Consumer complaint received 2020-10-18
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I DO NOT owe the current balance of {$16000.00} as of XX/XX/XXXX ( or the updated current balance on the account if a new bill has generated before this dispute letter has been received for Account Number : XXXX due to the following : UPDATED LETTER WITH CORRECTIONS : I am a Veteran and XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX. I have been disrespected, lied to, harassed and violated by Sallie Mae while being directly affected by the COVID 19 Pandemic. I did not and do not fight against XXXX  to only be  accosted by financial XXXX in my own country. Sallie Mae has been and is under investigation for misrepresentation and utilizing predatory/unscrupulous practices. Numerous studies have shown most of the predatory lending practices are directed XXXX- American and XXXX XXXX. Sallie Mae has an {$8.00} XXXX credit line from one of the XXXX XXXX  at an interest rate between 0.23 and 0.34 percent. But Sallie Mae charges students taking out loans a rate that is 25 to 40 times higher. Sallie Mae was able to borrow at less than one-quarter of one percent interest because of the governments sponsorship ( reference congressional hearing on Sallie Maes business practices ). Sallie Mae then pushes students ( including myself ) into forbearances that drive them into paying excessive amounts of interest and forcing students/former college students into a perpetual yoke of debt. Sallie Mae representatives continuously steered me into a disaster forbearance that did not bring the account current and still negatively affect my credit rating instead  of a hardship forbearance that would bring it current or a combination of a payment plan with a hardship forbearance. So, when they placed COVID-19 Disaster forbearance upon the account that Sallie Mae alleges I owe, they are still able to drive up the variable interest rate as they cause my credit score to plummet. During my experience with Sallie Mae representatives and collection representatives, I have been given inaccurate, subpar advice and have not been provided access to adequate payment plan choices when discussing options available to address the alleged loan balance that Sallie Mae alleges  that I owe to their company. Review the following information below in support of my bill dispute : Failure to protect me as a consumer during the COVID-19 Pandemic- I have contacted Sallie Mae in honest efforts to investigate the balance that they allegedly claim I owe ; all while dealing with medical and emotional distress issues in my household directly related to COVID-19. Sallie Mae has failed to protect me as a consumer in the face of a pandemic. Sallie Mae has instead sought to try to take advantage and instead of correct billing  issues and guide me towards a fair resolution of the alleged balance, Sallie Mae has charged erroneous late fees, sent negative reports to the credit bureau, continued to rack up unexplained compounded interest rates, provide subpar customer service reps and resorted to harassing collection measures. 

Inconsistent Account Status Advice from Collection Account Managers- XXXX ( XXXX XXXX stated the account is allegedly 90 days past due on the XX/XX/XXXX phone call. However, collection reps on XXXX Char ( ID # XXXX ) and XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) stated it was 72 days past due. Ref chart columns A, D & G. 

Failure to place all options for a bill dispute on Sallie Maes billing info and failure of Customer reps/collection reps/Supervisors to advise of all avenues to submit a written bill dispute- On the back of Sallie Maes bill, it directs consumers to send disputes to XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, DE XXXX. However, it does not provide any information on how to contact the Office of the Customer Advocate as another option to submit bill disputes. I asked One of the Officers  of the Customer Advocates ( XXXX XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX, what are the ways to submit a bill dispute. He advised that a consumer can either mail the dispute to the address on the bill for bill disputes or submit one through the Sallie Mae Office of the Customer Advocate. However, I have not been advised by any of the other customer service reps, collections reps, Supervisors that I could submit a bill dispute to the Office of the Customer Advocate. Ref chart column P.

Not contacted back by Sallie Mae Consumer Advocate in a timely  manner aided in negative reporting to the credit bureau- I submitted a request on Sallie Maes customer advocate website to be contacted back by a Sallie Mae Customer Advocate and expressed my concerns on the balance that Sallie Mae alleges that I owe. I  submitted the request on date XX/XX/XXXX but I have not received correspondence from the office within the two business days that is posted on the website. Update : I contacted the consumer advocate  office on XX/XX/XXXX. I was advised by XXXX XXXX that he had received the XXXX  complaint on XX/XX/XXXX and the case had been assigned to XXXX XXXX. However, no notes had been placed upon the account since Sallie Mae received the complaint on XX/XX/XXXX pertaining to a bill dispute. A note was only placed upon the account about the account bill dispute on XX/XX/XXXX. Sallie Mae limited direction in how to submit a bill dispute, no follow up contact from the Sallie Mae by the Officer of the Costumer Advocates for initial contact back on XX/XX/XXXX and delay to process XXXX  contributed to another month of delinquent reporting instead of the bill/account disputes being handled before the next bill due date for the alleged balance. Ref chart columns C, O, P & Q Failure of Sallie Mae to add Covid-19 Forbearance notation as a reason for delayed payments to credit bureaus, which in turn negatively affected my  credit rating - Instead, Sallie Mae just reported late payments without reporting account was under COVID-19 forbearance due to COVID-19 Pandemic. Credit bureaus have advised that companies should report accounts being affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic which affects how a consumers credit rating /score is affected. Forbearance Steering and Offer of Unrealistic Repayment Plan ( UPDATED ) - and Numerous Sallie Mae Customer Reps/collection
agents kept steering me into forbearances instead of enrolling me into an income-driven repayment plan that simply could have allowed me to pay based upon my income. Instead, they steered me towards a choice that would rack up interest rates, late fees, compounded interest and reported me delinquent to negatively affect my credit score which affects my variable interest rate. the income driven
repayment plan I could have waived or possibly lessened the amount of interest that has kept racking up.When borrowers are having trouble making monthly payments on student loans they should be advised of the option to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan that caps monthly payments at a percentage of monthly disposable income. And if I have no disposable income, I believe Im not supposed to pay anything on the alleged student loan. However on  XX/XX/XXXX when I asked about being put on the income driven repayment plan, ( Sallie rep name : XXXX, XXXX ). I advised him that I do not have any disposable income at this time yet he told me I could only do a forbearance or pay {$140.00} for 12 months. I stated how could that be my only option if I dont have any disposable income to make the payment? He stated, well Im just telling you what I have here. Therefore, I was only offered a COVID-19 forbearance or a payment plan I can not afford. He states that I do not qualify for a hardship forbearance which would bring the account current. I  requested to be transferred to a Supervisor because XXXX did not provide adequate answers to my questions about my balance, late fees, credit reporting, last payment made on the account and did not explain the difference of the plans offered or how it would affect the account in question. I advised that due to COVID-19, My hours are cut and Im currently out of work totally at this point. However, the only 2 options he offered me was a one month forbearance extension or a repayment plan in which I would have to pay {$140.00} a month. Transferred to Manager XXXX ID # XXXX. After listening to a previous call in which the Manager stated She listened and she acknowledged that the customer service representative DID NOT advise that I would be reported to the credit bureau. However, instead of her apologizing for the representative not advising me of the full terms before going into a forbearance, XXXX stated that it's the borrower 's responsibility to know that they would be reported negatively even though they would have sent a letter out " AFTER '' the account in question had already been put under the COVID 19 Forbearance.

Inaccurately capitalized interest an erroneous balance, which inflated the cost of borrowing. I advised the account manager XXXX ( ID : XXXX ) that I felt the balance on my account was incorrect and asked who could I talk to about fixing the account if I cant speak to someone in Customer Service. She failed to address how I could dispute the balance in order to correct it. She just wanted to make a plan on the balance after erroneously advising on XX/XX/XXXX that they had been credited and then she recanted that they had been credited after I asked her much had been credited. She couldnt tell me the amount or when it was credited. 

Failure to Provide Account Information to Support Amount of Alleged Balance- Collection agents will state that they are not customer service reps, they cant see information about late fees, how long it takes for late fees to drop, policies concerning their program and being able to view the program in writing before they give you a partial verbiage of the forbearance terms or payment plan. Reps : XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) XXXX, Manager ( ID : XXXX ) and XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( Account Manager, ID : XXXX ). Ref chart columns A, B, G, K Charged erroneous late fees and failure to remove late fees when I believed I was not supposed to be charged late fees during a COVID-19 forbearance. Ref calls with XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, Manager ( ID : XXXX ) and XXXX ( Account Manager,  ID : XXXX ).

Ref chart columns A, B, G, K Bill statements did not reflect whether

or not I was in a deferment or payment plan. It just states on the second page at the bottom of the bill the following : Your repayment terms have changed due to one or more of the following reasons : 1. The separation or grace, deferment, or forbearance period has expired. Unpaid Interest may be added to the Current Principal ( capitalized ). 2. The student 's enrollment status has changed. 3. The Current Amount Due and/or Current Amount Due Date has
changed.

4. The interest rate has changed.

5. The repayment term has been extended.

6. The Graduated Repayment Period has ended.

7. A disbursement was returned or additional funds were disbursed.

And this was at the bottom of the second page of the bill when I was told by a representative that I am in a COVID -19 forbearance.

Failure to remove erroneous late fees & erroneous higher interest charges from higher bill balance due to erroneous late fees : There was interest charged on the balance with late fees which were not supposed to be applied to the account during the COVID-19 forbearance which I asked to be back dated to XX/XX/XXXX until the present. This added more money to the balance that would not have been due if the late fees would not have been added to the total and monthly balance. All the late fees from bill statements for the time under the COVID-19 forbearance and back dated to the previous months to XX/XX/XXXX. I requested for those to be removed from the account with the Manager XXXX XXXX for the year XXXX for the times that the loan was in a forbearance status since XX/XX/XXXX have not been removed as of XX/XX/XXXX even though the representative XXXX, ID # XXXX, Collections agent ( Acct Manager ) initially told me that 2 late fees had been waived, then told me she couldnt tell me how much had been waived during the same conversation. But then I asked her how she is able to see the balance and that the late fee had been waived but she couldnt see how much  and when the fees had been waived. She then changed her statement after stating she had to go check with someone else and returned back to the phone to say that the fees really had not been waived. Ref chart columns A, B, K Denied access to respectful, reasonable and informative customer service- I was constantly transferred around and hung up on by multiple collection reps-  XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( ID : XXXX ), Transferred me to : XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX  XXXX ( Did not provide one ) Transferred me to : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX ( ID : XXXX ), Transferred me to : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( Account Manager, ID : XXXX ) - during phone call with XXXX, someone named XXXX  ( ID # unknown ) kept calling me from Sallie Mae repeatedly and somehow hung up the phone call with XXXX. XXXX stated that he did not know what happened because he was on the phone with another couple when I came on the line. He repeatedly called me about 4 more times and his line kept hanging up on me. I had to call back in to get back to XXXX. I was greeted by XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Refused to give OP ID number and refused to confirm locations. He used the name " XXXX XXXX as a swear utterance, kept speaking over me and stated he didnt care if he gets reported for unprofessional behavior. At XXXX XXXX  transferred me to XXXX XXXX ( did not provide ID # ) who transferred me off while I was in the middle of speaking and refused to tell me where she was transferring me to and after about 7 minutes of music  playing it went to silence. Thats when XXXX, ID : XXXX from earlier called me back. However, after a two hour escapade between  collection reps, XXXX was not able to assist me in helping me address late fees and the bill disputes. Ref chart columns D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L.

Misrepresentation of payment plan, choices and effects upon the alleged balance Sallie Mae claims I owe- Customer service rep did not advise me that I would be reported as a delinquent under a COVID-19 Forbearance program to the credit bureau during  forbearance enrollment. Called reviewed by XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, Manager ( ID : XXXX ). Ref chart column B. 

Failure to provide written options or where I can locate which payment options are available to me upon request- XX/XX/XXXX XXXX   ( ID : XXXX ), XX/XX/XXXX XXXX , Manager ( ID : XXXX ) Ref chart columns A & B.

Failure of Representatives to be able to tell me specifically how late fees are charged and where to find that information- XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( ID : XXXX ), XX/XX/XXXX XXXX , Manager ( ID : XXXX ), XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) Ref chart columns A, B, K. 

I do not understand the bill but yet was denied access to proper explanation of the bill - I do not understand how Sallie Mae came to arrive at the bill balance that they allege I owe. Even though I advised several collection representatives that I do not owe the alleged balance, I do not understand how the fees I advised several collection representatives failed to provide adequate customer service in order for me to have an absolute understanding of the bill, resolve erroneous fees and to resolve late fees. Ref chart columns A, B, D, E, F, H, K, I, J, Q Failure of Sallie Mae to Provide Signed Loan Agreement- Sallie Mae has failed to provide the signed loan  agreement for the Account # XXXX. Requested back on XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) to provide the signed master promissory note. I have not received the signed loan agreement and I was advised that it takes 7-10 business days to  receive the signed loan agreement. I was told by XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) after she checked with her Supervisor that the signed promissory note could only be mailed out but on XX/XX/XXXX I was advised by XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) and XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) that maybe it could be sent out by email. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received the signed master promissory note. Ref chart columns K, N, Q Harassment, Release of PII ( Personal Identifiable Information ) and Breach of Confidentiality of information pertaining to my ID-  Collection Representative XXXX XXXX XXXX incoming call, XXXX XXXX   on XX/XX/XXXX. She called and asked if she was speaking to XXXX XXXX several times and the ID was never confirmed. She then stated that she's with Sallie Mae and they do student loans. However, she spelled out the name as XXXX XXXX to the person on the phone without the ID of the person who answered the phone ever being verified as XXXX XXXX. XXXX was advised by the person who answered the phone, '' You're calling from Sallie Mae but you haven't stated what it is about. Why are you calling? '' She then stated " I just told you that I'm calling you because you have a loan with our bank. '' The person on the phone call stated '' I've never identified myself as anybody. '' XXXX then states " Well I asked you and you said this is me. '' The person on the phone stated, '' I didn't say that. The person stated, '' I said to hold a moment because I didn't hear who you said who you were. You called me while I was in the middle of doing something. While the other person was talking,  XXXX kept interrupting and stated, '' We're not playing games. Ms.XXXX  we're not playing games. She then asked the person on the phone again if they were XXXX XXXX. The person did not confirm their identity as XXXX XXXX but repeated, '' What is this concerning? '' XXXX stated to the other person on the phone that she is not going to argue. '' We're not going to go around in circles and XXXX stated, Thats ok, Im just going to keep calling. Ref chart column L.

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