Consumer complaint received 2023-10-31
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
Much of this Complaint to the CFPB was identical to what has been sent to the Dear Legal and/or Finance Management at Sallie Mae XXXX for more than XXXX months. All while my credit score has been destroyed and I have been threatened for this loan to default and be sent to an agency for collection. This is an URGENT request. Please help, I only have a couple days left to jump and fix this. 

I took out XXXX Parent Loans with Sallie Mae from XXXX, for my 35 year-old adult son 's education. I never have claimed my son as a dependent since he was a minor, and we have since maintained our tax returns filed independently of XXXX another. This information is key, due to an administrative error that Sallie Mae has used as a nonsensical reason to take no further action after Sallie Mae recently recognized that XXXX of my XXXX Parent Loans was mistagged as being used for a " dependent '' child -- which of course, was not the case. Despite all XXXX loans being taken out for the same child ( aged XXXX ), depite all XXXX loans being taken out within 18 months time, despite all XXXX loans being used to pay tuition at the same University, only XXXX of these loans were properly tagged as being taken out for an " independent '' student. 

This distinction between " dependent '' and " independent '' is key to this issue, at hand. Please also allow me to disclose, that my son is an attorney and an active member of the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, in good standing -- and my son has assisted me with drafting this correspondence. 

I am a 66 year-old single mother to XXXX son and grandmother to XXXX young grandchildren. I am XXXX and have been now for some 6 years. I am a XXXX of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I was injured and unable to work some years ago, so I was forced to file XXXX XXXX Bankruptcy in XXXX. That XXXX was nalized by the XXXX XXXX XXXX California in XXXX. All three of my Parent Loans with Sallie Mae were listed in that Bankruptcy, but none were ever noticed to me that they would be XXXX. However, in recent years, with the XXXX XXXX and XXXX. of XXXX XXXX XXXX, there were retroactive discharge of private student loans for those who had incurred loans and had eligible Bankruptcy filings XXXX. I was such a person who fell into the grandfathered timeline. I didn't even know this until Sallie Mae reached out to me -- in XXXX!!! Can you believe it, Sallie Mae sent me letters ( which I have ready to attach to this claim ) which lay out the XX/XX/XXXX notices of XXXX of the XXXX Parent Loans, which were scheduled for discharge. And believe it or not -- Sallie Mae ( unsolicited by XXXX whatsoever ) offered in subsequent letters ( which we have to attach ) which offered to automatically send us a check for the monthly payments that we had been making for the last 4 years on these loans- even after I filed the bankruptcy in XXXX, so Sallie Mae sent us back XXXX large checks for the payments made for XXXX of the XXXX loans. 

However, XXXX specific account of the XXXX Parent Loan accounts was not getting these letters, and that was an issue that we formally prepared in XX/XX/XXXX and sent a letter ( which we are also prepared to attach for review to this claim ) that stated the entire breakdown of the issue at hand -- XXXX account should not be excluded whatsoever, given that all three loans were taken out with identical circumstances. It was purely an administrative issue, which we were yet to figure out, but it made no sense why one was not treated like the other XXXX. And it took Sallie Mae XXXX attempts on our part -- over 6 months time -- with no luck until mid XX/XX/XXXX, when we found out that the third loan was not also XXXX MERELY because a mistake was made by the agent who processed the application over the phone -- XXXX check box was accidentally checked off by that Sallie Mae phone agent. The box happened to be " Will The Student Loan Proceeds Go Toward the Educational Expenses of a Dependent Student Who You Claim on Your Annual IRS XXXX XXXX. '' As stated above -- this was absolutely not true of my relationship with my 35 year-old son ( his age at the time the loans were taken out ). Without this mistake of an errant checked off box, the loan would otherwise have been automatically XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX, we received letters from Sallie Mae that XXXX of my XXXX accounts were being XXXX due to Bankruptcy ( the XXXX ending in XXXX and XXXX ). My son phoned customer service at Sallie Mae earlier this month, given that I have made him information eligible on my Sallie Mae Accounts, he spoke to them in XX/XX/XXXX, and was told that they had no information other than to wait for the third account ( XXXX ) to also be tagged for discharge. Still today, though, that account ( ending in XXXX ) is still showing due for payment. It is drastically past due. We stopped making payments when we learned our loans would all discharge. This failure -- to not discharge -- was a mistake, because all three loans were taken out in XXXX, prior to my XXXX Ch. XXXX XXXX. 

However, account number XXXX is listed as still requiring an active monthly payment, while the other XXXX accounts have been shut down, already complete with the XXXX discharge by Sallie Mae and the full refund of payments since the XXXX. We have the XXXX checks in hand. 

Included in that bankruptcy ling were all XXXX of my Sallie Mae accounts. Bankruptcy rules prevented these XXXX accounts from initially being XXXX, so I continued to make the monthly payments on these accounts, through the last payments made in XX/XX/XXXX. 

We need your help please to ( XXXX ) ensure that account number XXXX is added to the other XXXX accounts for bankruptcy discharge, and ( XXXX ) request through the necessary channels at Sallie Mae to process a FULL REFUND of all payments made since the bankruptcy was effectively led and XXXX. Just as was completed already of the other XXXX Parent Loans accounts that were taken out in identical circumstances. 

We originally sent these details with our offer to be happy to send more-formal legal correspondence, if Sallie Mae XXXX not reply by Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX. I would start by sending certied mail to XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, DE XXXX, United States, Attn : Legal Dept, c/o XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Which I did. A copy of that XXXX email, attached. 

We spent months getting letters that put down our inquiries with no details and no offer to dig any further ( all attached ). Our tax returns ( attached ) from XXXX to XXXX ( attached ) from my own tax returns and my son 's tax returns ( ALL INDEPENDENTLY FILED BY EACH OF XXXX ), clearly shows that we were not in any dependent relationship and had no benefit of marking XXXX of our XXXX accounts as such, it was merely an administrative error, since we processed these loan applications all by phone. 

Finally on XX/XX/XXXX, WHICH IS JUST 6 DAYS AFTER I DRAFTED AND SUBMITTED THIS COMPLAINT TO THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, Sallie Mae sent me this correspondence on XX/XX/XXXX ( all attached )- which said in pertinent part, the most unhelpful and almost predatory threats if I did not pay ( despite openly admitting that -- but not for some silly admisnitrative checkbox error, my loan would be XXXX and refunded -- rather than the severe credit-destroying status that the loan is in now ). Here is there key responses : FROM SALLIE MAE XX/XX/XXXX -- -- -- - Based on a recent change in policy and a review of the previous bankruptcy case filed in XXXX, the Parent Loans ending in XXXX and XXXX are eligible for discharge because the student was not listed as a dependent at the time of application. 

The applicant indicated the student was a dependent, however, on the application for Parent Loan ending in XXXX. Because the loan proceeds were used to pay the cost of attendance of the dependent-student at a XXXX XXXX eligible institution, this loan is a qualified education loan. It therefore does not qualify for discharge and XXXX XXXX will remain responsible for repayment of this loan. We apologize that this was not explained to you during your call with us in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Loan ending in XXXX is severely delinquent and has been reported as such to the consumer reporting agencies. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as a data furnisher, we are required to report accurate and complete information and prohibited from altering accurately reported delinquent information. This loan is at risk of defaulting and we encourage XXXX XXXX to contact our Customer Service XXXX XXXX at XXXX to discuss options to resolve this debt. 

END OF SALLIE MAE MESSAGE FROM XX/XX/XXXX. 

As you can see, these horrible scenarios never cease in the world of poor old ladies like me. I hope you can assist and strike this status to an INDEPENDENT STUDENT STATUS RETROACTIVELY ON THE LOAN. Then the loan should go into an immediate discharge and return of all the years of payments -- treated just as the rest of our accounts were, as they all should have been treated. We need their immediate action. 

Thank you.

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