Student Loan Goodwill Letter

[Magdalen77]

I sent a GW letter to AES/PHEAA, a student loan provider in PA (and other places, I'm sure). I asked for them to correct their reporting to the CRAs, especially EX. What happened is I had student loans go into default in 2004. In early 2005 I started PHEAA's rehab program which I completed in September 2006. Since then (and including the time I spent in the rehab program) I've had a perfect record of on time payments for about 3 years. I sent a letter to the CEO of PHEAA just asking for mercy. On a couple of my reports there are still loans reporting as in default and sent to the government for collection. EX is especially bad since they have this reported on 4 separate loans. I have two loans subsidized and unsubsidized. EX has the two good loans, but also has 4 defaults.

Anyway, today I got a response to my letter (it was awfully quick since I sent this letter last Saturday). They sent letters to the CRAs (they attached copies of the letters) requesting that the defaulted loans be removed. So, I'll wait and see if they do get removed. If not, I'll be calling the CRAs and faxing copies of these letters to them.

Whew!!! I hope it really is true and this will get off my reports.

[VeVe]

Ugh, AES screwed up my accounts big time, and they STILL aren't corrected on my credit reports. I spoke to the most obnoxious woman on the phone when I called them (she couldn't understand the issue, no matter how many different ways I tried to break it down for her).

My consolidated loans are being reported wrong AND they reported late payments during a deferment.

I've disputed them but they've come back as verified (TU deleted one of them). I guess GW is my next step.

[Magdalen77]

Ugh, AES screwed up my accounts big time, and they STILL aren't corrected on my credit reports. I spoke to the most obnoxious woman on the phone when I called them (she couldn't understand the issue, no matter how many different ways I tried to break it down for her).

My consolidated loans are being reported wrong AND they reported late payments during a deferment.

I've disputed them but they've come back as verified (TU deleted one of them). I guess GW is my next step.

Richard Wiley is the CEO, though he's about to leave (or go out of office, whatever). I mailed him my letter. If I didn't get a response I was prepared to send a letter to one PA state representative who is on their Board of Directors (I don't remember his name off the top of my head). I just googled to get these guys' names.

[bigdaddyroy]

Maybe this should go over in the student loan thread/folder....

Admin can you move this there?

Just in case others need to see it.

[stefdr]

Good luck. Student loans are apparently exempt from accurate reporting no matter what you do. I had a student load go into default, and after I paid it off in full, it is still being double reported, and one of the reports says it is over 120 days late, seriously past due, and turned over to collections, an attorney, the mafia, the FBI, and whoever ever else can collect. I have a letter from the DOE stating it is paid in full, and a copy of a letter they sent when they sent a check back to me because I overpaid by one payment. I sent all of that to the CRA's and it wasn't good enough.

I sentGW letters to all who were involved, and it is still double reported on all three.

[Magdalen77]

Good luck. Student loans are apparently exempt from accurate reporting no matter what you do. I had a student load go into default, and after I paid it off in full, it is still being double reported, and one of the reports says it is over 120 days late, seriously past due, and turned over to collections, an attorney, the mafia, the FBI, and whoever ever else can collect. I have a letter from the DOE stating it is paid in full, and a copy of a letter they sent when they sent a check back to me because I overpaid by one payment. I sent all of that to the CRA's and it wasn't good enough.

I sentGW letters to all who were involved, and it is still double reported on all three.

I hope the letters from PHEAA will be enough to turn the trick. I've spent about 2 years disputing this and calling PHEAA to get someone to fix it. The phone monkeys at PHEAA didn't have any suggestions on how to correct this. I just decided, on my own, to write a letter to the CEO. I'm encouraged because I actually got a response and a fairly quick one. The guy who responded gave me his direct number in case I had problems or needed to call him.

[VeVe]

Magdalen, are AES and PHEAA the same thing? I know my loans were were originally through PHEAA (and AES) but I think when I consolidated everything just comes from AES now.

[Magdalen77]

Magdalen, are AES and PHEAA the same thing? I know my loans were were originally through PHEAA (and AES) but I think when I consolidated everything just comes from AES now.

Yeah, I just call them AES/PHEAA because that's how it reports on my CR. I pay AES, though like you I originally got my loans through PHEAA.

[LynnInMN]

Good luck. Student loans are apparently exempt from accurate reporting no matter what you do. I had a student load go into default, and after I paid it off in full, it is still being double reported, and one of the reports says it is over 120 days late, seriously past due, and turned over to collections, an attorney, the mafia, the FBI, and whoever ever else can collect. I have a letter from the DOE stating it is paid in full, and a copy of a letter they sent when they sent a check back to me because I overpaid by one payment. I sent all of that to the CRA's and it wasn't good enough.

I sentGW letters to all who were involved, and it is still double reported on all three.

Student loans are not exempt from accurate reporting. When you have a loan go into default, it creates 2 negative tradelines..one from the lender/servicer who filed for the default and the guarantor who paid the default. Even when you pay them off, the tradeline still stays negative. It will report 120 or 180 days late as the final status of the loan with a zero balance. This is ACCURATE reporting. You do not get credit for paying on a bad debt.

[LynnInMN]

I sent a GW letter to AES/PHEAA, a student loan provider in PA (and other places, I'm sure). I asked for them to correct their reporting to the CRAs, especially EX. What happened is I had student loans go into default in 2004. In early 2005 I started PHEAA's rehab program which I completed in September 2006. Since then (and including the time I spent in the rehab program) I've had a perfect record of on time payments for about 3 years. I sent a letter to the CEO of PHEAA just asking for mercy. On a couple of my reports there are still loans reporting as in default and sent to the government for collection. EX is especially bad since they have this reported on 4 separate loans. I have two loans subsidized and unsubsidized. EX has the two good loans, but also has 4 defaults.

Anyway, today I got a response to my letter (it was awfully quick since I sent this letter last Saturday). They sent letters to the CRAs (they attached copies of the letters) requesting that the defaulted loans be removed. So, I'll wait and see if they do get removed. If not, I'll be calling the CRAs and faxing copies of these letters to them.

Whew!!! I hope it really is true and this will get off my reports.

Nope...no such thing as mercy or goodwill with student loans.

When you default, the lender/servicer (AES) defaults you back to guarantor (PHEAA) resulting in 2 negatve tradelines. When you complete a rehab program, PHEAA or the guarantor will change there tradeline to positive. The lender/servicer or AES in your case is under no obligation legally to change their tradeline. This is the way the Higher Eduation Act (HEA) requires the reporting to be.

[Magdalen77]

Nope...no such thing as mercy or goodwill with student loans.

When you default, the lender/servicer (AES) defaults you back to guarantor (PHEAA) resulting in 2 negatve tradelines. When you complete a rehab program, PHEAA or the guarantor will change there tradeline to positive. The lender/servicer or AES in your case is under no obligation legally to change their tradeline. This is the way the Higher Eduation Act (HEA) requires the reporting to be.

Yeah, but could they ask for the TLs to be removed? Because that seems to be what this guy was requesting. In other words, does the HEA require people to be punished on their credit reports for 10 years? These negative TLs don't just merely indicate late payments, they indicate they are still in default and sent to the government for collection. It looks like I have 120K in student loans half of which is still in default. I "only" have 60K that's been being paid in a perfect and timely manner for the past 3 years.

[LynnInMN]

Yeah, but could they ask for the TLs to be removed? Because that seems to be what this guy was requesting. In other words, does the HEA require people to be punished on their credit reports for 10 years? These negative TLs don't just merely indicate late payments, they indicate they are still in default and sent to the government for collection. It looks like I have 120K in student loans half of which is still in default. I "only" have 60K that's been being paid in a perfect and timely manner for the past 3 years.

No you cannot ask for the tradeline to be removed as that would not be accurate reporting. The negative tradeline is the penalty for defaulting on the loan and it remains for 7 years, not 10.

The tradeline does NOT indciate either way whether the loan is still in default. With the lender/servicer it simply states that the loan defaulted and the claim was paid. With the guarantor, if there is a balance that would indicate the default is still present (you can pay the guarantor for 10 years without missing a payment and you still would be in default with a negative rating). When the guarantor is showing a zero balance, that means the loan is paid off.

[Magdalen77]

No you cannot ask for the tradeline to be removed as that would not be accurate reporting. The negative tradeline is the penalty for defaulting on the loan and it remains for 7 years, not 10.

The tradeline does NOT indciate either way whether the loan is still in default. With the lender/servicer it simply states that the loan defaulted and the claim was paid. With the guarantor, if there is a balance that would indicate the default is still present (you can pay the guarantor for 10 years without missing a payment and you still would be in default with a negative rating). When the guarantor is showing a zero balance, that means the loan is paid off.

See, but that's the issue, the guarantor is not showing a zero balance, they're showing the pre-default balances for these loans and the notation is "sent to government for collection".

[Magdalen77]

Did you also see were I said that I had six TLs reporting. Two correct for the current loans and the four incorrect??

[stefdr]

What is inaccurate on my reports in the wording SERIOUSLY PAST DUE, and turned over to collections. They way I am reading it is that it is still past due and in a collection status. It will be off my reports next year, but it is still a major thorn in my side. I still have copies of the original employment contract that states the employer was going to do the tuition reimbursement directly, but they never did. I heard nothing at all about it for a couple of years. By then it was apparently to late to fix, I just paid off the loan. Sending copies of the employment contract did nothing either. The entire student loan program is a mess, they don't budge at all on reporting. @ssholes.

[Magdalen77]

What is inaccurate on my reports in the wording SERIOUSLY PAST DUE, and turned over to collections. They way I am reading it is that it is still past due and in a collection status. It will be off my reports next year, but it is still a major thorn in my side. I still have copies of the original employment contract that states the employer was going to do the tuition reimbursement directly, but they never did. I heard nothing at all about it for a couple of years. By then it was apparently to late to fix, I just paid off the loan. Sending copies of the employment contract did nothing either. The entire student loan program is a mess, they don't budge at all on reporting. @ssholes.

And that's my complaint. I understand if there's a closed out student loan or loans reporting $0, but I have two that are reporting as being sent to the government for collections with the full balance there as past due. The guy said he was going to correct that. Another thing that I object to is the 18 month rehab program where they continue to report your loan as in default. They don't start reporting the loan as current until you are out of the program and then you have to fight with the student loan people for a couple of months until they actually do. I went into the rehab program in Feb 2004, by their own rules I was out of the program in Sept 2005. They didn't start reporting my loan as current until January 2006. A small thing, losing three months of good reports, but as irritating as hell when you're trying to get a mortgage.

[LynnInMN]

When you complete the rehab program, your guarantor has 90 days to update your CR. It is a manual update and takes time. Your fighting with them was a waste of time...it would have happened anyways.

[Magdalen77]

When you complete the rehab program, your guarantor has 90 days to update your CR. It is a manual update and takes time. Your fighting with them was a waste of time...it would have happened anyways.

I wonder would they give me 90 days to catch up? I guess it is pointless trying to get the student loan people to behave, but I did have a mortgage loan officer pressing me to get it corrected. They don't believe, "I promise, Mr. Loan Officer, it's corrected and I'm no longer in default the student loan people just won't get off their dead asses for the next 90 days 'cause they don't have to."

[LynnInMN]

It is not a matter of getting off their asses...it is a matter of staffing and how many need to be done each month. It is a manual process and takes time..most only report to the CB monthly so it depends on where in the cycle you are.

I remember talking about this with reps of CSAC and USAF...they get rather ticked when people have their loans in default for years and suddenly when they want something (like a home) they quickly enter rehab and expect the guarantor to do things quickly so they can buy their home. It doesnt work like that....bugging them could put your paperwork to the very bottom of the pile.

[Magdalen77]

It is not a matter of getting off their asses...it is a matter of staffing and how many need to be done each month. It is a manual process and takes time..most only report to the CB monthly so it depends on where in the cycle you are.

I remember talking about this with reps of CSAC and USAF...they get rather ticked when people have their loans in default for years and suddenly when they want something (like a home) they quickly enter rehab and expect the guarantor to do things quickly so they can buy their home. It doesnt work like that....bugging them could put your paperwork to the very bottom of the pile.

I didn't have my loan in default for years (just from about July 2004 through February 2005, a time when I truly could not make the payments) and I lived through their 18 month rehab program. So I would have liked for them to report the first three months it was out of rehab. It's not a matter that it took until January for them to report October through December. It took until January for them to report January. Essentially I was in their super secret rehab program for 21 months. I say super secret because nowhere on my credit reports did it indicate the loan was in rehab. So what's the incentive for rehab if you send years on it and then spend the next two or three or four years correcting your credit reports? I'll admit, I'm glad that I got things straight with the student loan people, but it would be nice if they could give a little help to us creditors when we need it. As in timely and correct reporting to the CRAs.

I also realize that sometimes it's the CRA's that f'ed up the reporting.

[LynnInMN]

Rehab only takes 9 months to complete. The information is also on Edfund's website...Edfund is who administers CSAC's loan http://www.edfund.org/students/studentpar.cfm?edfpage=/students/defaulted/student_options.html

Hardy hidden.

When you couldnt pay, did you contact your lender for a deferment or forebearance??

[Magdalen77]

Rehab only takes 9 months to complete. The information is also on Edfund's website...Edfund is who administers CSAC's loan http://www.edfund.org/students/studentpar.cfm?edfpage=/students/defaulted/student_options.html

Hardy hidden.

When you couldnt pay, did you contact your lender for a deferment or forebearance??

Yep, but I had run out of forebearance and I didn't make little enough to qualify for hardship. I can't say that they weren't very nice through the whole thing, they waited a while and gave me every chance before they put me into default. Actually the student loan people were the nicest creditors I ever had in that respect. They didn't treat me like s**t or insult me.

[Magdalen77]

Rehab only takes 9 months to complete. The information is also on Edfund's website...Edfund is who administers CSAC's loan

I don't really know about all that, PHEAA had a pre-rehab thing where you had to pay nine months of payments and then you were allowed to go into the rehab program. Which, like you said, was nine months. So, a total of 18 months until you're out of rehab. I don't know how other places, states, agencies do it. I just know PHEAA.

[LynnInMN]

I don't really know about all that, PHEAA had a pre-rehab thing where you had to pay nine months of payments and then you were allowed to go into the rehab program. Which, like you said, was nine months. So, a total of 18 months until you're out of rehab. I don't know how other places, states, agencies do it. I just know PHEAA.

Rehab is a federal program with all federal loans. It takes 9 months to complete...don't know where you are coming up with the 18 month quote.

[Magdalen77]

Rehab is a federal program with all federal loans. It takes 9 months to complete...don't know where you are coming up with the 18 month quote.

I come up with the "18 month quote" because I lived through it. PHEAA is interpreting the nine voluntary payments as being prior to the nine month rehab program. So, in Pennsylvania, with PHEAA, I was required to make nine months worth of payments and then I was eligible to enter the rehab program, which lasted nine months. It's disingenuous to tell people that a rehab program is only nine months long when there's a requirement to make nine months of payments before you are allowed into the rehab program. Again, I don't know what the deal is in Minnesota, Missouri or Mississippi. I just know what I had to do in Pennsylvania. It was 18 months of on-time payments before I was considered to have completed rehab and my loans came out of default.