In October 2009 while in my final year of college I came down with a debilitating illness. By February 2010 I could no longer work, and only by the grace of god did I end up graduating that spring from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science.
By the end of my college career I had racked up $32,000 in debt to Sallie Mae. Despite the fact that I was supposed to have a 6 month grace period after graduation to begin repayment they began calling in my loans immediately. This began a long process that has lasted a year and four months. Over that time period I have received over 1800 calls from the lender (up to nine times in a single day). I rarely, if ever, get to talk to the same person twice regarding my situation. Some calls were very harassing; threatening to destroy my credit and take legal action, calling me a deadbeat and a scumbag. Other representatives seemed genuinely willing to help. They would offer me temporary solutions like lowered payments and interest rates, short term deferment, and forbearance payments. I tried all of these avenues, the phone calls didn’t stop as promised, and all they did is put me in debt for more money and a longer period of time.
Eventually, one sympathetic representative told me that I could receive a conditional discharge from my loans. In exchange I had to have my doctor fill out paperwork describing my illness and inability to work. For months they gave me the runaround by claiming they never received it even though I got delivery confirmation from USPS. I ended up sending them the paperwork 12 times before they finally processed it and was told I was granted a conditional medical discharge. However, soon after they began calling again demanding money and acting like it had never happened. I guess it’s a seldom used policy
that the general public isn’t supposed to know about because it’s the one situation where they actually lose money.
For the last year I have sent them what I can, over the last 8 months or so I and my co-signers have sent them $250/mo without fail before payment comes due. My minimum payment is $258 or something like that. I know that 8 more dollars doesn’t seem like a lot to some people, but not being able to work for nearly two years and living in a household of 5 with one income makes that 8 dollars impossible. The phone calls continue to flood in and hamper my ability to recover from my situation due to the ever-present stress this situation has caused. I know that if I ever get my health back I will still be crippled by the damage done to my credit. My ability to get a car back on the road, ever own a home, have children, start a business, or live a fruitful life has been severely damaged.
Nobody ever thinks they will lose their health overnight, but it happens all too often. My lender has not only had no sympathy for my situation,but they have done all they can to capitalize on it.
