Most student loans display a seperate loan depending on the number of dispersements that you have. Similar to you, I have about 14 different student loans showing up onmy credit report. During the ontime payment months, it shows that many loans as being paid ontime, so that is good news. Of course there is also this situation that you find yourself in. Here are some thoughts. Call and talk with FedLoan. If these are federal loans, there are some things they may be able to offer that you wouldn't normally have with a private student loan.
1. Were you in school during this period? If yes, they may be able to confirm a deferment during this time to remove the late payment from your reports as no payment would have been due.
2. Would you have qualified for some other type of forebearance? Take a look at their site to see what the rules are for this.
I would have that conversation with them to see what can be done. If you are having trouble making payments, then I would immediately do the following:
1. See if you qualify for an Income Based Repayment (IBR) Plan. This could lower your monthly payments.
2. Sign up for automatic payments. This typically will also reduce your interest rate by 0.25% thus lowering your monthly payment some
3. If you get a lump sum of money and you are able to pay off one of those individual loans, i.e. the one with the smallest balance, go into their website and make an EXTRA payment that month directly to that loan. As you pay off each of those little loans, your montly payment starts to decrease for the months moving forward. That will give you more breathing room each month.
Hope this helps.
Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830