Consumer complaint received 2021-12-15
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: MD
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 trying to defer my private loans ( Total = {$73000.00} ) from Sallie Mae until I graduate with my XXXX XXXX XXXX. The application for deferment was faxed to them by the registrar at the school I currently attend on XX/XX/2021. I was " denied '' for this deferment although they never sent me a formal notice saying so until after I contacted them by phone on XX/XX/2021. They said the reason was that I can not defer my loan payments for more than a total of 48 months. When I checked the promissory notes that I signed, no maximum amount of time for an in school deferment period was mentioned. They did, in reference to deferment, however, use some very vague language saying " If we approve your request, we will tell you how long you can postpone payments and whether you have to make any payments in the meantime. '' Nothing about that statement says what the criteria is for the request to be approved. No maximum amount of time for deferment was mentioned anywhere in the document. 

Furthermore, the same section of this promissory note, 2 bullet points below, says " We may also postpone your payments, even if you have not asked us to do so if Student returns to school at least half time. '' The word " may '' here is ambiguous. What are the conditions under which Sallie Mae would do this automatically? They should be listed in the note, but they are not. It is also worth noting that the word " School '' is defined in the document with a capital " S '' to mean " the school identified in the application, '' and is used multiple times in the promissory note WITH the " S '' capitalized to refer to that school. However, at the end of the document, there is a statement without the " s '' capitalized that reads, " This loan does not require payments while you are in school and for a separation period of 6 billing cycles thereafter. '' Since that statement is in the documents that Sallie Mae sent to me, which does not specify which school I need to be in, it should not even be necessary for me to even apply for IN SCHOOL deferment. 

Since they ( 1 ) never sent a copy of the promissory note via mail despite sending a bill for {$0.00} for every month my loan was in deferment, ( 2 ) never sent a formal statement denying my request for deferment until after I called them a month later, and ( 3 ) won't discuss repayment options until 6 days AFTER the DUE DATE of my first payment ; I have a strong suspicion that THEY don't believe what THEY are doing is legal. Had they been at least ethical enough to tell me, unambiguously, the terms of in school deferment IN THE PROMISSORY NOTE that I signed my name on, I would have avoided signing the promissory note and looked for another lender. That way I would not be in a situation where I have to consider relinquishing my dream of becoming a XXXX  to avoid permanently destroying my credit.

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