Loan Consolidation question with NextStudent??
November 8, 2010 by admin
Filed under Student loans
I want to know if anyone else has been screwed by NextStudent. Originally, I was quoted to have a 5. 0 fixed interest rate for consolodating my Student loans. After some time went by and the loans got processed. . . they said that “Xpress Loan Servicing” will be my lender and the interest rate that is shown on my bill is now 6. 625%. Can anything be done about this? What can I do?
Did you get a TIL (Truth in Lending) statement? It shows how much you are borrowing, how much the interest rate is, what the payments are, how many payments, the total interest you will pay over the life of the loan and the total amount you will pay. If the TIL says 6. 625% and you signed it, you are out of luck.
Unfortunately, loan brokers (people who help find you a loan, but don’t actually lend the money) can say pretty much anything they want. They can “quote” you a low fixed rate, but the actual loan contract determines what the terms actually are.
Check your TIL, if it says something different than your bill, you can contact a lawyer about getting the interest rate corrected. . .
Good luck.
I had the very same thing happen to me w. Nextstudent. I called their customer service and explained that I was quoted 4. 75% and exactly how much my payment was going to be. I was also worried b. c. I had originally signed my app electronically in 03/06 but in Aug. 06, they told me I had to sign it again. (Red Flag!) Something about a different company servicing my loan. I was getting ready to contact my local ombudsman, but customer service actually did what they were supposed to although it did take a few weeks. I finally received a new loan statement/disclosure reflecting the 4. 75% I was quoted. I did follow up with a certified letter though, after I initially contacted customer service, and I asked them to send me a copy of my promissary note. Bottom line, they can’t give you a new rate after you’ve been quoted a different one; it’s illegal. Good luck.
It should be written in your contract that they are allowed to “sell” your loan. Whatever stipulations are stated along that line are legal, as long as you agreed to it by signing your name to the contract. Therefore, I would check my contract to see if selling your loan was stated. If it was, and you signed, then you only have 2 options: either pay it off or accept the new terms.
Have you checked around to see if you can refinance that loan into a fixed rate? Do you own a home? If you own a home and refinance your mortgage, you can get that student loan paid off.
You better contact :
U. S. Department of Education
Consolidation Department
Loan Origination Center
PO Box 242800
Louisville KY 40224-2800
phone: 800-557-7392
web-site: http://www. loanconsolidation. ed. gov