WTF Goverment.......

Options
bcf7683
bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
-Yes. I noticed that I spelled "government" wrong in the title. Continue on.....

So as the responsible college graduate that I am (fine arts degree- explains the not-good-at-spelling thing), I logged on to my government consolidated loan homepage to make my monthly payment of ungodly amounts of money (most going to interest....:grumble: ) and it said that my balance (that teetered on the edge of $30,000 last month) is now $0.00. It was paid in full yesterday...... UM WHAT?!?

So I immediately freaked out and called customer service wondering how I managed to screw this up.... and I waited on hold... and waited on hold.... hyper ventilated.... and waited on hold some more. I finally talked to someone (after around 20 minutes) who had no idea what I was talking about... he forwarded me to someone else... who also had no idea what I was talking about and also could not even locate my loan in their system. So now I was really starting to freak out. I was forwarded to 2 more people, the last one finally telling me that the government had sold my loan to Sallie Mae 2 weeks ago :noway:
I asked why I wasn't notified of the change in lenders and they said that they government has been doing this for months now and they haven't notified anyone..........SO. I called Sallie Mae- They have no record of my loan ever being in their system. WTF...

So I now have some 30,000-odd-dollars owed in my name out in space floating around until someone can find it..... God only knows when I'll get to make this month's payment. If there are late charges involved heads are going to roll. Just sayin.

Has this happened to anyone else, since apparently the government "has been doing this for months?"
«134

Replies

  • Rum_Runner
    Rum_Runner Posts: 617 Member
    Options
    Why are you freaking out.... keep records that you tried to notify someone and go on with your day. If/when this loan shows up - then pay it. If there are late fees promptly call and explain that you should not be charged said late fees b/c you tried to make a payment and was notfied your loan had been sold. Not your problem. If it hits your credit - fax a copy of your notes and efforts to pay the loan ontime and they will have to fix it.

    Take that money and go shopping!! Problem solved!!
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Options
    I'm not comfortable with the fact that my debts are swirling around in cyberspace somewhere, probably accruing late fees as I type. The fact that they made absolutely no attempt to communicate the fact that they're selling my debt to a private company gets under my skin a little. It doesn't seem odd to me that a person would be a little irked by the fact that thousands of dollars that they owe are being pushed around and lost (yes, I get it- you're free!........except I'm not). Living on a fixed income as a recent college graduate and paying astronomical student loans is enough for me to deal with. I like to keep my finances in check.
    So that's a no on the shopping.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
    Options
    One of my loans was sold but I thinnk I was notified, I was still in school when it happened so it wasn't a major deal since I got all the paperwork when I graduated...

    I agree with the person saying to keep records.

    I'd be freaking out so bad right now if I were in your shoes
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Options
    Yup. They sold my loans off to Mohela who increased my monthly rates AND interest. And there's nothing I could do about it. And they didn't let me know they had moved my loans. So the account I had tied to the loans -- the money wasn't being taken out. Well it's not an account I normally use. I just throw some money in there every so often and never look at it otherwise. So when they bought out my loan to Mohela, I ended up not paying for two months before I caught it. Yeah, that sucked. I had to pay 2 months back loan stuff, late fees, etc to get caught up.

    F'n nightmare. I hate them.
  • jnichel
    jnichel Posts: 4,553 Member
    Options
    Government is misspelled in the title, in case you didn't know.
  • iAMsmiling
    iAMsmiling Posts: 2,394 Member
    Options
    I'm not comfortable with the fact that my debts are swirling around in cyberspace somewhere, probably accruing late fees as I type. The fact that they made absolutely no attempt to communicate the fact that they're selling my debt to a private company gets under my skin a little. It doesn't seem odd to me that a person would be a little irked by the fact that thousands of dollars that they owe are being pushed around and lost (yes, I get it- you're free!........except I'm not). Living on a fixed income as a recent college graduate and paying astronomical student loans is enough for me to deal with. I like to keep my finances in check.
    So that's a no on the shopping.

    I understand your fears there. It would be just like the government to "find" your debt and expect payment with penalties for the 10 years you haven't been paying on it.
    Make another call. Follow up with a letter.
    Make payments to a savings account till you have a better solution or an answer.
  • dawn_eichert
    dawn_eichert Posts: 487 Member
    Options
    totally understand the freak out reaction.

    Unfortunately this does happen all the time and you should be notified by your new lender soon. This happened to me when I was paying off student loans. Keep track of what you have done to try and pay it and such. You just probably managed to check on it in the inbetween stage of getting out of one lender's system and into another's. Know that you still have the payment to make, keep the money tucked away so you have it and stay calm. If for some reason they attempt to charge you late fees, you can usually get them reversed. Sometimes this can be a good thing as you may end up skipping this month due to the changeover and have a little extra.

    It will work itself out.
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Options
    Why are you freaking out.... keep records that you tried to notify someone and go on with your day. If/when this loan shows up - then pay it. If there are late fees promptly call and explain that you should not be charged said late fees b/c you tried to make a payment and was notfied your loan had been sold. Not your problem. If it hits your credit - fax a copy of your notes and efforts to pay the loan ontime and they will have to fix it.

    Take that money and go shopping!! Problem solved!!

    Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. You'd think it would, but it doesn't.
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
    Options
    I'm no expert in finances, especially considering I have two jobs and I'm still broke, but it sounds like some error has happened. Generally when you're put on hold in these types of situations is not because there aren't any free employees to take your call, it's because the employees are talking to each other to check their computers to see what's been going on so they can give you the most accurate information (which they didn't seem to do if they kept passing you onto someone else).

    My advice? Chase this up tomorrow morning, even if it takes all day. Just make sure you haven't lost money that isn't your fault.
  • LacyJean1
    LacyJean1 Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    I agree, you should have been notified. I would make sure that you keep contacting them until the issue is resolved. Don't trust them to tell you they found it. And yes, keep notes on everything!!!!
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    Options
    it may be worth keeping up to date on the politics of the student loan mess going on right now so you would be more aware of potential issues such as this.

    but that is troubling, i hope it all works out for you
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Options
    Why are you freaking out.... keep records that you tried to notify someone and go on with your day. If/when this loan shows up - then pay it. If there are late fees promptly call and explain that you should not be charged said late fees b/c you tried to make a payment and was notfied your loan had been sold. Not your problem. If it hits your credit - fax a copy of your notes and efforts to pay the loan ontime and they will have to fix it.

    Take that money and go shopping!! Problem solved!!

    Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. You'd think it would, but it doesn't.

    ^This.

    They sold one of my loans too. Freaked me out when I got notices from the new company because I had never heard of them and I didn't think they were legit.
  • DesireeAshley90
    DesireeAshley90 Posts: 137 Member
    Options
    I'd always heard that they can be sold but my original lender is Sallie Mae and they aren't too shabby if you ask me. Definitely fight a late fee if it occurs!
  • a_mandolin_
    a_mandolin_ Posts: 336 Member
    Options
    Some of mine have been sold off too. Increased interest at MOHELA as well. Not uncommon. Luckily I got notification and paperwork shortly after the sale, and it was right after my last payment so they had a good few weeks to work it out.

    Buy a house, under 3% interest, buy a car, under 1%, try and get your smarts on... 6.75%

    Sometimes I still log into the myed account, just to see the zero balance :laugh:
  • Kris0109
    Kris0109 Posts: 177 Member
    Options
    Just happened to me last fall, which I only discovered because I found a random email in my Spam folder when I was trying to figure out why the loans weren't on my credit report when I was trying to buy a car ... It took about a month from when they disappeared from the .gov site to when they appeared on the purchaser's site. Hang in and don't assume you have play money -- they'll either EFT your account or want double the money next month!
  • _DaniD_
    _DaniD_ Posts: 2,186 Member
    Options
    Run a credit check on yourself to find out who you owe money to.
  • Car0lynnM
    Car0lynnM Posts: 332 Member
    Options
    Yes, this happened to me too. There's nothing you can do about it. Keep a careful eye on your mail; you should get a statement from the new loan administrator. They have to send you a bill. Great Lakes, College Loan Corporation, ACS...those are the companies I have worked with. Good luck.
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
    Options
    I hate guvermment
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    Options
    It is very common for large loans to be sold to different lenders. It is the norm for mortgages -- you may get a mortgage through one company and then they immediately sell it to another.

    Make your payments as scheduled and it will be fine. Lenders do this all the time. You will be notified shortly that your loan was sold, and the new servicer will send you new payment information.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Options
    Run a credit check on yourself to find out who you owe money to.

    don't you get docked points for that though?