Consumer complaint received 2018-02-28
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
DOCUMENT WITH CLEAR SUBDIVISION TITLED SALLIE_MAE_NEGLIGENCE_NOTES.PDF ATTACHED : XXXX ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX received first statement from Sallie Mae with payment information about both loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) 1st payment due XX/XX/XXXX. 
XXXX realized he was unable to afford payments at this time. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae to set up a 3 month forbearance due to repayment difficulty. 
Sallie Mae made XXXX aware that there was a maximum of 12 months forbearance for each loan. 
XXXX paid a {$50.00} good will forbearance payment per loan. 
Sallie Mae received the {$50.00} forbearance payments totalling {$100.00}. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX received forbearance approval documents for both loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) from Sallie Mae. 
Forbearance period documented as XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 
Payments to resume on XX/XX/XXXX per the statement document received on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) No activity due to forbearance. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and XXXX received XXXX  statement for XXXX payment, stated as due on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX & XXXX both miss one payment. Because XXXX is a cosigner on XXXX two loans, they decided to handle all payments and correspondence through XXXX Sallie Mae account for ease of communication and because they share a bank account, making payments much more convenient. 
At this time, XXXX and XXXX mutually agreed to set up a 3-month forbearance for XXXX loan ( his first forbearance on his one loan - # XXXX ) and an additional 3-month forbearance on both of XXXX loans ( his second forbearance on both loans - # XXXX and # XXXX ) due to repayment difficulty. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 1st time regarding the repayment difficulty on all three loans ( # XXXX, # XXXX, and # XXXX ). XXXX still wants to make sure Sallie Mae gets some form of payment and makes a {$50.00} payment on each loan. The Sallie Mae employee with whom he spoke offered forbearance as an option on all three loans and said he would reverse the initial payments, and make them good-will forbearance payments for all three loans ( XXXX one loan and XXXX two loans on which he cosigned ). 
XXXX requests the 3-month forbearance for each loan from the time of the call. 
Sallie Mae receives the initial {$50.00} payments for each loan totalling {$150.00}. 
Sallie Mae reversed the payments on XXXX two loans - # XXXX and # XXXX ( not on all three as discussed over the phone ). 
Sallie Mae then receives the {$50.00} good-will forbearance payments for XXXX  two loans. 
The employee XXXX spoke to failed to reverse the initial payment on XXXX one loan ( # XXXX ) and make it a good-will forbearance payment. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX over the phone that they were going to process the forbearance requests and that everything was good to go. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and XXXX received XXXX statement for XXXX payment, stated as due on XX/XX/XXXX despite the request of the XXXX forbearance to begin at the time of the phone call on XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX Sallie Mae charged at late fee to both of XXXX loans despite the request for forbearance. 
XX/XX/XXXX Sallie Mae charged a late fee to XXXX loan despite the request for forbearance. 
XX/XX/XXXX Late charge adjustment to both of XXXX loans. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and XXXX received forbearance approval documents for both of XXXX loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ). 
Forbearance period documented as XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX despite requesting the forbearance to begin at the time of the phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX 
Payments to resume on XX/XX/XXXX per the statement document received on XX/XX/XXXX despite the request of the 3-month forbearance to begin at the time of the phone call on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX makes his 2nd phone call to Sallie Mae inquiring about the past due amounts listed on all three loans despite the 3-month forbearance requests for all three loans on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX that the forbearance request was processed incorrectly, and they would need to do it again properly. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX to disregard all past due notices via phone call/email/letter/etc. 
XX/XX/XXXX Sallie Mae charged a late fee to both of XXXX loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) despite the request of a 3-month forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 3rd time to inquire about lingering past due amounts on all three loans. 
Sallie Mae once again told XXXX that the forbearance requests were processed incorrectly and would need to be processed properly in order for the all accounts to be brought to current status. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX to continue disregarding all past due notices via phone call/email/letter/etc. 
XX/XX/XXXX Sallie Mae charges a late fee to XXXX XXXX loan ( # XXXX ) despite the request of a 3-month forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX. 
*NOTE : XXXX has received zero correspondence ( phone call/email/letter or otherwise ) from Sallie Mae personally regarding his past due amount since the 3-month forbearance request on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 4th time to inquire about lingering past due amounts on all three loans ( XXXX one loan - # XXXX and XXXX  two loans - # XXXX and # XXXX - on which he cosigned ). 
Sallie Mae told XXXX for the first time that the 3-month forbearance requests on all three loans had been denied. No other communication had been made about the status of the 3-month forbearance requests on all three loans since the time the request was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX. No payments were made toward either loan during this time. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX that if he wanted the forbearance, he would need to make the request again and make the {$50.00} good-will forbearance payments again on all three loans totalling {$150.00}. 
XXXX agrees to make the three {$50.00} good-will forbearance payments totalling {$150.00} officially requesting the 3-month forbearance on all three loans. 
XXXX asks how he can make sure these payments will be processed correctly this time, and the employee with whom he is speaking assures him that she would make sure it gets processed correctly. 
The three {$50.00} good-will forbearance payments were again processed incorrectly as regular payments toward each loan without communication to either borrower. 
The regular payments were then reversed and corrected to good-will forbearance payments officially requesting the 3-month forbearance. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX received a missed call from his account manager ( XXXX XXXX [ sp? ] ) at XXXX PST in the morning on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX requesting a call back as soon he received the voice message. 
XXXX calls the number and extension provided by XXXX ( sp? ) as well as other Sallie Mae numbers a total of 16 times, but he couldnt get past an automated system because Sallie Mae was closed, despite receiving the call from XXXX that morning. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd time to return his account managers ( XXXX [ sp? ] ) phone call from the Saturday prior. XXXX account manager was unavailable at that time, and he had still received no answers regarding the ever-growing past due amount listed for all three loans ( XXXX one and XXXX two on which he cosigned ). 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 24th time to inquire about the lingering past due amount on all three loans despite requesting a 3-month forbearance on all three loans for a second time after the first request was denied without notification. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX there was another processing error on their end in regards to the latest forbearance requests. The employee with who XXXX spoke stated that they will be submitting a clean-up on his account that would take approximately 48-72 hours. 
The employee also told XXXX that any negative impacts such as credit reporting and/or late fees would be reimbursed or extracted from his account. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX that his account manager ( XXXX  [ sp? ] ) will call in the following week for an update. XXXX never received a follow-up call from his account manager, XXXX ( sp? ). 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 25th time to inquire about the lack of a follow up call from his account manager, XXXX ( sp? ). 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that the clean-up was submitted, yet it hadnt been processed due to there being a high volume of requests for students returning to school, despite being told it would be processed in approximately 48-72 hours. 
*NOTE : This makes it seem like Sallie Mae couldnt care less about a graduate in repayment, and that theyre preying on new students so they keep making money. This sounds like predatory action on the part of Sallie Mae. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that the 3-month forbearance requested on all three loans had not yet been processed because it was waiting for multiple account manager reviews for final approval, due to there being no clear indication of if XXXX could meet the minimum payment in XXXX. 
When XXXX made the last forbearance request on XX/XX/XXXX, there was no inquiry on Sallie Maes part as to how he would make the minimum payment. 
The initial forbearance request for all three loans was made on XX/XX/XXXX, meaning the minimum payments would not begin until XX/XX/XXXX, so we thought, making XXXX comment about minimum payment in XXXX confusing. XXXX was told that the forbearance would bring his account current and that his next payment would be in three months per the recorded terms and conditions playback during both the XX/XX/XXXX call and the XX/XX/XXXX call. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that hardship forbearance does not allow three months without minimum payments, despite the recording telling him payments would resume three months from each forbearance request. 
XXXX told XXXX ( XXXX ) to cancel whatever forbearance was in progress. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) gave him the option of enrolling in auto-debit to bring the account and subsequently all three loans ( # XXXX, # XXXX and # XXXX ) to current. XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that in order to do this, the minimum amount due for each loan would need be paid. XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that she could reallocate the good-will forbearance payments from XX/XX/XXXX to the minimum payments for each loan, and XXXX would have have to pay the difference to makeup for the remainder of the minimum payment. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX the remaining due in order to enroll all three loans in auto debit would be {$200.00}. 
XXXX paid the {$200.00} and it was received by Sallie Mae on this date. 
The payment was divided as follows : # XXXX ( XXXX loan ) {$55.00} # XXXX ( XXXX  1st loan ) {$44.00} # XXXX ( XXXX 2nd loan ) {$100.00} There appears to be no reallocation of the good-will forbearance payments in any transaction history, so this area is a bit confusing. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that once the payment was processed, his account, and subsequently all three loans would be brought current, and automatic payments would being on XX/XX/XXXX on the XXXX of every month billed for {$350.00}. 
Payment confirmation code : XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 26th and 27th time to make additional inquiries about previous phone conversations and was hung up on both times. 
XXXX called Sallie Mae back for the 28th time to inquire about the statement made on XX/XX/XXXX about all negative impacts being reimbursed/extracted from his account. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that he didnt want to give XXXX the wrong answers, and he therefore transferred XXXX to XXXX in escalations. 
XXXX told XXXX that he is forwarding the inquiry to the credit disputes department of Sallie Mae and that Sallie Mae will get back to XXXX with answers. 
XXXX has received no answers to his inquiry thus far. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 29th time to inquire about the remaining past due balance on his account for all three loans ( XXXX one and XXXX two on which he cosigned ). 
Sallie Mae told XXXX that the payment had processed on their end, but because it might not have gone through XXXX XXXX end, the auto-debit had not been activated on either loan. 
Sallie Mae told XXXX to check auto-debit status again tomorrow. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called Sallie Mae for the 30th time to inquire about the remaining past due balance and lack of auto-debit enrollment on XXXX  two loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) despite the payment being processed on both Sallie Mae and XXXX XXXX  end and despite XXXX  one loan ( # XXXX ) appearing current and enrolled in auto-debit. 
XXXX asked what the minimum payment due was for all three loans to make sure everything added up correctly. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that she could not tell him the minimum payment because XXXX two loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) appear to be past due and arent displaying a minimum payment. XXXX ( XXXX ) then asked out loud how the previous employee was able to calculate a minimum amount due when neither of the three loans were listed as current. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) transferred XXXX to XXXX ( XXXX ) for further assistance. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX to check auto-debit status on XXXX two loans ( # XXXX and # XXXX ) again on Monday because it was appearing to have processed on her end, and it might take a little while to appear current and enrolled in auto-debit on XXXX end. 
XXXX ( XXXX ) told XXXX that his one loan ( # XXXX ) was already in forbearance as of XX/XX/XXXX even though the first request wasnt submitted until XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX *NOTE : There has been no subsequent communication from Sallie Mae since the last phone call. 
*NOTE : XXXX has not received a follow-up call of any kind from his account manager ( XXXX [ sp? ] ) since Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
*NOTE : XXXX still has received no correspondence about his past due amounts on either of his loans this entire year. 
*NOTE : XXXX two loans are still past due to this day with no sign of being enrolled in auto-debit, despite appearing so on Sallie Maes end.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief