Consumer complaint received 2025-01-22 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: MS

Complaint narrative:
I graduated with my XXXX in XXXX but I just recently graduated with my XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, and Sallie Mae stated that my payments would be deferred except for one so I was making a payment towards one loan score starting graduate school and the entire time during graduate school. After graduating I received an email informing that payments were to be made in XXXX towards each payment I have with Sallie Mae. I then contacted Sallie Mae in regard to this matter because I was under the impression that my loans would be in deferment until 6 months after graduating but the representative stated that my payments were no longer eligible for deferment. I informed the representative that I am not able to make a payment on any of the loans that I have with them due to the high monthly amount requested from them. I asked if any repayment options were available and the representative stated that I do not qualify for any of the repayment options. 

The following month of XXXX, I contacted Sallie Mae to have my debit card removed from monthly auto enrollment to keep my account from falling into the negative. I did inform that representative that if I am able to make a payment on XX/XX/XXXX that I would. I then asked the representative how many days is a payment considered late before late fees are added on and she stated payment is considered late after 15 days. On XX/XX/XXXX, my payments had doubled and financially I wasnt able to make a payment. 

In mid XXXX, Sallie Mae contacted my mother while I was at work. My mother then contacted me and we engaged in a three way call with a representative from Sallie Mae. The representative asked my mother and I a slew of questions regarding income and personal expenses. The representative stated that the questions are to see which repayment programs I am eligible for. After answering the questions the representative informed my mother and I that I do not qualify for any of their repayment programs. The representative then asked my mother and I if we will have any increase in our income at the end of XXXX and we both replied no. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Sallie Mae stating, Your loan is critically past due and in danger of defaulting, but we want to help you avoid that. Based on your most recent billing statement, you may be eligible for a program that could get you back on track and lower your monthly payment by up to 21.0 %. And the following day I received another email from Sallie Mae that stated, We accidentally sent you an email on XX/XX/XXXX with the subject line XXXX, potential lower payment available. 
Go ahead and ignore it. Sorry if we caused any confusion! 

I have not spoken with Sallie Mae since that incident. But Sallie Mae has been contacting my family and partner concerning me making payments. 

Sallie Mae is very unprofessional and lack empathy when it comes to working with their customers to receive lower payments. I do not have a salary that allows me to make monthly payments that collectively exceed over {$1000.00}. My annual salary is less than {$45000.00} and with current economic conditions and my personal expenses ( Sallie Mae has on file ) making monthly payments to Sallie Mae is impossible.

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