mommabear319
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida. I have a parent loan from Sallie Mae. I had been paying ahead. The monthly was only about $50 per month so I paid additional as often as I could. Something changed (a new law was passed I was told) and the amount doubled to $100.00 so I could not pay extra as often. Anyway, I fell behind. I ended up two months behind - or $200.00. Even though I paid the $100 for the current month, I remained two months behind and they were threatening collections. I called them to discuss my account and the rep offered to "back end" the $200.00 and rushed into a script for me to accept this offer. When she got to the part about "this may cause you to owe additional", I asked her to explain. Here is what she said - At the time, the balance on the loan was only $900.00. She said they could stop collections by taking the $200 outstanding and add it to the $900.00. This would ensure I did not end up in collections and would leave me paying $1100.00 instead. I told her I did not understand how they could add the $200.00 to the balance. If I were able to pay it, it would be deducted. It wasn't like I borrowed an additional $200. This did not seem legal to me. At the very least it would not have been a smart choice (in my opinion). I told them I did not agree and wanted to think about it and would call back if I decided on this option. She said she couldn't guarantee the offer would be available if I did not accept now. I hung up, did some serious cutting back and paid the outstanding amount before the end of the month and got the account current. Was what I was offered legal? If not, I'd like to report this to someone. Thank you for your time! 
