Sallie Mae Is Under Attack for the way it treats Student Loan Holders

[truedelphi]

Last edited Mon Dec 16, 2013, 10:24 PM - Edit history (1)

After participating in a discussion here on student loans, I got some interesting information.

According to a fellow DU'er: basically if you have a student loan, and the amount of money that is demanded of you is far beyond your ability to repay it, then you should apply for the IBR method of paying. (IBR is income based related method of calculating the payment.)

So for instance, if Sallie Mae wants you to pay $ 1,000 a month, and you are living on just $ 400 after rent, groceries and taxes, they can divert your loan to an IBR determination, and maybe then, IF YOU ARE APPROVED of receiving IBR status, you might only be required to pay $ 220 a month.

I was astounded to find out that the spouse had requested this IBR designation six months ago, and after filling out the paperwork, and waiting for the answer, the answer came some weeks ago. Nothing was said by Sallie Mae about whether he did or didn't qualify for the IBR. But the new amount that was quoted was identical to the old amount. And so it remained quite unaffordable.

Also, there is no way to talk to a live person about any of this. You can email the various email addresses available, and that is what I will be doing over the next week.

Now I have discovered a rather recent Huffington Post article about the matter of how Sallie Mae is acting with regards to those citizens it supposedly serves. Apparently even the Consumer Finance Bureau is investigating good ol' Sallie Mae.

So much of this is reminiscent of the various schemes and maneuvers utilized by our fine friends in the Banking Community with regards to foreclosing on mortgage holders, that I can't help but thinking that Eric Holder's philosophy of "Too Big To Jail Is Too Big To Fail" is one of the runaway Hit Songs of the Obama era.

There no longer needs to be any customer service, or any accountablility, or any actual guidelines, nor does there seem to be any recourse if you don't know why you do or don't qualify. In life in the New USA of Big Agencies and Corporations, if you are a "mere consumer" you simply must suffer the consequences.

Link to the Huff Pro article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/sallie-mae-student-debt_n_3839243.html

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[truedelphi]

2. More complaints than any other business or agency

That is a statement made about debt collectors, and many of the complaints have to do with student loan collections -

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-26/obama-relies-on-debt-collectors-profiting-from-student-loan-woe.html

181,000 Complaints

Debt collectors are the subject of more complaints to the Federal Trade Commission than any other industry -- almost 181,000 last year. Within the past 17 months, three companies working for the Education Department -- including one that is majority owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s private-equity arm -- settled federal or state allegations of abusive debt collections. The companies didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing, and Chase declined to comment. The Education Department said the government investigations didn’t involve the companies’ work for the agency.

[truedelphi]

3. And Sallie Mae is proud member of Alec!

Besides all the other goodies about it, note the point 8 below

http://www.studentlabor.org/2013/05/17/the-top-10-things-you-dont-know-about-sallie-mae/

8. Sallie Mae is one of the newest members of the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).xx In November 2012, Sallie Mae gave a presentation at an ALEC conference called: “Best Practices for Debt Collection and Tax Amnesty.xxi” ALEC has been widely criticized for promoting controversial legislation such as voter ID laws, “right-to work” laws, and pro-gun “stand your ground” laws.xxii It faced widespread public attention and criticism in 2012, when hundreds of corporations ended their ties with ALEC – the same year that Sallie Mae joined the extremist group.xxiii