Consumer complaint received 2023-02-10
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Getting a loan
Sub-issue: Fraudulent loan

Complaint:
How is Sallie Mae still getting away with these predatory loans??? I made a mistake back in XX/XX/XXXX and applied for a Sallie Mae student loan believing I was applying for federal loans. I previously had my federal student loans through them in XXXX so I didnt realize that I was applying for private loans. Of course nobody at Sallie Mae set me straight either. What I didnt realize was that I already had filled out the FAFSA and that is good for the whole school year ( Fall XXXXSpring XXXX ). I thought I was applying for spring and what they gave me was a private loan for over XXXX, with half of that being disbursed in XX/XX/XXXX for a fall semester that was already paid for in XX/XX/XXXX! The second half of that amount was disbursed in XX/XX/XXXX when the federal funds for that semester had also already been disbursed. I didnt realize at the time that I had money coming from 2 different sources since the funds were sent to the school and then direct deposited into my account after the school took their cut. Still not realizing what had happened, I applied for loans for the summer XXXX semester in XX/XX/XXXX. I was given over XXXX for tuition that was just under {$3900.00}. I took 9 credit hours that summer so I just thought it had something to do with my enrollment being considered full time for the summer. When I applied again for fall, I was informed that my cosigner was suddenly ineligible due to him being on a fixed income even though nothing had changed with him. When I ended up getting the federal loans anyway I just thought I was able to qualify on my own by that time since I had a steadier income. When I try to pull up original loan docs, all I am able to find are 2 applications and my credit pull info. My dad, who has been retired and on a fixed income since XXXX, is the cosigner on both loans. Again, I believed I was applying for federal loans and they wanted HOUSEHOLD income. Now he is stuck as a cosigner on these loans. On the XX/XX/XXXX application his employer is listed as N/A and his income is listed as N/A. What was the point of a co-signer with no job and no income and how did that get approved? My only employment at the time of the first application and first disbursement ( XX/XX/XXXX ) was in retail, part time, and my income for that whole YEAR was about XXXX which I truthfully put on the application. What I saw next has me extremely confused and angry. They have additional income listed as multiple and the amount XXXX!!! I had no other household income at that time so I do not know where this information came from since I had never looked at those documents until about a week ago ( XX/XX/XXXX ). How can they just add income to my application to get it approved without that being verified??? When I looked at the application for XX/XX/XXXX, there is no cosigner on it, but yet my dad is listed as the cosigner on that loan as well and its on his credit. It also has my new employer name listed correctly but they had my income listed as XXXX for a commission sales position and time on the job was only 4 months. I was making XXXX plus commission which never added up to XXXX. Again, why was no proof required for a new job with a significantly higher income than I had less than 6 months earlier? Or is there proof of income I am not aware of? Several other inconsistencies were found such as my rent was listed as {$500.00} in XXXX and {$1000.00} in XXXX. I had not moved as my address would reflect on both applications but my rent doubled? How would this application make it through underwriting??? How did I get approved for a loan for over XXXX with only XXXX per year income between XXXX signers ''??? Since FEDERAL loans are not income/credit based, I didnt notice anything wrong at the time with getting the loans. I filled out an application, but since the information provided would not qualify me, they doctored it up in my favor?? Were they unable to pull that off again the time my co-signer was deemed ineligible? I thought I was applying for FEDERAL LOANS! There is NO WAY I would have ever tried to give false information on an application like that. I also have not been able to locate one document with loan terms or a signature from myself or my dad. Why are these not in loan documents and why have they never been provided to me? Is there something to hide? Do they exist? Per Sallie Maes own website Loan amount can not exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received as certified by the school. They gave me loans for 2 semesters that were already paid for with federal loans, which, if they had gotten their information certified by the school then they would have known I already had gotten financial aid for that semester and my balance was paid in full. Then for the summer semester they gave me more than {$6700.00} above my tuition cost. Textbooks are expensive, but not that expensive. I was led to believe these would have 6 months deferred payments after I graduated, flexible and affordable payments and low interest rates like federal loans offer. What I got were loans that, ( I was informed in XX/XX/XXXX ) did not have the option to defer anymore payments. When I asked how that is possible since I would not be graduating until XX/XX/XXXX and I was already enrolled for my final semester which would begin in XX/XX/XXXX, they informed me that they had already deferred the 6 payments by me taking off the summer semesters for the last 5 years or so. Notice the math on that doesnt add up either. I believe they make up rules as they go along. I was told 6 months after graduation or separation from school is when payments would start. My current VARIABLE interest rates as of XX/XX/XXXX are up around 14 % with the combined payments being {$600.00}. It was just {$590.00} last month which was due less than 30 days after graduation. In XXXX XXXX, when I was forced to make payments over the summer, my payments were just under {$500.00} with the interest rates at around 10-11 %. I borrowed just under $ XXXX in XXXX and my current balance is over $ XXXX! That is over $ XXXX in interest that has already been added to my balances!! To put into perspective the difference between these predatory loans and the federal loans, my balance for federal loans is currently $ XXXX. Only {$4900.00} of that is interest. I got these federal loans between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX so many are about the same age as the Sallie Mae loans. When I have called to see what I can do about these unaffordable payments, I am given the one single option of interest only payments for up to 12 months and at the end of that I will have even more unaffordable payments. I am only catching this now because my loans have been deferred due to being in school all this time and I was not making payments. They need to be investigated for doctoring up applications to get them approved and their underwriters should all be fired for approving an application like mine that had several inconsistencies and no proof of anything. If they do have income docs for me reflecting the information on the application, I would LOVE to see them because they are NOT REAL DOCUMENTS! I was intentionally deceived about the type and details of the loan and and treated unfairly by Sallie Mae by giving me a loan that I clearly did not qualify for and did not have the capacity to repay.

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