June 08, 2002
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing in regards to my recent removal of eligibility from the Great Rewards (R) program. I feel that I am being unfairly penalized for a situation that I was not engaged in as an informed and equitable partner. Had I been kept abreast of the situation, I would have more than willingly made correct payments, on time, and most likely over the required amount. I would now like to present my side of the issue at hand, with supporting documentation as attached. I am addressing the documentation and the matter itself in chronological order, as it will be the clearest and most understandable representation of the facts, with the information provided.
I had two student loans through Boatmen’s Bank of Des Moines, Iowa that were later sold to USA Group Loan Services, Inc. Due to unfortunate economic circumstances, I was forced to request and receive two years of forbearance from repaying these loans. Once the forbearance period was up, I resumed payment of the loans until I re-enrolled in school, and requested a deferment, which was granted. (See attached document A, dated 04/08/99.)*
Please note the approval dates on them (Start 08/24/98, End 05/17/02), and the payment due date (06/23/02), which are important later.
I received the following letter, in notification that Sallie Mae and USA Group had merged their services. (See attached document B, dated 12/17/00.) In particular, please note the last sentence in the first paragraph. (“While Sallie Mae will now service your loans, your rights and responsibilities remain exactly the same.”)**
Somewhere along the line, Sallie Mae changed my repayment date to May 23, 2002. Unfortunately, I do not have any documentation to support this, but considering the importance that date holds to the event that unfold, I would imagine that you have them somewhere in your database. Honestly, the date change did not bother me, because I was, and still am, happy to repay the loans that allowed me the education to pursue my vocation.
Fast forwarding to 2002, I receive three pieces of mail from your company on March 11. The first notifed me that my email address didn’t seem to work (See attached document C), which I immediately rectified. The second notified me that the payment terms of my loan had changed (See attached document D). Also sent were payment coupons for June and July (See attached document E -- note the coupons were actually used to make loan payments, so they are not physically attached, however document G, p. 2, contains the same information, which should hopefully suffice.).***
Please note that the revised payment due date on document D is now 06/23/02 -- the original date that USA Group Loan Services, Inc. assigned me, based upon my completion of education on 05/17/02. (Document A.)
On May 31, 2002 (See attached document F -- note the postmark date on the envelope is 14 days after my last day of academic enrollment), your company mailed me another set of payment coupons for June and July (See attached document G, p. 1 - 2). Other than a couple of little numbers above my mailing address, they seemed to duplicate the information on the previously received payment coupons.****
Imagine my surprise when, on July 07, I received email (See document H, p. 1.) with an attachment (Document H, p. 2) that informed me that I had been removed from eligibility for the Great Rewards (R) program, based upon my failure to make required scheduled payments.*****
At approximately 11:20 AM CST, I called your 1-800 number, to speak to a representative. After a great deal of number dialing, I finally reached a human being.****** After listening to my concerns, I was informed that the University of Iowa had contacted your company with a revised date of May 17, for my last day of classes. I do not know what the previous date that you had on record happened to be. (Please note that on document A, the date of my last day of classes is listed as May 17, 2002. And the repayment date is listed as 06/23/02.). Also explained was that because repayment is expected immediately following termination of classes, my repayment date was bumped back to May 23, as it was the closest day following the 17th.
Unfortunately, no one decided to notify me about this.
I do not know which date the University gave you this information, which you should have already had when you merged with USA Group, but I am imagining that it occurred sometime before May 17. While the University of Iowa is at heart a moneymaking institution, I highly doubt that they called you up on my last day of classes and said, “Hey, this is Kristen’s last day of classes. Sorry we didn’t let you know earlier!” And even if they did, judging from the time-date stamp of the email (See attached document I, p. 1 - 3.) I received today from your company, I know that you are capable of a one-day turnaround on your email correspondence.
What I do not understand, is why no one bothered to notify me regarding this change. I am only capable of working with the information that I am given by your institution, and when that information becomes outdated, I am unaware as such until I am put back into the loop.
The person to whom I spoke on the phone yesterday, told me that based on the information that I gave her over the phone, and my obvious distress over the matter, she would remove the late fee penalty from my payment schedule. I was also told that I should send a double payment this month, for the June 23 due date -- a payment that is already en route to your offices as I type this letter. I was specifically told that my account was not considered delinquent, and that I should not let this worry me unduly.
Today, I received an email (Document I, p. 1.) with an attachment (Document I, p. 2 - 3.) informing me that I did in fact have a delinquent account (Document I, p. 2), a fact which does worry me, unduly or not.*******
In the past, I made some grievous errors in judgment regarding financial matters, and paid dearly for the errors. Thanks to the United Way’s Consumer Credit Counseling Program, I was able to responsibly, if belatedly, repay all of the outstanding and past-due credit debts that I owed. And it is only in the last year or so that my credit record has finally healed from the damage done, enough that I am able to once again become a trusted member of credit-wielding society.
I have waited a long time to be trusted again by credit companies, and I have worked very hard to undo the damage to my credit rating. I am making my best effort to be a responsible individual, and it is incredibly distressing to find out that due to some error made somewhere on your company’s part, not only am I being deprived of the special benefits promised in your Great Rewards (R) program, but that I am apparently the sort of person for whom it is necessary to send moderately insulting notices of delinquent accounts (See document I, p. 2), one day after I am first notified that my account is past due.
While I realize that no immediate damage has been done to my credit rating by this incident, I am still upset about the incident, and would like to have it fixed. I simply want my eligibility for the Great Rewards (R) program reinstated. If I am to have it taken away from me, let it be because I screwed up somewhere, not because your company has done so for me.
I apologize for the length of this letter, but I feel very strongly on the subject, and thought it important to be as forthcoming with my available information as possible. If I do not hear from your company in a timely fashion, it is my intent to pursue this matter by forwarding a copy of this letter and all supporting documentation to both of my Senators, Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin. ********
Sincerely,
Kristen L. Lxxxx
Enclosures
*document A was a letter from USA Group, telling me that my loans were being deferred while I was attending school, and gave the exact dates that my deferrment began and ended -- which happened to be the exact date that i finished taking classes, and stated my repayment date, which was in june.
**document B was a letter notifying me that USA Group and Sallie Mae had merged into the new Sallie Mae, and that my loans and I would be treated exactly the same as they had been before, and that my obligations remained the same.
***documents C, D and E are exactly as described: a letter telling me my email didn't work, a letter telling me that my repayment date had been moved from may to june (it was originally june, but was moved around a few times before this letter -- always with notification by mail), and a set of payment coupons for june and july.
****documents F and G were an envelope postmarked two weeks after my last day of classes, and another set of june and july payment coupons that duplicated the ones sent in march.
****document H was a copy of an email I received on june 7, with time and headers intact, and an attached letter dated june 6, informing me that I had failed to make my first payment on my loans, thusly removing me from the rewards program they ran. the point of the program is that if you make a certain number of timely payments over a certain period, you get a percentage of your loan removed. Sort of a 'time off for good behavior' deal.
******this phone conversation explained a great deal of things, most of which should have been told to me earlier, either by email or letter. neither being psychic, nor employed by the department of the university of iowa that reports school ending dates to loan agencies, i had no way to know that my repayment date was changed again. however, my account wasn't considered deliquent, and i didn't need to worry about making the may payment immediately -- i should just double pay for june, and there would be no late fee.
*******document I was an email dated June 8, with an attached extremely rude and threatening letter date June 7, telling me that my account was delinquent, and that i was going to burn in hell and be hated by thousands if i didn't cough up $66.15 + $3.95 in late fees immediately.
********dad suggested involving government officials if i'm not happy, and i'll do it, too.
they tried to take advantage of me,and i won't stand for it. especially when i am completely in the right and have a stack of supporting documentation to that fact.
