Sallie Mae advice?

[somerandomschmo]

I have a student loan through Sallie Mae on which my grandfather was a cosigner. He died last year. Now we have Simm Associates telling us that due to the terms of the promissory note, the full balance is due. According to them, the fine print read that full balance will become due should one of the signers die. They said there is not a way through them to put it into just my name, or to even have my H put on as cosigner in place of my grandfather.

So after many chats with them, my options are to pay it off myself, for which I would need to find the money through a new loan as we don't have the amount needed to pay it off. We could have my grandfather's wife pay it, but she is currently battling cancer, so she doesn't really have the funds either. They mentioned also having the estate pay it, then we could repay the estate, but upon talking to stepgrandmother, she is basically the estate, so that isn't really feasible.

I take complete responsibility for this loan and do not want my step grandmother paying a single cent for it. That was the agreement I had with my grandfather and I fully expect to follow through on that. So my issue is that my credit isn't great, and DH's, while better, may still not be good enough to get a loan right now.

We should be getting some back in tax refunds, but we don't know how much yet. That also will take some time and I'd rather get this resolved ASAP.

Can anyone give me any ideas or advice for this situation?

Thank you so much.

[Susie]

Hmm. I've never had a co-signer, or co-signed for anyone but Calvin (and we've paid that loan off) -- but I have never heard of this. I understand why they won't substitute co-signers, but I had not heard of a loan coming due upon the death of a co-signer, especially if the borrower is paying on time!

Do you have copies of the docs that outline this? If not, can you request copies?

[panicked]

Jan 23, 2014 15:52:02 GMT -5 Susie said:

Hmm. I've never had a co-signer, or co-signed for anyone but Calvin (and we've paid that loan off) -- but I have never heard of this. I understand why they won't substitute co-signers, but I had not heard of a loan coming due upon the death of a co-signer, especially if the borrower is paying on time!

Do you have copies of the docs that outline this? If not, can you request copies?

Yeah, that. That's incredibly odd that they expect full payment like that. Not saying it isn't some weird loophole, but it's just not feasible for most people. If you had the means to pay it off in full, you wouldn't have the need to make payments, kwim? And also- Sallie Mae is a horrible, horrible business.

[glynn]

I would ask for copies and stall until I got my tax money back. Do oyur taxes ASAP. HOw much is the loan for.

[somerandomschmo]

Jan 23, 2014 15:55:44 GMT -5 panicked said:

Jan 23, 2014 15:52:02 GMT -5 Susie said:

And also- Sallie Mae is a horrible, horrible business.

You are so right. After all of this, I will not be doing business with them ever again. If my kids need school loans down the road, I will do everything to keep them from using Sallie Mae.

I've been looking for the documents, but they are not where I was sure I put them. I am looking tonight again. I asked for a copy of the promissory note a few times now, but have never actually gotten it.

I will be honest, I have been googling this Simm associates to make sure they're legitimate because I'm skeptical of them. Apparently there are other people who have had a similar situation happen with the death of the cosigner and these Simm people seem to be who Sallie Mae contracts with to do this end of the business. I'm still skeptical and want to be sure they are legit since you hear countless people getting scammed in similar situations.

[somerandomschmo]

And believe me, it would be paid off if I had the money. It's under $5000, but that is not an amount we have at the moment. We can have it within a few months, less with tax refund (if we get any, we adjusted withholdings last year), but we don't have it now.

I so wish we did. I hate that step grandma has to even think about this while she is fighting cancer.

[somerandomschmo]

Just found the promissory note. It does say the balance is due in full upon the death of one of the signers.

Now to figure out where to find this money.

[Deleted]

Jan 23, 2014 16:31:07 GMT -5 somerandomschmo said:

Just found the promissory note. It does say the balance is due in full upon the death of one of the signers.

Now to figure out where to find this money.

Crap I'm sorry. I would still try calling them up and asking to pay installments.

[somerandomschmo]

Jan 23, 2014 16:38:43 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Jan 23, 2014 16:31:07 GMT -5 somerandomschmo said:

Just found the promissory note. It does say the balance is due in full upon the death of one of the signers.

Now to figure out where to find this money.

Crap I'm sorry. I would still try calling them up and asking to pay installments.

I've tried that, but I will try again.

We still haven't received everything we need to file taxes either. Boo!

Oh well, we'll figure it out.

[thedutchgirl]

Have you tried to deal directly with Sallie Mae, rather than the third party? I would try that.

[shahiennasiripour]

Hi - I'm a reporter with the Huffington Post (my bio, recent stories: www.huffingtonpost.com/shahien-nasiripour/). I'd like to learn more about this situation. Perhaps this merits a news story. Please call/email me: [e-mail] or 917-267-2335. Thanks.

[illgetthere]

While I shouldn't be freaked, this is kind of scary that the news is creeping on our posts looking for stories.

Shahien, please don't link back here if you do something

[egeiger]

Sallie Mae is terrible to work with. My mom co-signed a loan for me, and I make every single payment. She filed for bankruptcy, so they stopped accepting my payments. I asked to have the loan rewritten to me only and they said no. So, they would rather receive no payments and have a co-signer in bankruptcy than to have one loan with the reputable party who pays on time? S.M.R.T.

[shahiennasiripour]

Apr 3, 2014 10:07:55 GMT -5 illgetthere said:

While I shouldn't be freaked, this is kind of scary that the news is creeping on our posts looking for stories.

Shahien, please don't link back here if you do something

Hi - I'm not trying to cause trouble here, so please don't freak out. I've heard about this company and its practices and I'm trying to learn more. If the allegations are true, the public should know about this. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. Feel free to call me - you don't have to share your name. My number is 917-267-2335. My email address is [e-mail]. Thanks again.

[goonfest]

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call the Huffington Post news. I have to convince my college students each semester that it isn't a good source for a college research project. I wish I could add this to my arsenal of reasons why they can find much more credible information.

OP - sorry about the shitty loan situation. I hope you got it worked out.

[shahiennasiripour]

Apr 4, 2014 10:45:33 GMT -5 goonfest said:

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call the Huffington Post news. I have to convince my college students each semester that it isn't a good source for a college research project. I wish I could add this to my arsenal of reasons why they can find much more credible information.

OP - sorry about the shitty loan situation. I hope you got it worked out.

Dear Goonfest: I am looking for people who have experienced this specific issue with Simm. It's called reporting. If you don't respect my outlet, that's fine. But please don't attempt to hinder my attempt to learn. Thanks. -Shahien Nasiripour