Consumer complaint received 2016-10-03
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Sub-issue: Can't get flexible payment options

Complaint:
As excited as we were when our son just graduated college XX/XX/XXXX, we knew it would be just around the corner before the heavy burden of student loans approached. While he did find a job in his field in Tennessee, his salary is quite low and is enough to rent a decent apartment and take care of his day to day expenses. His loans will come to fruition XX/XX/XXXX but the correspondence has started coming in. He owes {$35000.00} to XXXX on subsidized and unsubsidized loans which he hopes to get assistance with based on his salary. We as parents owe an exorbitant amount in Parent Plus loans which assisted with his education and my husband is currently unemployed. Last but not least, my son ( I am his co-signor ) owes {$62000.00} in what we thought were federally backed up loans with Sallie Mae. My husband and I are also in high credit card debt, high interest rates ourselves and living on XXXX salary so needless to say we are scared to death of what lies in the future for our son and for us. When calling Sallie Mae today to talk about possible payment arrangements since we thought they were government backed loans, we were shocked to hear that there were no programs available to help students and that all of his loans were private which we totally did not know. They are an incredibly non transparent lender and we feel that they are predatory lenders at that. Financial ruin for both my son and us is in the future based on what we owe and the accruing interest. The only program offered was there {$150.00} fee every three months to put loans in forbearance with accruing interest. We were shocked. I 've read horror stories on Sallie Mae and there is no financial future for our kids or parents because of this. Why are there no programs for Income Based Repayment and Pay as You Earn to cap borrowers ' monthly payments relative to their income? Why does n't Navient step in to assist with these private loans as well? My husband and I are not stupid people, but there was never any lead to indicate that these were private loans. My son will not make it even if he gets forbearance ( that is just a stalling mechanism ). They make so much money from the loans that XXXX is servicing for them. Why ca n't they help the borrowers? How is a milleniall supposed to work towards financial goals and parents towards retirement goals. They charge credit card-like interest rates amongst a multitude of other problems. As I said above, most people think of Sallie Mae as a purveyor of federally-backed students loans with low, government-mandated interest rates, regulated deferred payments and hardship programs or waivers. They are blurry in their representation and we are so so disappointed and scared of what 's to come. Someone has to step in and do something. Our kids should not be penalized for wanting to get an education. Your help and advocacy would be most appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation