*new error in Sallie Mae reporting* WTH happened - why is FICO contradicting itself? Please help!

[Anonymous]

My partner just got off the phone with Lorraine from the Customer Advocate Unit.  She claimed that this was a mistake and that the person/office in charge of coding for the CRA did not know what they are doing.  She said that she would submit the change to the CRA today and that it could take up to 30 days to update but that she was putting a letter in the mail today stating that this was a Sallie Mae error.

I am working with Donna from the Customer Advocate Unit.  She said she was going to pull my credit report and call me back.  I'm going to have her fax me a letter.  Sine the Customer Advocate Unit is a small office I hope they are all getting together and talking about giving the same answer as Lorraine!

I'll update again after I speak with Donna.

[Anonymous]

I, too, talked to the SM Customer Advocate person Lorraine who confirmed that it was an issue with a bug in their coding and that it was going to be fixed this week.  However, and more importantly, she indicated that they might do this AGAIN and that it was their right to do so.  She indicated that the graduated payment plan was indeed a partial payment (not the full payment) and that they had the right to report that to the credit agencies. 

I asked her if they were disclosing to people when they sign up for graduated payment plans the fact that they would report them as partial payments that could negatively effect their scores and she said that she would have to investigate that.  I recommended that she do so and get their legal department involved because this has to be illegal.

MyFico folks report that they recognize this as an issue (they are getting LOTS of calls on this, as is Sallie Mae).

[Anonymous]

It's already been mentioned, but I got the same response this morning, confirming that this is considered an error and that they will be sending updates removing this code to Equifax and Innovis by the end of this week for ALL people affected.

I was also informed that they are now allowed by some new regulation to report this to credit bureaus if you are making anything other than Level payments. I didn't think to ask what precisely is allowing them to do this, if someone else could do that it would be great.

Finally, they seem to be unaware of the consequences of this coding so I volunteered at their request to be a guinea pig and send them a copy of the affected parts of my ScoreWatch report, 103 point drop, seriously delinquent notation and all.

[gary4872]

I also just got off the phone with the consumer advocacy group. The woman asked where I found the number for their office...they must be getting flooded with calls.

She advised that they were asked to start submitting this data. She further said that they were told that a graduated repayment plan would negatively affect people's scores; however, that they were going to fix the current coding error and send it to EQ by the end of the week.

I changed to regular payments on the phone with her just to avoid this hassle (and, hell, why not pay it off sooner?) Fortunately for me, I can afford to do so but can sympathize with those who cannot.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the process with Sallie Mae to convert the Grad 2 to a standard repayment term? That might be the only way out if this is going to be an ongoing issue.

[Anonymous]

WOW-

I don't have SM for my student loans-

But I do have the 2 year interest only option selected on my SL-

I however make payments X2 of this amount. 

My CR is marked "Principal deferred interest payment only" this is how SM should mark the account.

This is a standard payment option (as posted by another member) and it's crazy for SM to try an interpet it this way. 

[Anonymous]

Okay I read this thread and immediately started freaking out because I just consolidated two loans through Sallie Mae. So I pulled my credit report for Equifax and sure enough in the comment section it said "Arrangement made with credit grantor to make partial payments". So I called the 888 Customer Advocate number and talked to Lorraine. After she grilled me about how I got the number, she told me that those comments should be removed within the next week. I told her it is not right for Sallie Mae to promote their gradutate payment plans as legitimate plans and then report them as if I am a person who fell behind on payments and had to set up payment arrangements. She said she understood and the problem will be corrected. I just got pre-approved for a mortgage so this definitely needs to be corrected before I close in July.

[Anonymous]

That seems like a silly question to ask... the phone number is listed right on their website. And the regular outsourced callcenter can't even resolve the most basic issues, so...

[Anonymous]

This is true.  In addition to knowing nothing, I had to ask them to repeat themselves over and over because of poor english skills.  The Customer Advocacy personnel wouldn't be getting calls if they would pay attention to what their company is doing.  If they don't fix this, they can expect some more serious repercussions like class-action lawsuits, etc.  Fielding multiple calls from angry clientele is the least they can do.

[Anonymous]

Yes, number is right on the website. Although kind of hidden.


http://www.salliemae.com/about/corp_leadership/management/advocate.htm

Message Edited by Cannondale33 on 05-12-2008 07:59 AM