Consumer complaint received 2018-02-18
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: NE
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I've been having financial struggles for some time now due to my father 's gambling issues. He left my family in XX/XX/XXXX with the handful of visits in XX/XX/XXXX to take some of his belongings. He co-signed my loan with Sallie Mae, at the time it was understood he would help pay for 1 year of my college education. I've come to understand that is not the case anymore, so be it. I have been doing MY very best to try and handle this. 

I left university XX/XX/XXXX because I needed to work and could not afford school. My mom was also becoming very sick ( XXXX XXXX ). I knew my grace period would end and my first Sallie Mae payment would be XX/XX/XXXX. I called well before then to sort out a payment plan because I absolutely could not afford the {$420.00} payments. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was advised by a representative that in order to explore payment plans that would work for me, I needed to wait until my account was past due. She advised I call back when my account is 6 days past due. 

6 days after XX/XX/XXXX, I called Sallie Mae again and was told by the representative that they still could not look into payment plans for me, and suggested I try going through general customer support solutions. I was transferred and went over the forbearance and interest only payment options. I said alright well, right now the only option I can do is the forbearance 3 months at a time. I had lost my job in XX/XX/XXXX and was struggling to find work especially in a place with no public transportation ( I have no car ). The representative, after going through the two options, told me I actually do not qualify for either of them because I was unemployed. They told me to borrow money from everyone I know and then call back when I got a job. If I have steady income I would qualify for forbearance and interest only. 

I called again after I finally got a job in XX/XX/XXXX, I still had not received a paycheck but I wanted to see if I could now explore payments options that worked for me. I was transferred twice and extensively went over my financial situation each time. I never demanded Sallie Mae to hunt down my father and make him pay, I simply explained I was the only one trying to work something out and that my father clearly did not care. I was told that to qualify for interest only and forbearance, I had to be current in payments. What? Why did they advise me it was an option then??? 

I had to call back again a week later, 1 day before I was 60 days past due. The representative I spoke to, after spending nearly an hour talking and going over my finances and family situation, told me that he could not help me further until my father contacted them ... I gave the best number I knew for my father which is probably outdated, but the representative called and left a message. He said he could not help me further and I did not qualify for any payment plans, did not qualify for any temporary solutions to give me time to start getting paychecks. I could only make the full past due amount payment and continue my regular monthly payments going forward. I asked then, alright I obviously can not make payments as I do not even have {$400.00} in my bank account, what am I supposed to do if my father never calls back? The representative did not answer and simply said I should contact them back to see if my father called because that is the only option available. 

How does that make sense? I had listened to their advice every time I called, I attempted to have this sorted out before my payments even began. How can they continuously offer and then rescind help? Each time, I had been told to do X Y Z so I could qualify for A B C, and every time I did what was asked and called back, I got a different story and was told essentially the only option is a regular payment. 

If in the end, nothing can be done to the account until my father calls, why did they not tell me this from the start? They intentionally waited until I was past due 59 days to tell me this. If I was advised in XX/XX/XXXX, that they needed my father to contact them in order to qualify for additional options, I would have had time to try to track him down. 

I am furious because I have done my absolute best to figure this out in a timely manner. Sallie Mae is NOT the only debt I have. I would throw all my money at them if I could. They should have the decency to at least provide accurate, consistent information from the start instead of waiting until there is no return to tell me. My father clearly does not care about his credit score, I care about mine even though it is nearly nonexistent because I just turned XXXX, have no car or insurance, and hope to slowly better my life in the next decade. Sallie Mae waited until I was 59 days past due to tell me they need my cosigner in order to make any changes to the account, which is appalling. I can not conjure up $ 1200+ in a day to beat the 60 days past due mark. Now this will be on my credit score for the next 7 years even though I had spent the last 7 months trying to prevent it from getting to this point. 

I am at a loss. How can a company have so many uncaring employees?

Company public response: Company disputes the facts presented in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation