Consumer complaint received 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: SLM CORPORATION
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting this complaint regarding Sallie Mae 's loan servicing practices, which have caused significant financial harm and misrepresentation of my account status. Despite my good faith efforts to resolve the issue, Sallie Mae has refused to take responsibility for their errors. Below is a detailed account of the situation : In XXXX, I requested a payoff statement from Sallie Mae to refinance my student loans with another lender. Sallie Mae provided a payoff amount, which was supposed to cover interest for the next ten business days. My lender then promptly paid in full within the timeframe. At that time, I then believed this payment satisfied my loan obligations with Sallie Mae, as they did not communicate otherwise. 

For the past XXXX years, I continued to receive monthly billing statements from Sallie Mae indicating a {$0.00} balance due. These emailed statements led me to believe my account had been fully paid off and closed. I assumed my account was still open and that these were routine emails. 

Recently, I noticed that my Sallie Mae account was still active on my credit report, prompting me to investigate. Upon logging into my account, I discovered an outstanding balance had accrued interest daily over the last XXXX years. Sallie Mae representatives informed me that, after my " large payment '' in XXXX, which was intended to be the payoff. approximately {$300.00} remained unpaid due to what they referred to as interest. However, the payoff amount was supposed to cover that. 

I was also informed that this remaining balance was treated as a " prepayment, '' and that is why Sallie Mae issued statements showing {$0.00} due each month, failing to alert me of the outstanding balance, which was never included on any of the emails. I never once received any communication explicitly stating an owed balance. 

I contacted Sallie Mae immediately on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, and offered to pay the original balance, as I was unaware of it due to their misleading statements. Sallie Mae refused this offer and demanded payment of the full balance, including XXXX years of accrued interest. 

Sallie Mae 's explanation that I should have logged in to check my account is unreasonable, given that their monthly emailed statements explicitly showed a {$0.00} balance due. As a borrower, I relied on the information provided in their official communications, which were materially misleading. 

The interest that has accrued over XXXX years could have been avoided had Sallie Mae properly communicated the remaining balance. Also, My credit report still shows an active Sallie Mae account, which affects my credit profile and may misrepresent my financial standing. 

I have attached a transcript of my most recent communication with Sallie Mae as well as a screenshot of the most recent billing statement that was sent to my email which shows {$0.00} due. The screenshot of the email does not contain any information about an owed balance. 

Thank you for considering my issue and thank you in advance for any help that the CFPB can provide.

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