topic Re: How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once? in Student Loans

How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 22:10:05 GMT

Hi all!

I'm planning to pay off a $4500 private student loan from Sallie Mae in a few month when i have the money, I'm still in school, it will be way before the repayment starts, but I want to get it out of the way. I saw on their facebook of all the horror story about people getting screwed by Sallie Mae when they send in a complete payment, Not sure if they are all true, but I better be careful, after all Sallie Mae control their private loan rules.

I know they have the website as a way to pay your loan, but to avoid their tricks can someone with eperience dealing with them give me some advices?

Also will my cosigner be required to do anything?

Thanks!

Re: How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once?

SCF — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 23:17:40 GMT

Does the website give you a pay-off amount that is good through a certain date? If not, you'll want to call and get a pay-off amount for a date that is far enough in the future that you can expect the payment to arrive by then. Sending that amount will ensure you don't wind up with a small amount of interest outstanding and have to make a second payment.

You will also want to make sure that the payment is applied to your principal balance, rather than just extending the payment due date. I would think this would happen automatically when the amount paid is enough to pay the loan off, but make sure you designate the payment that way, and then once it posts, make sure it was applied properly.

I would guess that most of the "horror stories" you've read relate to one of those two things. It would be very easy for a small amount to go unnoticed until it becomes past due and cause damage to your credit, or for the loan to be applied as future payments, allowing interest to continue to accrue and resulting in extra costs and possibly a past due amount in the future.

If you have concerns or something doesn't look right, call Sallie Mae to discuss it immediately and keep good documentation of everything related to the transaction, that way, if there is a mistake, you have the tools to get it corrected. You'll also want to stay on top of things until the loan shows fully paid and closed. Your co-signer should not need to do anything, but they may want to make sure the loan updates as closed/paid on their reports.

Re: How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 23:31:27 GMT

"You will also want to make sure that the payment is applied to your principal balance, rather than just extending the payment due date. I would think this would happen automatically when the amount paid is enough to pay the loan off, but make sure you designate the payment that way, and then once it posts, make sure it was applied properly."

How do I make sure of this? Do i add a payment note when paying online? Or it it better to call them and pay on the phone(not sure if Sallie mae have that)?

Most horror stories I read are for payments not applied to the princple, but counted as "future payment reserves".

Re: How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once?

SCF — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 23:37:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
"You will also want to make sure that the payment is applied to your principal balance, rather than just extending the payment due date. I would think this would happen automatically when the amount paid is enough to pay the loan off, but make sure you designate the payment that way, and then once it posts, make sure it was applied properly."

How do I make sure of this? Do i add a payment note when paying online? Or it it better to call them and pay on the phone(not sure if Sallie mae have that)?

Most horror stories I read are for payments not applied to the princple, but counted as "future payment reserves".

For my loans with Sallie Mae, when I go to make a payment, there is an option to either apply my extra payment to principal or to apply it to my next payment. If you can't find that option when you go to pay online, I would definitely call in and do the payment over the phone so it can be applied correctly. Then, once it does post, double check and call if your loan isn't showing paid/closed. They can change how the payment was applied if you alert them of the issue.

Re: How to pay off a Sallie Mae private loan at once?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 23:51:13 GMT

@SCF wrote:
For my loans with Sallie Mae, when I go to make a payment, there is an option to either apply my extra payment to principal or to apply it to my next payment. If you can't find that option when you go to pay online, I would definitely call in and do the payment over the phone so it can be applied correctly. Then, once it does post, double check and call if your loan isn't showing paid/closed. They can change how the payment was applied if you alert them of the issue.

Since I'm still in school, they are not giving me the options yet. I will call them to see if they can do payments on the phone. So Sallie Mae basicly leave co-signer alone until I miss payment or something?