Recourse against private student loan owner?

[smj887u]

I'm actually asking this on behalf of my girlfriend, who has found herself in a bit of a struggle.

Several years ago she took out a private loan through a company called My Rich Uncle (sounds legit, I know). That company went under, and her loans were then bought by a company called Younomics. That loan is serviced by UAS. She made several attempts to get the account put into some sort of forbearance, as she's still in training at her job and being paid a comparitively low wage to what she'll eventually make. Communication channels with the companies are extremely difficult, with Younomics not even providing a contact number and UAS advising her that she needs to contact Younomics to discuss forbearance optinos. So she's forced to exchange emails with the company.

During her emails back and forth, her account made it to 29 days delinquent. Figuring that it would report at 30 days, I loaned her the ~$120 for her to make the reduced payment plan offered through the website.

A week later, though, the payment still hasn't come out of my bank account. Today, she received a notice of default from UAS. She saved the confirmation of the payment being received, and also took a screenshot of the confirmation page. I'm just not sure what options we have for recourse. With almost no way to reasonably communicate with the company that owns the loan, disputing the balance seems difficult, if not impossible. Disputing it with the credit bureaus seems like it would help, but wouldn't provide any protection against the late fees that will accumulate on the account while it's still seen as delinquent.

As far as my knowledge goes, I've almost exhausted every idea I have on what to do from here. Does anyone here have advice on what to attempt next?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I see you don't have any replies and would like to bump this post... I am in a similar situation with Younomics; I just have not yet made a payment yet because the whole company just seems shady to me. I also cannot find any way to contact them except for e-mail; I am working with a credit repair company but they suggest I pay the loan while they remove the months and months of negative charges on my credit report (even though I just received something from YouNomics a few weeks ago). To the original poster; did anything ever happen with your girlfriend's situation? Does anyone else have any input on the situation?

[Anonymous]

Hello... I am in a similar situtation where I did take out a loan a very long time ago when I was in my last year of undergrad... anyway I took out a loan for $5k... I put it in "deferment" status as I was attending law school... just recently they have been sendng me emails that I am past due for payment... I called them... they said my loan is now at close to $9,000... I was confused because I thought when you put your loans on hold they also stopped interest from accruing... I guess not...

Anyway... I hate this company because after I graduated from undergrad I wasn't working at any high paying job and was making montly payments for about a year and a half or two years before I went to law school at $70 a month... when I called recently and complained that my loan is at $9k asking what happened to my $70/mo payment the guy said "you've never made a payment on this loan"... UM EXCUSE ME???

When I called after undergrad the guy said to me: "you're a loser you don't even have a job to make payments on this loan??" ... I was utterly shocked ... I should have asked to speak to his supervisor and complained and gotten him fired, etc... I guess my point is... when I called recently which is four or five years later the guy I spoke to was JUST AS RUDE as the person before... I'm wondering if there is any type of forum I can go on and complain about them-- also be warned before you call because this is how this company treats people.

Here is the number for the person who asked: 1800-723-2210.

Any updates about this company ?? And their horrible customer service... going to speak to my lawyer coworkers and find out if there is any type of cause of action to bring in terms of the person above and their payments not going through and mine about how "I've never paid on this loan before" ... it's pretty easy to request from your checking account any payments that were made so I'm surprised they think playing games in terms of money/paying online/etc is going to pan out...

[SCF]

The only loans which do not accrue interest while in deferment/forbearance are subsidized federal loans.  I've never heard of it with any type of private loans.

You can certainly file a complaint with the company about the way you were treated, you could also lodge a complaint with the BBB if you feel that would be appropriate.  There's a good reason most of us here shun private student loans, and your experience is a great example.  These loans don't have the same type of protections as federal loans, and since they are not secured, lenders can get aggressive quickly if they sense you aren't able to pay to motivate you to make paying them back a top priority.

Get your documentation together, prom note, any information about the original deferments and when payments started to be due again.  Also get documentation of the payments you did make.  If escalating with the company doesn't get you to someone who can explain how your payments were applied, and how the loan balance got where it is to your satisfaction, you're probably right, it's time to involve a lawyer.