O.k. so here's the deal. I HATE Sallie Mae. Worst customer service ever and they've gotten to the point where they seem like they'd rather not get paid at all.

I was unemployed and down on money twice since 2005 so I stopped paying in 05' essentially. My loan is now nearly back up to where it was before I started paying on it. Friggin sucks. Stupid interest.


So my question is this... have any of you made an offer to lump sum pay at a lower total? What are the repercussions with your credit. Where you able to do it? What was the percentage difference?

I'm considering just calling them up and offering to make a lump sum payment. I owe about $12,000 at the moment and I think if I had to I could do like $7-8k. At that total along with what I've already paid them it will be more than the original loan.... just not the interest.


Just not sure what my options are. I want to get out from under it so we can focus on my wife's school loans and get her back in school.

 

It can't hurt to ask. When debts get turned over to collections that is part of their tactic, offer you a lower/consolidated lump sum.

 

Yea, it wouldn't hurt to ask. The only good thing about Student loans is they aren't on your credit. And their payment plans are a joke. They wanted $53 a month, if I followed their plan I would have played it off in like 10 years.

 

My school's accounting office messed up and went "Ooops, you owe us another $3k, would you like to pay that all today or set up a payment plan?"

Me: "Um, don't have $3k sitting around, so payment plan."

Accounting chick (not hot, complete *****): (types away on computer...)

Accounting chick: "Ok, so I set up a plan to pay it off over October and November. Does that work for you?"

There has GOT to be some happy medium between 2 months and 10 years

 

I used to think student loans were a great thing, until I started watching Suze Orman. It turns out they can be really bad for you, especially if the amount starts getting really big. They are one of those necessary evils.

To the OP, I have a feeling that they'd be willing to work with you especially if you offer a nice sized lump sum! Go for it!


Just curious what you meant by this?

 

I was able to negotiate with sallie may and do a lump pay off. the key was to find the right person to talk to. the low on the totem folks were morons

 

I've been having my credit run more recently and Student loans aren't reported to the credit agencies. Probably unless they send you to collections. But even if you are just in bad shape and haven't payed, it's not reported negatively like a Credit Card or a car loan would be.

 

Fixed.

Student loans are worse than credit cards. The reason is that you can file bankruptcy on credit cards if you're screwed or just not pay at all. Student loans are actually the worse type of credit you can get because you can run and hide, that doesn't default.

 

I'd say that's an anomaly; like any debt they're reported to the 3 main bureaus. I see mine.

YES - "education" is really quite the scam - student loans

 

I'll have to get on the horn and try to talk to someone that can make some decisions. Seems to me in todays economy they'll take $8k and call it good over $100 every month or so for the next 15 years.

 

It is also a garaunteed $8k vs possibly having to fight for $12k

 

To reiterate others, they are on your credit report, but the reporting mechanism is different from your average revolving credit account. They hurt your score if you don't pay, but they don't HELP your score if you pay regularly. Kind of a drag.

As far as the loan term, 10 years is standard for subsidized and unsubsidized. If you have not consistently borrowed from the same lender, you can consolidate and they will stretch it out to 15+ years. Not really a great deal unless your monthly payment is your primary concern.