topic Re: Consolidation timeline and issues also credit score changes in Student Loans

Consolidation timeline and issues also credit score changes

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:29:25 GMT

I am in the midst of consolidating 13 student loans into one with Direct Loans through the government.

"nuff said....

Now that we've established this, I found out that not only did I have to get every loan servicer to report that I'm not in school, this required about 70 trillion phone calls and a gaggle of my time.

I was told that this process would take about 60-90 days. I'm 45 days in and still haven't even gotten past the "out of school" status threshold.

If anyone is wondering, I'm out of school-and originally planned to apply for a mortgage next month! I need to consolidate my loans and be in repayment so I have my DTI for my mortgage app process.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Also, does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of score changes (up or down) with closing as many as 13 student loans and consolidating into one? Is there a score ramification for this?

Thanks!

Re: Consolidation timeline and issues also credit score changes

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:18:05 GMT

I too am in the midst of consolidation.

When changing my out of school status, I made one phone call and that was taken care of. Another time, I contacted direct loans directly and told them I would waive my forbearance period (6 months after you graduate) so that my consolidation application would be processed now instead of once I start repayment. I then contacted my lenders and requested forbearance for an additional 4 months to ensure I would be required to make payments without the loans being consolidated (it would've totaled $800!). I've remained in contact with direct loans and was told my loan has been approved and they are only waiting to hear back from one of my lenders regarding pay off balance. They will then pay off the existing loans within 15 days of my approval of the payment plan. I am hopeful I will hear something by the end of November or December.

I don't know if there is any way you can speed up the process but hopefully my experiences can help you some. GOOD LUCK!!

Re: Consolidation timeline and issues also credit score changes

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:05:38 GMT

Thank you for your reply Lita. I found out on Friday that my consolidation application has been cancelled because my school status wasn't changed to "withdrawn" until 9-14 and I applied for consolidation on 9-7. So I had to reapply for everything AGAIN on Friday afternoon. I was then told that I would have to resend them my financial information for my IBR payment plan (this will be the 3rd time I've sent it). This is all after spending hours on the phone trying to find out which Sallie Mae loan servicer I had to send my consolidation application to, in addition to asking Nelnet, Sallie Mae, and the Dept. of Education to report my school status to "withdrawn" instead of "in school".

This whole process has been a huge, confusing hassle. If I weren't so anxious to get a mortgage, then I wouldn't probably care that much about it, but since I'm counting the days until I apply, it's really seemed to make each day that much more important.

So basically, I am back to square one, and lost 45 days due to my in school status not reporting correctly. You would think that they could just correct this and move on, but apparently they make you start all over again. NOT fun! I have about 80K in undergrad and grad school loans so I am sure my payment normally would be over $1,000 per month, but since I live in Michigan where no one has a job and those that do make far less than they deserve, I qualify for the IBR plan which will put my payment somewhere in the $175 a month range. Thank goodness for IBR!