Consumer complaint received 2024-11-12 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
In XXXX, I enrolled in a XXXX program at a university overseas to further my education. After much back and forth with the financial advisors at the university ( whom of which swapped often so I had to constantly repeat my requests ), I found that they no longer accepted overseas financial aid ( i.e. pell grants ) and federal student loans weren't accepted due to my institution being overseas. Due to the requirements of the student visa I was already granted upon receiving the XXXX  from the institution, I needed to pay the semester 's tuition upfront - around XXXX. Correspondence round this time wasn't given in a timely manner and tuition deadline was fast approaching. Ultimately, I was told my only option was a private loan with Sallie Mae as they were the only US company the school dealt with. 

Sallie Mae 's interest rates were astronomical, but I felt I had no choice as I couldn't pay the entire amount of tuition, health care upfront and support myself all at once. I went ahead with this for the entirety of my degree - final amount to pay back was XXXX. 

I worked as much as I was allowed to due to visa requirements. When XXXX began, I was stood down from my job due to the country 's strict covid restrictions. For nearly 2 years, the country was in lockdown and only essential businesses ran. I kept Sallie Mae up to date with my circumstances and asked repeatedly for options as it was the same year I would begin to pay back my loan. Their only option was to delay payments for a few months but made sure to disclose that the interest would still accrue. I obviously didn't want to do that as it didn't actually benefit me. Since my wife was considered essential, she continued to work. She ended up paying for all our personal bills - rent, utilities, food, etc. All the savings I had were put towards the loan payments. During a time of incredible hardship- Sallie Mae should be ashamed of themselves. 

Once I was allowed to return to work, I updated them again to ask for options as now my monthly payment had gone from {$300.00} to {$750.00}. At this time I was attempting to pay back both loans I had with them at the same time in order to make up for lost time during lockdown but the financial burden it put on me made it incredibly difficult. In addition to rent, utilities and food i also needed to pay for to survive, I had this looming debt hanging over me. I was often met with very little sympathy and felt completely hopeless for 2 years. Despite making my monthly payments, I felt like I never got anywhere with them. 

In XXXX, I was finally able to refinance and consolidate my XXXX loans from Sallie Mae with XXXX. My interest rate went from 21 % to 7 % and I've since been able to pay off 53 % of my balance. I'm much closer to financial freedom, no thanks to Sallie Mae. I continue to make my payments, often paying 3 times as much just to make up for the damage Sallie Mae has done. However, I can't ignore the fact that Sallie Mae absolutely took advantage of me during covid and my rare circumstance.

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