. The representative told me that I could file a credit dispute but that 1. the dispute center does not have a phone number and 2. I would need to mail all my documents in to a XXXX XXXX to be reviewed within 30 days. I mailed all the supporting documentation on XX/XX/XXXX ( I tracked the envelope via certified mail and my records show that it was received by Sallie Mae on XX/XX/XXXX ). Within this supporting documentation, I included my bank statements from XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Sallie Mae statements from XX/XX/XXXX to show that {$0.00} past due on every statement after I called Sallie Mae on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX credit report, and wrote a letter detailing my credit dispute. I received a response from Sallie Mae in XX/XX/XXXX stating that the credit reporting was investigated and accurate per FCRA guidelines. It requested that I send in more information if I had " not sent, '' which included -- Copy of credit report, bank statements, canceled checks, bank and account information, etc, which I had already sent in for my initial dispute on XX/XX/XXXX. I called Sallie Mae shortly after this response in early XX/XX/XXXX and asked why I had to include this information again and what I needed to include to ensure that my credit report was corrected. The representative told me that all of the information I mailed was " scanned incorrectly '' and had " blank pages. '' The only pages that were scanned correctly were my Sallie Mae statements, not my bank statements or credit report. I was provided a link to send these documents again and submitted them on XX/XX/XXXX and was told to call back to check in on the status of my dispute. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX and was told I needed 1 more missing piece in my dispute which was a phone call recording from XX/XX/XXXX, when I initially called and was told that my account would not be reported as delinquent. The representative who informed me of this call recording told me that he placed a request to his supervisor and leadership in collections via email to have the call recording reviewed. He then told me to call back later that afternoon to check the status. I called back that afternoon around XXXX, as told by the representative, and was told that the request was still in process and to call back on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. I called again on Monday XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a supervisor at Sallie Mae named XXXX who told me that they were not going to review the call as it was " too old '' and that the credit reporting was accurate, despite them not reviewing the information I submitted 3 different ways and not reviewing the call from XX/XX/XXXX. The call was disconnected so I then called Sallie Mae back again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with another representative for 2 hours who reported to me that she was " looking for the call '' from XX/XX/XXXX. She stated that she could see the call logged from XX/XX/XXXX but that she could not access it because the representative who completed the call was no longer employed at Sallie Mae. In reaction to this, I stated to the representative that because all of my documents were not properly scanned and the call was not reviewed that a proper FCRA investigation could not have been completed. She stated that the call was essentially moot because of when I called and assumed what was said on the call without having the ability to listen to it. It was then uncovered that on XX/XX/XXXX, when I received my statement from Sallie Mae that the payments for 4 months ( XX/XX/XXXX ) were reported as late to the credit reporting companies. From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I did not know that there was an issue ( as I stated above ) because On the morning of XX/XX/XXXX both the Sallie Mae phone application and my bank account showed payment as " Paid. '' If I had known on the XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX that there was an issue I could have made an additional payment to at minimum avoid 4 out of the 16 late payments based on the timeline. Sallie Mae allowed me to get to 90 days late on an amount they refuse to tell me before I had the opportunity resolve by not saying anything from XX/XX/XXXX to when I received my statement on XX/XX/XXXX. 

As of the evening of XX/XX/XXXX, after a 2-hour phone call with a Sallie Mae representative , my dispute has not been fully investigated. Each time I call Sallie Mae I receive different information regarding my account during these timeframes and am told different steps to take. Given that Sallie Mae does not allow me to consolidate my loans, I have 16 late payments on my credit report that I strongly believe are inaccurate reports from ONE incident. They have yet to provide me a clear explanation as to why these reports can not be rectified and refuse to review the call from XX/XX/XXXX which I was told was a missing piece in my dispute. They also have not reviewed the documents I sent them on 2 different occasions in 3 different fashions ( via mail, via Sallie Mae portal, and via upload link Sallie Mae sent me ). They continue to tell me that the dispute is accurate and complete although it is NOT complete given they have not reviewed the information I have provided or the phone call that was made on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told on XX/XX/XXXX that I could reach out to " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' if I wanted to pursue further action, while still not reviewing my dispute completely. I believe that the unfair credit reporting is due to Sallie Mae 's system failures and errors. They have been preaching FCRA although this does not cover system technical issues, which I feel plays a role in my situation, nor does it bar them from changing their inaccurate reporting. As a result of this, my credit has 16 late payments on it, all from Sallie Mae, which is severely impacting my financial ability to obtain a mortgage or possibly refinance my loans with a different institution. In my opinion, Sallie Mae is inaccurately reporting on their customer 's credit reports, preventing them from going elsewhere to pay their student loans. It is predatory. It is unfair. It is corrupt. I have spent hours on the phone with representatives throughout the past few weeks, and throughout my lifetime with Sallie Mae, and a problem is never resolved or explained thoroughly. I plan to reach out to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and reiterate my dispute ; however, I have immense distrust that anything will be resolved. For these reasons, I am reporting to CFPB in hope for answers and clarity. 

Additional supporting documentation and information can be provided at request.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief