If You have student loans from SALLIE MAE this is a must READ!!!

[jadeite788]

You must read this if you have student loans with Sallie Mae, or plan to have loans with this company.  The U.S.  Department of Education has failed us and has dropped the ball.  DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE OUT ANY LOANS WITH THIS COMPANY.  FORWARD THIS to as many people as possible, especially students and parents.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/education-sallie-mae_n_4428048.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp000005...

I knew they were crooked but this is getting out of hand.

[SCF]

I'm not surprised.  Federal student loans are complicated and governed by a host of rules that change on a regular basis - there will always be mistakes, and even from that article it's not quite clear if Sallie Mae is making an excessive number of them (perhaps deliberately for their own financial advantage?) or just doing an average job of managing a complicated portfolio.  I really do hope that the DoE and Congress pursue the issue, and in the process find ways to clarify and simply the rules so that the unintentional mistakes are minimized in the future.

I think the better take-away here though is not to avoid federal student loans just because you get Sallie Mae for your servicer - but instead to educate yourself, stay on top of your loans and your rights, and make use of the CFPB and the Student Loan Ombudsman to resolve any issues as they arise.  If anything, the more vigilant the borrowers, the more likely the policymakers will have the evidence they need to prosecute the deliberate infractions and fix the issues with the program.

[Rikku]

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@SCF wrote:

I think the better take-away here though is not to avoid federal student loans just because you get Sallie Mae for your servicer - but instead to educate yourself, stay on top of your loans and your rights, and make use of the CFPB and the Student Loan Ombudsman to resolve any issues as they arise. If anything, the more vigilant the borrowers, the more likely the policymakers will have the evidence they need to prosecute the deliberate infractions and fix the issues with the program.

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Agreed. While I think it's good that the issue is getting some attention, I also think that it is ultimately the borrower's responsibility to educate themselves on their rights and advocate for themselves when problems happen.

Personally, I've always had a great experience with Sallie Mae. My husband and I each have federal loans from undergrad and grad school, as well as an assortment of private loans from various lenders, and some of our loans have been transferred over the years. Between the two of us, we have a pretty wide range of SL experience - and Sallie Mae has always been our best lender to work with. Having experience with most of the alternatives, I very much prefer to work with Sallie Mae and would  recommend them.

That said, I am not surprised that they have the largest number of mistakes - they service the most federal SLs, so their rate of mistakes is proportionately larger.

[hodap2001]

I'm not surprised by the article; however, if you do take out Federal Student Loans, you do not have an option as to who your Federal Loan Servicer will be as they shuffel the student loan portfolio around numerous times. I am currently on my fourth Federal Loan Servicer...the only thing that stays the same is my monthly student payment amount, so you cannot avoid Sallie Mae - if you are assigned to them, you are assigned to them.

The only way to avoid Sallie Mae is to not tak out any Federal Student Loans or Private Student Loans. 

[Pat94108]

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@hodap2001 wrote:

I'm not surprised by the article; however, if you do take out Federal Student Loans, you do not have an option as to who your Federal Loan Servicer will be as they shuffel the student loan portfolio around numerous times. I am currently on my fourth Federal Loan Servicer...the only thing that stays the same is my monthly student payment amount, so you cannot avoid Sallie Mae - if you are assigned to them, you are assigned to them.

The only way to avoid Sallie Mae is to not tak out any Federal Student Loans or Private Student Loans. 

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When I got my student loans, I actually had the choice (thank god I didn't pick them lol) but it was around 2006 so I am assuming things have changed now since the banks no longer offer federal loans. Anyway, I am not surprised by the article, Sallie Mae is not trustworthy. Their practices are well-documented in the Student Loan Scam (A. Collinge)