HELP being penalized! not my fault

[Anonymous]

So...

Long story short:

I had 75k in student loans. I went to school for one last semester, and that new loan was  tacked onto Navient Dept. of Education (the same bank).

They reported my balance at 75k originally, and now up to 90k. Now, I'm being penalized because my balance is higher than when it first started.

What can I do about that? That's not fair that my installment balance went up and I'm getting penalized for it because they merged an account with theirs. 

What's the solution?

[SCF]

From what you are saying, the loan is reporting with an "original balance" of $75k and a "current balance" of $90k, is that right?  Can you post the details from the tradeline with your account #/anything else personally identifying removed?

Usually, each student loan is its own tradeline.  Most people wind up with one loan for each year (in which case that tradeline represents multiple disbursements for each quarter or semester), but sometimes the loans are issued each semester.

[Anonymous]

Correct.

Loan balance was 75k, now currently 95k. 

Not sure what you mean about removal? I know the loan is mine...but I'm frustrated, because since they tacked the new loan on the balance, it appears as if I'm being penalized for an increased balance on an installment loan.

Shouldn't the new loan tacked on be separated out as a new installment loan? That way as I pay them down, it looks like I'm making progress vs. having increased balances, thus lowering my score.

[SCF]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Correct.

Loan balance was 75k, now currently 95k. 

Not sure what you mean about removal?

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What I was hoping is that you would be willing to post the loan information for the tradeline you have questions about with any personal information or account numbers redacted to preserve your privacy.  That way we can see exactly what's reporting.

[Anonymous]

Last Reported

Dec 31, 2015

Creditor Name

DPT ED/NAVI

Account Type

Student

Account Status

Open

Opened Date

May 01, 2013

Closed Date

--

Limit

--

Term

360 Months

Monthly Payment

$0

Responsibility

Individual

Balance

$74,761

Highest Balance

$63,840

Payment Status

Current

Notice the original balance $63,840....

Then the actual balance is significantly higher (due to another account they tacked onto it).

CreditCheckTotal is claiming that because the balance is significantly higher than when it first opened, that I'm being penalized.

[SCF]

It's not actually all that uncommon for people with student loans to have this situation.  Many people accrue interest while they are in school (and not paying on the loans) which is capitalized once the loan enters repayment.  This can cause a similar increase in the total balance vs. the original amount borrowed.  You can find some threads around these forums outlining the score effects of installment utilization, and while it certainly is a factor, I'd be surprised if you are losing all that many points over it.  This won't raise any flags for anyone manually looking at your report (like a recon for a credit card) because it's not uncommon for recent grads.

It is interesting that the $63K figure is described as "highest balance" which isn't true.  I wonder if it will update at some point since you've now got a higher balance.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Making payments will solve it, and build the other aspects of your credit (age, good payment history).