Consumer complaint received 2019-05-24
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: OR
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX- My first phone call with them. I asked about lowering payments and they claimed the lowest they could go was {$980.00} a month so I asked for forbearance. 

XX/XX/XXXX- My second phone call with them. I again asked about lowering payments and they claimed they could not go any lower so I again asked for forbearance. 

XX/XX/XXXX- My third phone call with them. I asked again about lower monthly payments and the plan they gave we still could not afford so I again asked for forbearance. 

XX/XX/XXXX- They talked to my mom/ cosigner and myself and we gave them financial statements. In order for us to receive a lower payment plan. 
XX/XX/XXXX- They called my father/ cosigner looking for me even though I spoke to them the day before. I had not received any missed calls but my phone automatically blocked unknown numbers at the time so I called them back as soon as my dad told me. We tried to work out a lower payment plan. They took financial statements from me three separate times by three separate individuals. They took financial statements from my dad who is disabled twice and from my mother twice. They intimidated my dad and were incredibly rude to him to the point that he cried. He has XXXX XXXX and sometimes it takes him longer to process information and respond. They took advantage of this and bullied him. Then stated we didn't qualify for the reduced payment option because we couldn't prove that we could pay the reduce payment of {$500.00} either. They gave us three days to come up with something else that would make them feel " comfortable '' giving us the reduced payment plan. Three days was not enough time. We looked into other options which is why I started writing letters via certified mail so I could have communication with them in writing. 

XX/XX/XXXX- I sent out my first letter via certified mail to them. Asking to cease phone communication and only communicate via letter from now on. I specifically asked them to not contact my co-signers, my co-signers place of work, or my place of work. 

XX/XX/XXXX- I sent out my second letter via certified mail asking for proof of debt validity. 

XX/XX/XXXX- My parents received a letter addressed to me at their house even though my return address was directly on the envelope of every letter I sent them. It was simply a change of address update not a response to either of my letters thus far. 

XX/XX/XXXX- I sent out my third letter via certified mail stating that I am willing to work with them and was waiting to hear back from them that they are willing to work with me. And to contact me via letter and only me about these loans. I specifically asked them not to contact relatives, siblings, and places of work of myself or my co-signers. 

XX/XX/XXXX- They called my uncle who has nothing to do with my loans. I am not even sure how they got his number. 

XX/XX/XXXX- Three letters to my mom XX/XX/XXXX- A letter to my mom XX/XX/XXXX- 5 letters to me, none a response to what I had written just general letters sent out to loans in threat of delinquency. 

XX/XX/XXXX - They sent a letter to me that just said " thank you for your inquiry. We are committed to providing you with information and assistance you need. To address your concerns more efficiently, we ask that you call us at ___ '' I did not receive the letter until the XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX- I sent out my fourth letter via certified mail stating again that I was waiting to hear back them and offered a monthly payment which is something I can actually pay and still be able to have rent and food. 

XX/XX/XXXX- My uncle received a phone call looking for me. Although I had been sending letters since XXXX and explicitly asked multiple times to only be contacted via letter they continued to harass people who had absolutely nothing to do with my loans. I called them back and spoke to my account manager XXXX. We went over my finances and I told her what I could pay each month. She was very condescending and reminded me of the amount of my total loan and I reminded her that they gave a loan to an XXXX year old with no financial history with no guarantee I would be employed when I graduated. She repeatedly stated " you asked for money and we gave it to you. '' Which is exactly my point. We had to conference in my mom/co-signer. The " lowered '' payment plan they offered was {$670.00} a month something we still could not do and we tried to work with them to meet somewhere where we were both satisfied but neither XXXX nor her supervisor XXXX would budge. I am trying to pay my loans but I can not make money appear when I do not have it. I reminded them multiple times that I had been writing them letters and had only received one response to my address and they kept saying they could not send letters and could only talk on the phone but I know that is not true. I am willing to work with them but every time they talk on the phone they talk in circles and every time you say anything about lowering payments they transfer you to another person who is more rude than the last. If they truly wanted to work with people they would have other solutions.When I asked them why they called my dead grandfather, uncle, parent 's place of work, and ex co-workers they had no response. When I tried to ask them what they would be willing to do to work with me XXXX stated " I am not going to negotiate with you. ' They said my offer of {$100.00} a month was too low. So I asked what about " {$250.00} '' and they again XXXX stated he could not work with me. I reminded XXXX that if they want me to actually be able to make payments they needed to be willing to work with me. Neither he nor the company he works for were willing to work with me to resolve this matter. XXXX and XXXX continued to claim that this was the best they could do although in the forms I originally signed for the loans it mentions something called a Payment Holiday. Which would at least give me time to gather myself and see what else I could do to work with them. 

In the time between my first later and today my pare n't have been called almost daily. My significant other has received calls even though he is not on the loans and I never gave them his contact information or permission to speak to him about my account. My uncles have received calls. My grandma has received calls looking for my dead grandfather. My mom 's ex co-workers have received calls. My dad 's boss received calls. I have not been ignoring them, I have been writing them for months and waiting for written reply from them. Instead they waited to respond until the situation was very dire and harassed my family in an effort to intimidate and embarrass me into making agreements that I could not uphold.

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