Sallie Mae Payments - split payment question

[Anonymous]

Hi

I just made a payment to Sallie Mae yesterday to one account through my bank.  Sallie Mae chose to split the payment between two loans (neither were actually due, they are still in grace period).  I should have almost paid off the one loan and they chose to keep it open.  I paid $650 toward the loan and they chose to only apply $200 to that account and $450 to another account.  Now when I'm out of grace next month, I still have two payments to make instead of just one.  

is this something they do often?  Why would they do that?  I'm beyond frustrated that they get to choose which loan I pay off first when I should be able to decide.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is standard practice and is cobered in their faq on web page. You have to send a check with very specific instructions. You have to specify which account you are paying and that the payment should be applied to the loan balance as opposed to prepaying and advancing the next payment. You may be able to call them and have them reapply the payment to your specifications.

[martinsoka17]

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@Anonymouswrote:
Yes, this is standard practice and is cobered in their faq on web page. You have to send a check with very specific instructions. You have to specify which account you are paying and that the payment should be applied to the loan balance as opposed to prepaying and advancing the next payment. You may be able to call them and have them reapply the payment to your specifications.

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This. Also, I'm not sure what their website is like, but I know on my Navient loans I can choose which exact loan to pay for and on principal or interest. If I pay $200, I can pay it across all my loans or to one or two or three, etc. 

Sidenote: my loans are in deferral due to my IBR, so I have been paying down my highest interest loans first while they're deferred - hence why I can pay on just one loan at a time while not paying on the others.