Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with SallieMae

Will the government be taking more of my money?

TheArpenter — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:46:04 -0800

Will I be losing my stimulus check because of back student loans that I am now paying? Basically, I was a deadbeat and didn't pay my student loans for... oh about 4 years. Yes, it was dumb. Now, I have decided to be a grownup, and two months ago started paying them after their seized my tax return. I created a schedule of payment and have not been late.

Will I be losing my stimulus check? According to the collection agency Sallie Mae uses they will no longer be going after my wages to pay this debt since I have created a payment plan with them.

I am in the US, and thanks for all your help. (Please be nice, this is my first ever post on anything Metafilter!)

Sallie Mae: Should I trust that wench?

Jess the Mess — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:17:08 -0800

Is it possible Sallie Mae is scamming me? Okay, so I just graduated this past December. In all honesty, I'm not the best with financial matters and student loans are rather perplexing to me. Complicating the situation is that it took me about ten years and three colleges (with several lengthy breaks in between) to graduate. I know I'm going to be owing soon so I'm just waiting for the bills to come around so I can pay up or make other arrangements.

The thing is, I recently received a letter from Sallie Mae saying I was delinquent on a loan. As far as I know, though, I don't have any loans with Sallie Mae. I had one from my first school with them but it was paid off years ago. And as far as I know I consolidated all my loans (except one small private loan with Chase) with Direct Loans last summer before the interest rate hike. I also have received absolutely no bills or notice that I owe anything to Sallie Mae until now.

I am aware that Sallie Mae has recently come under fire for shady practices. Obviously, I'm going to call them but are there certain questions I should ask that will help me determine the legitimacy of this debt? What proof can I ask for?

Also, if anyone has any links or recommendations for student loan organization/simplification tips for the financially illiterate, I'm all ears.

How do I pay a large amount of money on my student loans?

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:16:23 -0800

I have a surprise chance to pay off my student loans (!), so how do I go about doing this in the way that's best for me? My "more inside" has a few details about possibilities / ideas. I got money from a relative's will that is to be used only to pay off my student loans. I'm intensely grateful for this chance, and now I'm just figuring out how to handle it in the most practical way.

So what is the best material way to pay my two loan holders (Sallie Mae and the US Dept. of Education) in the way that's most beneficial to me -- such as via a card that gives a small amount of cash back, because any cash would be really helpful to me.

I have my paypal debit card that I use for all my everyday stuff because it gives me 1.5% cash back. (1.5% cash back would be over $700, given this amount I'm paying to the loans.) But my cash limit on that card is only $400 a day, and at that rate I would be paying them every day for 3.5 months (over which time my loans would increase in interest enough that it might not even be worth it?).

I have poor enough credit that I can't get another credit card with a higher daily limit right now.

Is there something I'm not thinking of (I know very little about money) that is a way to get 44K total to my two loan holders and get some kind of cash back? Should I see if my mom (who has good credit) can get some cash-back credit card, so she can do the payments? If so, what card should she get??

I am not at all used to dealing with money correctly, so any help would be hugely appreciated. If it matters, the money was not officially willed to me but to my mom (nothing was willed to me), and the agreement is that from that I get the amount of money that will directly pay off my student loans. Also, student loans are the only debt I have, if that matters.

What's the best way to do take out a student loan to pay for non-tuition costs?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:35:48 -0800

Can I use my (private, not federally subsidized) student loans to pay for things other than those directly related to school? I go through Sallie Mae and have had a few financial incidents that formed a sort of perfect storm. I would like to take a loan out for car insurance payments and some minor car repair that would end up costing ~$3,000 total. I have only taken out tuition costs and never applied for loans to cover books or housing.

How does this work? Will I receive cash or check for this? Will I ever see the actual money or does it have to go directly to the people who want my money. Preferably I would like to fill out the forms and receive a check for the amount I request. Do I have to justify why I need that money (again, never took out money for books or housing)? My previous experience has been filling out a form on Sallie Mae's web site, and never actually seeing any of the money.

wtf is up with government agencies with names?

taumeson — Wed, 25 May 2005 12:05:15 -0800

OK, I know of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Sallie Mae. I understand that the names come from the initials of the corporations, but where did the names come from, and how many of these "named government companies" are there? And why are some girls and some boys? &c.

Consolidate my student loans!

The Michael The — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:35:09 -0800

I have a sizable amount of Federal Perkins and Subsidized Stafford student loan debt, and I'm thinking of consolidating to take advantage of current interest rates. 1) Is this a good idea (why/why not?), 2) Through whom do I consolidate? I seem to get offers to do so every day from random companies. Is any one more reputable than any other? The only one of which I've heard is Sallie Mae. FYI, I'm currently in my 2nd year of a full-time Ph.D. program, so I'll be in deferment for a while.

How do I pay off my student loan?

Katemonkey — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 12:26:57 -0800

I owe around $18,000 to Sallie Mae in student loans. I live in the UK. And, now, Sallie Mae has decided to not accept credit cards... Because, you see, for the past five years, what I've been able to do is call up Sallie Mae each month and pay the monthly bill by credit card. It was a pain, but it worked. I didn't have to have a US bank account, I didn't have to worry about money orders being mailed overseas, I certainly didn't have to worry about the surcharges that came with transferring money, and with the exchange rate as it is, it wasn't half bad.

Except that, now, they don't accept credit cards. Which means that my entire system has gone down the toilet. They say it costs too much for them to accept credit cards, but I'm not quite certain how that works out — since they've just made it near-impossible for people who live overseas to pay their loans off. Thanks, guys.

We think what we're going to do is take out a loan over here, pop it into our bank account, and then pay off Sallie Mae all at once with an electronic transfer. It sucks, and it's definitely not what I would want to do, but the exchange rate is still pretty good.

But does anyone else have any other ideas? Or suggestions for loan companies in the UK that aren't going to break our legs with interest rates and/or hired goons?