Here We Go Again with Sallie Mae

[$$only4ever]

Since I have been in my Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, I have had several problems with Sallie Mae. For the past 39 months, I have been working with someone at Sallie Mae who has been very helpful, but unfortunately he is no longer working there anymore. The trustee makes a payment every month and I also make a payment to them. Payments have been applied correctly until this month and now, you guessed it, the trustee payment for the month of August has not been applied to the loan. I called Sallie Mae's Customer Adovate Unit 3 days ago and left a message but, of course, I have not received a call back. I am also waiting on a call from the trustee's office to find out the status of the payment.

My question is: What recourse will I have if Sallie Mae does not apply the remaining payments correctly? My trustee participates on the National Data Center Website and I can print all of the payments that they have sent to Sallie Mae, but is Sallie Mae held accountable if they screw up the remaining payments? I have read on this forum that when the trustee does the final audit, paperwork is sent to the creditors for signoff. What does this paperwork consist of? I just need to know what options that I have to ensure that all $$ gets applied correctly as this loan is not dischargeable.

Sallie Mae is absolutely the worst creditor to deal with. Also add unethical, too. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Flamingo]

I don't think you have too much to worry about as you have many payments showing up on time and correctly and it is probably due to vacation delays (it's that time of year) or something else. You don't state when the August payment was due, when the Trustee sent their payment, etc. Plus this matter falls on the Trustee not you since that is the payment that is involved and his office is keeping track of those payments also. You should find out if there was a replacement for the person you worked with in the past at Sallie Mae and/or find a rep there and tell them this former person worked with you previously as to your account and you need further assistance.

If more time goes by and the payment still does not show up (your Trustee's payment), contact your attorney.

As to the audit, that is done after you send in your last payment to the Trustee and since you have 20 months to go according to your signature, that's a long way off yet to worry about it now.

[$$only4ever]

I
As to the audit, that is done after you send in your last payment to the Trustee and since you have 20 months to go according to your signature, that's a long way off yet to worry about it now.

Flamingo,

Correct me if I am wrong, I thought that this forum was also a tool for informational purposes. No one knows better than I do that I have 20 payments remaining, but I would still like to know what the final audit consists of and what, if any, responsibilities the creditor has when they sign and return the necessary paperwork to the trustee, and if the creditor is held accountable if any payments are not applied correctly.

[lrprn]

...if the creditor is held accountable if any payments are not applied correctly.

Yes, the creditor can be held accountable if payments are not applied correctly. The trustee will handle any discrepancies for payments made by him/her when the audit is done at the end of your 13. You have no control over this, which is what Flamingo was trying to help you see. The trustee has the power of the US government and courts standing behind him/her. Even SallieMae has to bend to that.

You are responsible for handling any discrepancies in payments that you make during your 13. As you have already discovered, SallieMae is horrible to work with, bk or not.

[$$only4ever]

Yes, the creditor can be held accountable if payments are not applied correctly. The trustee will handle any discrepancies for payments made by him/her when the audit is done at the end of your 13. You have no control over this, which is what Flamingo was trying to help you see. The trustee has the power of the US government and courts standing behind him/her. Even SallieMae has to bend to that.

You are responsible for handling any discrepancies in payments that you make during your 13. As you have already discovered, SallieMae is horrible to work with, bk or not.

Thanks Irprn for your response. That is exactly what I wanted to know.

[Flamingo]

Flamingo,

Correct me if I am wrong, I thought that this forum was also a tool for informational purposes. No one knows better than I do that I have 20 payments remaining, but I would still like to know what the final audit consists of and what, if any, responsibilities the creditor has when they sign and return the necessary paperwork to the trustee, and if the creditor is held accountable if any payments are not applied correctly.

I'm sorry you took my response to your audit question about the audit at the end of a Chapter 13 the wrong way. Lrprn is correct in her response to you that I was only trying to point out that it was so far in advance of the end of your 13 to worry about that inasmuch as it is the responsibility of the Trustee and out of your hands. The information about the audit you are looking for has been posted on here lots of times but I don't know how easily searchable it is. What occurs at that time is that when you make your last payment, the Trustee will send documentation and any final payments due to each creditor and the creditor has to return signed documentation back to the Trustee. When all that is received back the Trustee will do a final audit of your Plan and you will receive your discharge. We received a letter from the Trustee shortly after our last payment explaining all that and what will be done and what will take place, including a probable timeline. From the date of that letter to the date of our discharge was 2 1/2 months. If there are any issues with the creditors, the Trustee will handle the situation.

[$$only4ever]

I just wanted to provide an update on this thread. Back in July 2008 Sallie Mae did not post a payment that the Trustee had sent them. I requested a payment history from Sallie Mae in January 2009 and the payment was still missing. I contacted the trustee and this is what they told me:

It was stated nicely but the trustee's office really does not care what happens to the payment once they send it. The final audit does not consist whether or not all payments were applied or not applied correctly. The trustee's office did advise me to make a copy of all payments that they have made (located on Chapt. 13 Data Center) and send that plus the payment history received from Sallie Mae and MAKE them correct their error. They said to have Sallie Mae contact them if they have any questions. I faxed everything to them about 3 weeks ago and am waiting for their response. (They are as slow as snails).

Again, I cannot stress this enough. You really have to moniter Sallie Mae continually.

[EricaCallaha]

Gotta love Sallie Mae...We are at the beginning of this process and this thread has been very enlightening.

Thanks for the update...Good luck with the devil (Sallie Mae)!!!

[$$only4ever]

Gotta love Sallie Mae...We are at the beginning of this process and this thread has been very enlightening.

Thanks for the update...Good luck with the devil (Sallie Mae)!!!

lol, the devil. I like that!