Consumer complaint received 2023-07-18
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't temporarily delay making payments

Complaint:
I am currently a XXXX XXXX XXXX  at a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and I used Sallie Mae Smart Option student loans to help finance my XXXX  education between XXXX. I also used one Sallie Mae loan to help finance my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX degree between XXXX and XXXX. My complaint is stemming from the fact that my student loans were recently removed from in-school deferment status, requiring me to make costly monthly payments to avoid delinquency, while being unable to have them replaced into in-school deferment status for the final XXXX years of my XXXX  XXXX  program. I am a XXXX student, barred from seeking gainful employment as a condition of my university enrollment, wholly unable from making these monthly payments on my XXXX student loans. Furthermore, the complaint encompasses gross mismanagement of my account, in ways I believe do not satisfy the basic fair lending policies by which Sallie Mae should have been operating within when dealing with my account. 


At the end of XX/XX/XXXX, I received an electronic communication stating that my XXXX loans were to be removed from in-school status at the end of the following billing period, with all of the loans requiring payment by XX/XX/XXXX. This is the first communication I received from Sallie Mae about this change in status. When I called their customer support line, I repeatedly was told to call back around the payment due date, as there was little they could do to help me at that time. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to a supervisor who explained that Sallie Mae has a XXXX month limit for in-school deferment after completion of an XXXX degree on their Smart Option student loans. This came as a complete surprise for multiple reasons. The first and foremost being I had never been made aware of this policy at any point in my XXXX years with Sallie Mae and being enrolled at this point in XXXX degree-granting programs. None of the promissory notes that I signed for the loans in question made mention of a XXXX cap for in-school deferment [ a representative promissory note has been attached to this complaint ]. The only explanation of their deferment status was as follows : " You can ask us to postpone or reduce payments if Student returns to school at least half time or enrolls in a residency or internship program. This type of postponement is called a Deferment. If your Deferment request is granted, you will be required to make payments during the Deferment period on the same terms as the repayment option that applied to your loan during the in-school period '' As shown, there is no explicit mention of a XXXX cap. As an XXXX student who planned on attending XXXX XXXX  after graduation, potentially receiving training that can extend beyond XXXX  months, I would have never knowingly signed my name to a policy that would not accomodate these career goals. 


Furthermore, the supervisor I spoke to on XX/XX/XXXX told me that I was not made aware of this policy at any point in my lending history with the company because there was " no expectation that I would be in school longer than XXXX  months. '' This is an incredibly unsatisfying answer for multiple reasons. First, Sallie Mae positions themselves as a lender that can help students who are entering professional and XXXX XXXX training. In fact, I still receive emails propositioning me to borrow from their company for my XXXX  training. Secondly, and more pertinent to my case, Sallie Mae knew that I had enrolled in a XXXX XXXX XXXX program in XXXX and neglected to make me aware of this XXXX month policy. In fact, I received an electronic communication from them on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX month after starting XXXX XXXX  ) that they " received an enrollment update ... there is nothing you need to do for your loans at this time. '' [ Screenshot attached to this complaint ] After making the supervisor aware of these XXXX facts ( 1 : I never signed a document agreeing to a XXXX in-school deferment cap, and 2 : Sallie Mae knew I was entering a XXXX degree XXXX years prior and never mentioned the XXXX policy ), she agreed that I should not have to make these payments, especially while training in a difficult XXXX XXXX curriculum, and she would personally submit a request to have my loans placed back in deferment. I waited patiently to hear an update on my case. 


On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke again with the same supervisor from XX/XX/XXXX, who stated plainly that after consulting with her resources, regardless of any extraneous details on my part, because I had used all XXXX  months of in-school deferment, there was nothing more to be done with my account and payments would be required despite my full-time enrollment status. Again, I believe this to be an unfair situation, as I had never signed a policy that stated these terms. However, even if I were to operate under this unwritten policy, I knew that even if accounting for my XXXX year XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX degree between XXXX, I had not been in-school for XXXX  months since graduating with a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX degree in XXXX. The math is as follows : XXXX  months of XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), and at the time of this writing, XXXX  months of XXXX  training ( XXXX ), for a total of XXXX  months of in-school deferment. If operating within the terms of their own policy, I should have around XXXX  months of in-school deferment remaining on my account. 


I made the supervisor aware of this, and she promised to quickly look into this discrepancy and call me back that afternoon. Later that day ( XX/XX/XXXX ), she called me back and stated that yes, they had mistakenly left my account in in-school status between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, draining my account balance of deferment time despite me not being enrolled in school during that time. She said she would call me later the following week with the expectation that at the very least, I could have those XXXX months of deferment time reapplied to my account, since it was their mistake in tracking my enrollment status that had me losing that time. 


I had not received word from this supervisor during the following week, so I called her back on XX/XX/XXXX. To my surprise and great frustration, she told me that if Sallie Mae was to remove the in-school deferment time applied to those loans between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and reapply it to my account at this time, the loans in question would immediately go into delinquency for those XXXX  months because I had not made ( or was required to make ) payments on them XXXX years ago. This is unbelieveable to me, as it does not make sense that Sallie Mae 's mismanagement of my account status in the past should penalize me in the present. I would argue that if my account was adequately managed in late XXXX and the in-school status removed, I would have had the ability to take measures to prevent delinquency at that time. This is now where my account stands with Sallie Mae at this time. 


In summary, my complaint with Sallie Mae is grounded in XXXX main points. 


First, at no point in my preceding XXXX years with the company had I been made aware of a XXXX in-school deferment cap. I never signed an agreement that mentioned this policy, nor do I believe it to be fair to expect these payments to be made while I am fully-enrolled in a XXXX XXXX program. I will graduate as a physician in XXXX months with full ability and desire to pay back these loans as quickly as possible. My earning potential within this career path will allow for full and uncomplicated repayment, but for Sallie Mae to pressure me at this time to make payments while I am actively paying for my current living expenses with federal student loans jeopardizes my financial health for decades to come. 


Second, even if operating within the confines of the undisclosed XXXX in-school cap, I have at least XXXX  months of deferment time that should be allowed to me, as I have only been enrolled in school for roughly XXXX  months since finishing my XXXX degree at the time of this writing. It was entirely Sallie Mae 's own mismanagement of my enrollment status ( a simple and routine measure to keep track of ), that caused me to lose that time. During those XXXX months in question I was working a salaried job, and had options available to me to manage a repayment situation if one arose. For them to tell me now, XXXX years after the time in question, that if they were to accurately update my account to fit the reality of my enrollment status, my account would immediately go into retroactive delinquency is frankly unprofessional and borderline malicious behavior. 


For these XXXX reasons, I believe my account should be accurately updated and re-entered into in-school deferment status.

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