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wernox posted:I went through a loan rehab with NCO and have been in good standing for more than a year. It was my understanding the negatives from Sallie Mae would be pulled from my credit reports when I completed the rehab, but they are still showing up on two of the three and in various forms (one lists 5 loans, the other only 1, for example). At this point, most of this stuff is 3 or more years old. In my experience with SLM, they won't help remove negatives unless it's in writing. And even then you pretty much have to force it down their throats.
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May 6, 2012 23:47
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So, I finally stopped taking classes long enough that I'm no longer half time and decided to get everything together so I can call in and do a consolidation application this week. However, I've slacked too much and my grace period ends on May 31 and I can't afford the minimum right now (I'd be going on IBR/equivalent once consolidation is through). What's the best thing to do in this case (I'm assuming the consolidation won't have gone through by then)? Forbearance?
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May 9, 2012 05:11
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First time posting in here and really quite distressed. I'm about to graduate from undergrad, with almost 40k in federal loans and 23k in private loans, which I obviously regret. 1) If I do the standard repayment plan for the federal loans, my monthly payments will be $428.51. Graduated repayment would entail ~$300, which looks a lot more manageable. The federal loans have been taken out over the course of four years, and appear to be broken up into 11 mini-loans, almost all of which are unsubsidized (just one is subsidized. I don't know why.). Is there any reason that I should consider consolidating these? 2) Private loans. I have one from Chase, one from Sallie Mae, and one from MEFA. I'd like to knock these out first, and as quickly as possible. I've been paying Sallie Mae already (about $60 a month) but they only are accepting the minimum $30 and are queuing up the additional payments. It's really frustrating because the interest continues to accrue and they refuse to apply the payments I send when I send them. I called today and despite finally getting a real person, I was confused into just saying, "Okay, thanks for your help, bye," even though I received no help. Does anyone know how I could get through to them, or do I need to provide more information? All in all, it looks like my monthly payments will total around $800 and I am scared as hell. I'm now pretty sure I'll have to move back in with my folks and I'm dreading it but it's the only financially responsible thing to do. I'm pursuing a teaching career and I know that there are ways to get loans forgiven through teaching but I don't think I can make it on my own with these expenses, despite living a modest and frugal lifestyle. Sorry, this post got a little too e/n.  Basically--what would you do if you were me?
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May 9, 2012 20:23
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Hope someone can help guide me re: my wife's med school loans. She is in voluntary forbearance until July 13 for the Sally Mae Federal and Private Loans, and until March 13 of next year for the Department of Education Federal Loans. When she is to begin payment, for the Sally Mae Loans her monthly payments under standard repayment are scheduled to be: FFELP Loans: $273.01 per month Private Loans: $810.84 per month and for the Department of Education Federal Loans: FFELP Loans: $1,729.98 per month Direct Loans: $1,273.70 per month So, a total of $4,087.53 per month. Affordable if she was making six figures. Not so much with her resident salary under $50,000 for the next 3 years beginning this July. By my calculations, after rent/utilites/groceries/etc. we will have only around $1,000 per month to spare. Not enough to cover these standard loan repayments. Please for the love of God tell me all her loans other than the 2 private are eligible for IBR. If so, how would we go about getting her into IBR? Do they need to be consolidated, or since everything is online through Sally Mae, will that not be necessary? Also, Sally Mae's dumb website refuses to provide any paperwork for IBR. If I click on "lower your payment" under her account, I get nothing about IBR. Will she have to call them? Should she do so now? Is working with them going to be hard? Here are her loans as listed by Sally Mae website: (Loan --- First Disbursement Date --- Principal Balance --- Interest Rate) Sally Mae Loans (Federal and Private): Signature Student Loan (Private) --- Jan. 1, 2008 --- $41,000 --- 4.25% Signature Student Loan (Private) --- Aug 21, 2008 --- $52,000 --- 7.75% Stafford --- Jan. 9, 2008 --- $8,500 --- 6.8% Stafford --- Jan. 9, 2008 --- $15,000 -- 6.8% Department of Education Federal Loans: Stafford --- Aug 21, 2008 --- $8,500 --- 6.8% Stafford --- Aug 21, 2008 --- $15,000 -- 6.8% Stafford --- Apr 23, 2009 --- $4,000 --- 6.8% Stafford --- Apr 23, 2009 --- $7,000 --- 6.8% Stafford --- Jan 22, 2010 --- $8,500 --- 6.8% Stafford --- Jan 22, 2010 --- $14,000 -- 6.8% Graduate Plus Loan --- Apr 23, 2009 --- $26,000 --- 8.5% Graduate Plus Loan --- Jan 22, 2010 --- $54,000 --- 8.5% DL Sub --- Aug 21, 2010 --- $8,500 --- 6.8% DL Sub --- Apr 25, 2011 --- $4,000 --- 6.8% DL Unsub --- Aug 21, 2010 --- $13,000 -- 6.8% DL Unsub --- Apr 25, 2011 --- $6,000 --- 6.8% DL Grad Plus --- Aug 21, 2010 --- $53,000 --- 7.9% DL Grad Plus --- Apr 25, 2011 --- $16,000 --- 7.9% Also, as long as I'm asking about hers, I just graduated law school. My loans are all serviced by direct loans and all federal, so I'm assuming I won't have any trouble getting into IBR. We filed married filing separately for 2011, so they won't double dip and count both our incomes towards our repayments, right? Also we had a son in January. Right now I plan for her to claim him on her married filing separate return for 2012 to reduce her tax and loan repayment liability. My income will likely be zero or close to it(stay-at-home dad). My income for 2011 was only $2,500, she had none. Has there been any change made so that we should file jointly going forward? I remember when I first went to law school, if you did that you'd get screwed on the IBR payment calculation. Is this still the case? Thanks in advance for any guidance. This is all confusing and like a huge weight on my shoulders.
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May 9, 2012 20:59
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Im a Sad Panda, I haven't heard anything bad about ACS but I'm not an employee there. I can say that they legally cannot prevent you from making multiple payments a month, you may pay as much as you want at any time. Are you sure the website prevents that? Vladimir Putin, probably not. Reporting happens at 30 days at the earliest (a lot of servicers wait longer). However if you had any incentives, they might've been revoked. You'd need to call and see. wernox, the negative reporting does not go away. The default status is removed, which helps, but negative reporting stays for at least 7 years on a credit report. mute, that or a deferment. You can talk to your servicer about what you qualify for. I would recommend temporary hardship forbearance because it's renewed when you consolidate. Just be careful about accruing interest. Count Harper, consolidation is more for people who can't afford the payments. It wouldn't hurt, you can still pay as much as you like and it might decrease your payments further on a monthly basis, but if you can afford payments without consolidation that would help you better in the long run. You should contact someone like Wells Fargo about getting your private loans consolidated. Unfortunately those are far less forgiving. One strategy I've heard is to put your federal loans on deferment/forbearance for a couple of years to pay the hell out of your private loans (watch out for accruing interest), then start slamming the federal loans when you have to. It's not ideal but it might help to focus more on the privates for a while. Also, if you're aiming for Teacher Loan Forgiveness, make sure to brush up on the requirements and qualifications. And take a gander at the public service forgiveness program too. Boosted_C5, you guys might want to get her stuff consolidated first. Then check up on a residency forbearance for them (they exist). Also get those private loans consolidated if you can. And finally, yes she should qualify for IBR but she would need to contact her servicer for specifics. Since you filed Married Filing Separately they will take only her income into account. As long as your income remains low there's nothing hurting you by filing jointly, but if you start to have a significant income file separate if you want to keep them from taking both incomes into account.
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May 10, 2012 00:53
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I apologize if this has been answered, but who the gently caress is MOHELA and why do they suddenly own my Direct Loans? (More importantly, is there anything I should know about dealing with them? I was just on an electronic debit auto-pay before.)
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May 11, 2012 19:28
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MOHELA is just a servicer, http://www.mohela.com/ . Honestly my company doesn't have many dealings with them but I've never heard horror stories about them. You'll need to contact them about your autodebit, chances are you'll need to sign up again.
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May 11, 2012 23:14
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I just got an email this afternoon informing me that my direct loan has been transferred to MOHELA, and that I should begin remitting payment to them instead of the Department of Education. This seems to be on the up-and-up, but I'm hoping there are some people here that have already gone through this and can share some experiences? One blog post I found said some people have had problems with payments being applied on time, and things like interest rates and repayment plans being changed. I consolidated my loans as soon as I graduated and have a really low fixed interest rate, and I'm going to be pretty pissed if they try to increase it. e: Heh, searched for MOHELA before posting but I guess the search thinger takes a while to index new posts or something. stubblyhead fucked around with this message at 01:53 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 01:50
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No problem!  Apparently MOHELA has recently converted a large chunk of borrowers to their system. I would say try logging in to their website if you have your new account number and check on your information, then sign up for autodraft if you were before (it probably didn't carry over).
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May 12, 2012 02:46
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Wiggy Marie posted:Im a Sad Panda, I haven't heard anything bad about ACS but I'm not an employee there. I can say that they legally cannot prevent you from making multiple payments a month, you may pay as much as you want at any time. Are you sure the website prevents that? I'm not 100% sure. The website says one free payment every 30 days, you also have the option to mail them a payment. The system is really terrible and it takes forever to log in.
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May 12, 2012 04:04
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It sounds like they might charge for more than one online payment, which is weird but I guess possible. But you can mail payments at any time. I have my loans set up in my billpay through my bank so I can mail random payments when I want to.
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May 12, 2012 13:17
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Wiggy Marie posted:Technically the FAFSA can help with summer aid. If the school goes Fall-Winter-Summer, then any funds that haven't been used during Fall and Winter are available for summer use. If the school goes Summer-Fall-Winter, then the new aid year can be covered by the current FAFSA. You should have the person check first to see if any aid is still available/could be made available, and then they will be left with the option of a private loan with a cosigner who is not their parent. So She tried to get a private loan and they told her, that her school wasn't available for this? I have never heard of such a thing? She is going to call them Monday, but is this actually a thing?
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May 13, 2012 13:51
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Actually - the MOHELA thing worked itself out rather nicely yesterday. On the 11th, I got a really terse e-mail from the Direct Loan program that basically just said "Hey, your loans are MOHELA now. Go talk to them about payments. Don't be late on your payments. We do not provide contact information." (Paraphrased, but that was the gist of it.) On the 12th, a much more detailed snail-mail letter from MOHELA showed up in my mailbox explaining that all my regular auto-debits, etc, were being maintained. I have a new address for check payments, but everything else stays the same otherwise. Thanks again, Wiggy Marie! Pardon my initial panic; the first e-mail I received from the DL program could not have been any less helpful.
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May 13, 2012 14:28
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fyallm, yes it is. It's not super common but schools have the option of not taking private loans, just like they have the option of not participating in the Direct program. I would still call, there's no telling if they misunderstood what she's looking for and gave incorrect information. Sundae, good! Also, Direct is ridiculous. It wouldn't even be hard to provide contact information, it's right there in the NSLDS or on the servicer's website. SERVICE!!!
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May 13, 2012 16:38
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Wiggy Marie posted:fyallm, yes it is. It's not super common but schools have the option of not taking private loans, just like they have the option of not participating in the Direct program. I would still call, there's no telling if they misunderstood what she's looking for and gave incorrect information. I know she has taken a little private loans out before. So if they say it isn't available is she just screwed out of taking summer classes? This means she will have to postpone graduating a whole year due to class offerings
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May 13, 2012 19:24
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Unfortunately the only loans available are federal and private.
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May 13, 2012 22:31
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Um, since when is a 795 credit score not enough to qualify for private student loans? edit: do you HAVE to have income in order to get loans these days? abagofcheetos fucked around with this message at 04:15 on May 15, 2012 |
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May 15, 2012 04:07
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Nevermind, I forgot what the "direct" in direct loan meant.
El Mero Mero fucked around with this message at 23:51 on May 15, 2012 |
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May 15, 2012 22:54
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abagofcheetos posted:Um, since when is a 795 credit score not enough to qualify for private student loans? Most private loans have gotten hard core in their criteria, so if the one you're applying for requires income, then yes. As for the credit score, I know of loans which require a 750, but it's possible the one you're trying for requires an 800 score.
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May 16, 2012 01:33
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Wiggy Marie posted:Most private loans have gotten hard core in their criteria, so if the one you're applying for requires income, then yes. As for the credit score, I know of loans which require a 750, but it's possible the one you're trying for requires an 800 score. I am finding this out. I applied to both PNC and Sun Trust (PNC were the ones that told me I had a 795), and both denied me immediately on (lack of) employment alone. Which makes no sense, but don't get me started. I think I will have to resort to my parents cosigning, which I hate because this isn't their problem. Anyone happen to know any employment lenient private issuers?
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May 16, 2012 02:39
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That sucks! I'm not personally familiar with any private lenders, but you could try a search on https://www.simpletuition.com to see if any pull up that can help you.
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May 17, 2012 00:35
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I have a question about consolidation. I got an email from Sallie Mae with an offer to consolidate all of my loans with them into direct loans. This seems like a decent program, but will I be able to still get in-school deferment after I consolidate?
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May 17, 2012 17:35
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Despite the interest rate raise, loans created before July 1, 2012 still hold their original interest rates, right? I hope so. Also, is there anything special I'd need to do to pay off a loan completely? I have a small amount of federal loans, and I'm pretty close to being able to pay them off in full. Trying to get rid of them before I decide whether to go to grad school.
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May 17, 2012 19:06
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CHARLES, yes you can. It just depends on whether you're enrolled at least half-time or not. Also, you would lose the 6 month grace period on consolidated loans, if you haven't already. purpleandgold, loans that were originated after 2008 have fixed interest rates regardless of how the federal rates rise/fall. If you have older loans, they will change to a different rate every July 1st unless you consolidate. Before you pay off a loan, make sure to call the servicer and get a payoff quote so that you cover any accrued interest. Otherwise, nope! If you're paying off the balance you can just submit the quoted amount and be done with them!
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May 18, 2012 00:03
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Is there any way to get a lower interest rate on Gradplus loans besides consolidation?
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May 18, 2012 18:11
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Wiggy Marie posted:CHARLES, yes you can. It just depends on whether you're enrolled at least half-time or not. Also, you would lose the 6 month grace period on consolidated loans, if you haven't already. One other question about consolidation. On the Direct consolidation application there's this clause: "If I consolidate my loans, I may no longer be eligible for certain deferments, subsidized deferment periods, certain types of loan discharges or loan forgiveness, or reduced interest rates that were available on the loans I am consolidating." Is there a standard list of deferments or forgiveness programs that get lost in a consolidation process that I should be wary of waiving by consolidating?
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May 18, 2012 18:25
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It is looking like I'm going to have to take out about $18K a year in private loans (this the amount i got from scholarships, federal loans and grants, from tuition, board, etc) so I can go to school. Should I not even bother and find another way?
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May 19, 2012 07:22
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Mons Hubris, that would actually increase your rate unless you have other loans with lower rates to consolidate them with. Otherwise no, there's no other way except incentives, such as a .25% rate reduction for using autodebit to make your payments. CHARLES, off the top of my head I'm pretty sure that Teacher Loan Forgiveness is one of the programs lost. Otherwise I'm not sure, if there's a specific one you wanted to ask about I suggest you call Direct and specifically ask. MSPaintClock, yes. There's got to be somewhere cheaper. That much in private loans would bury you forever unless you're going for a high-paying degree.
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May 19, 2012 19:52
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Wiggy Marie posted:MSPaintClock, yes. There's got to be somewhere cheaper. That much in private loans would bury you forever unless you're going for a high-paying degree. I'm going for a music education degree but I plan on joining the military to play in their bands. Doing this, I can do something related to my field while be able to pay off my student debt. I want the degree to give me a job after I'm out of the service and the degree would also give me the experience needed in order to join the bands. Is this is a bad plan? I think as long as I can get the military job, I would be in the clear. I think I can do this, as long as I don't deviate from plan I should be fine right? MSPaintClock fucked around with this message at 21:30 on May 19, 2012 |
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May 19, 2012 21:25
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I think it's a good goal, but I'd hunt for a place where you wouldn't need private loans to get your degree. Have you considered getting the degree post-military?
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May 19, 2012 22:46
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Do I have ACS? Direct Loans? gently caress if I know. Whoever runs https://www.myedaccount.com is completely incompotent. Kwik-pay (automated payments) doesn't even work. They email me today saying I have a new message. I log in, there is no message. Instead I see May's kwik-pay never actually went through, even though I CALLED THEM last month and was assured everything was working correctly. What the gently caress. So I make a manual payment. An hour later, I get home and log in again. Now it says I have EIGHT new messages, but can I actually read any of them? NO. They are "processing" and I have to check back later. All I can see is the subject line, which is "Your repayment plan is ending". Uh, what? It better loving not be.  Edit: Hahaha ok I called them. They told me they've "been trying to reach me" to tell me I need to resubmit my tax documents. When I asked why it tells me my auto-payment is $600 instead of the $300 it should be they told me that I don't actually owe anything until August due to the fact that my extra payments I've been making every month have just been pushing the due date back even though I always select the option to have it not do that. And of course, when I called them less than a month ago to ask why it said my payment was overdue even though I use auto-pay, they didn't tell me any of the above. 
Sirotan fucked around with this message at 23:08 on May 24, 2012 |
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May 24, 2012 22:47
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Sirotan posted:Do I have ACS? Direct Loans? gently caress if I know. Whoever runs https://www.myedaccount.com is completely incompotent. That's ACS. My loans were through them for a while, then they got transferred to EdFinancial. I thought I would have a better website to work with. Then I logged in, it's the same drat site. Turns out ACS does white-label loan administration. They sell the website, back-end systems, and probably even call centers to anyone who owns student loans.
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May 24, 2012 23:06
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Sirotan, when in doubt of your loan owners you can always check nslds.ed.gov as well. You'll need your FAFSA pin, and the PIN site is there if you can't remember it. Guy Axlerod, it's actually another servicer who sells their system behind the scenes. Shhhh.
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May 25, 2012 04:24
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http://www.acs-inc.com/cs_private_label_servicing_solution.aspx So you are saying ACS sells a system, but doesn't even use it?
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May 25, 2012 12:49
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My loans are about to go into their repayment period soon. However I'm feeling paranoid that I might not have all my loans kept track of. Every loan is required to be listed on the NSLDS right?
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May 25, 2012 16:02
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Manslaughter posted:My loans are about to go into their repayment period soon. However I'm feeling paranoid that I might not have all my loans kept track of. Every loan is required to be listed on the NSLDS right? Every loan except private loans, which you can pull your credit report to check. Guy Axlerod, they use it themselves if I'm not mistaken, although the company behind it isn't ACS. It's becoming a more popular system. I can't speak to the quality because I myself have not actually used it personally.
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May 25, 2012 23:46
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Sallie Mae is really infuriating. I had issues earlier this year setting up ACH auto-pay, but once that was hammered out my March and April payments worked fine. Now, I just received notice that I am delinquent by a day, despite the fact that my account still shows as being signed up for auto-debit. Is this only happening because my bill date is the 26th of the month and that fell on a Saturday this month? Should I initiate a payment now or wait to call on Monday (oops Tuesday!)? Am I risking taking a hit on my credit? Is it possible to consolidate my one federal stafford loan with a different servicer to lock in my low variable rate and get away from Sallie Mae? Sleipnir fucked around with this message at 17:26 on May 27, 2012 |
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May 27, 2012 17:01
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That's exactly what's happening, and I wouldn't worry about it unless the payment still doesn't go through on Tuesday. As for consolidation, maybe. You can only consolidate with Direct, and one of Direct's servicers is Sallie Mae, which means you could go through all that effort just to end up with the same servicer. If you can afford the payments, it's probably not worth it unless your rate is going to jump a lot.
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May 27, 2012 19:59
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Wiggy Marie posted:That's exactly what's happening, and I wouldn't worry about it unless the payment still doesn't go through on Tuesday. My current rate is 2.36%. Is there any reason for it go up significantly this year when it gets recalculated? I could pay the rest of it off now, but with my rate being that low I don't feel the need to.
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May 27, 2012 20:42
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Honestly, I haven't heard what the new rates are going to be yet. You might want to call and ask your servicer to see if they know yet.
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May 27, 2012 21:14
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