Consumer complaint received 2020-11-11
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: SLM CORPORATION (CA)

In the XXXX  years of college, I have family issue led to bad grade and didn't qualify for financial aid. I want to continue school so someone in financial aid office recommended me this loan company. It was from my school so I trusted it without checking any reviews. I applied via website, everything went smooth, the Salliemae never mention anything about principle rates or anything regarding the extra cost the hidden fee. Well. They told me to just pay {$28.00} at beginning for every months and I will have just little left after graduate which is a lie. My minimum requirement raise in the middle which now one {$32.00} and the other {$48.00} each months. And I didn't pay the minimum requirement, I paid {$100.00} or {$200.00} each month, more or even double and triple the amount written on the website. I borrow the first amount is {$5000.00} and was distributed on XX/XX/2018. From that, I paid more than it require {$100.00} every month. It doesn't mention any detail regard principle fees ( well, now I knew, because I graduated it, as a XXXX  graduate, this is a XXXX  and XXXX  knowledge ). Back to my story, The lenders clearly hide it requirement and only say that I need to pay {$32.00}. Therefore, I had been paying this amount throughout my college years. None of Salliemae ever mention me about the other " hidden '' fee. Same with my second loan, I borrow {$6700.00} on XX/XX/2018 for summer courses. Again, no principle fee were mention again. The only mention is my minimum fee {$48.00}. I has been paying on time expect for the time that I has family issues, losing a grandmother, who live in XXXX, ca ( about XXXX hour away ). Yet. During those time, Salliemae called my father, who's co-signed ( my grandmother is his mother ), my XXXX cousin, several uncles, aunts when I has no idea how did they have much information when I only give them one person contact as it requires. They called me everyday, every person, 1 day 12 times or even more. I work hard XXXX  jobs to meet up all bills payment as I have other loans and credit card bills and support my parents ( after missed the 2 month payment, I somehow has to pay {$300.00} or more because the XXXX interest, normal XXXX {$64.00} 2 month first loan, $ XXXX {$98.00} 2 months second loans, total would be {$160.00} ). Yet. They keep charging me interest. They claim that they can help me stop paying 6 month to solve my problem, but they will stills charged me interest 2 times a months. After recovering, we work hard to catch up all the payment from both loans. However, this pandemic has cause me losing my jobs, and my mom losing XXXX of her jobs. The only person working full time is my dad, who reponsbility for paying rent and all expenses. Yet. They charge me {$79.00} for one single recent late payment, and pulling my credit down again after I spend a whole year try to build up to mortgage a loans for house in future. The angriest is why do they to charge {$79.00} fee during this struggle time where a lot has given loans forgiveness. Sallie Mae claim they don't have loans forgiveness but has deferment loans. In my opinion, the deferment loans is the most XXXX  plan they ever making, as even they postpone my loans, I still get charged for interest 2 time every months. So what's the benefit of it? I will ended up drowning in those debt in next 6 months. It is either drowned now or later. And please remember, I paid both loans, 3 years until graduate. I suppose pay about half of them each loans. But now, for no reason, I ended up with more debts even though they took from me more than {$5000.00} in total because sometime I pay more than {$100.00} ( I thought it would help me done with the loan once I'm graduate ) that I made from 3 years up to date and still owe more than 3 years ago ( now I owe the first loan {$5000.00} - I borrow {$5000.00} from beginning, second loan is XXXX  XXXX borrow only {$6700.00} from beginning ). Where is all my payment that I made during those 3 years gone? What's the point of me paying in those years? Salliemae clearly try to scam us, students. As a result, I'm now a graduate in XXXX weeks, and in XXXX weeks if I didn't manage find a job, then I need to prepare to drown more in debt forever. Because Salliemae increase rate on graduate and add additional daily expenses valued into the loans. So for the rest of my life, I would need to become a puppet making money and give all to them. It is really unfair to keep adding rates and making student credit bad during this hard time. Also, I believe it was they scam me from very beginning that I paid 3 years and ended up in debt more than before with a bad credit along. How do all of students like me surviving in these time? And if we don't make payment, they will keep calling us, bugging family no where to escape. Does the federal government really want to see all of us committed XXXX  because of stressful? The covid already been stressful from both emotional and physical. And this will pull weighted stress into the next generation of US citizens.