Student Loans

[T4]

I was checking my account on line today, and saw that my account had a large withdrawal from it. Lo and behold....it was a withdrawal from Student Loan. Now, I don't mind the fact that they took their payment...but what I DO mind is the fact that I haven't received any notification that it was going to happen, PLUS...it wasn't it this months budget!!

Does anyone know a number that I can call and contact them to see what's going on?

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

[Cartersmom]

Yep. the same thing happened to me the first payment they took out on me awhile back. I was only working part time in fast food, had only the rent in the account, went to the bank to get it out, and it was half gone :(
I was so mad, crying at the bank in front of everyone, wondering how I was going to make rent and what was going on...they called the Ntional Student Ctr for me, and I was so upset, and the guy on the phone just said that they sent me 2 notices by mail..RIGHT they did!! I hadn't moved! My address was the same!! BUt, my word against his..I guess they don't realize how easy it is to forget the payment is coming out! I had no idea even what the payment amount was going to be. UNACCEPTABLE!!
Thank God I paid off those creeps 2 years ago..

[Cartersmom]

1-888-815-4514.
Good luck....more info at canlearn.ca

[T4]

Thanks I will try calling them and see what I can find out. :)

[je12122]

Good Luck with trying to get them to help you I have had nothing but problems with them. It started a couple years ago when I was on strike from my job for 6 months. Within the first week that we went out I contacted the National Student Loan Center to apply for Interest Relief. They sent me out a form in the mail ( which I was surprised I even got as I never get things they tell me they send me lol) I filled it out right away and faxed it back to them so they could process it faster then mailing it. My payments were set up to come out of my bank acct automatically so these stopped all together. I did not move at this time or change my phone number keep this in mind. Well 6 months went by and we went back to work. I called them and told them that they could start taking out the payments again as I was back in work, and that's what the representative said "well you didn't make any payments to us for 6 months so your loan was sent to Collections". I flipped! I told her that I had applied for interest relief and she said that they never received the form. So I got even more furious and asked if they hadn't received it why did they stop the payments coming out of my acct and why didn't they call or mail me a notice as none of my information had changed? She said it was my responsibility not theirs for what happened. Now I can't get another student loan until this is paid off in full with collections, plus it ruined my credit and they take all my gst cheques and Income tax cheques. I absolutely hate The National Student Loan Center, and when I mentioned what happened to me with some of my coworkers some had similar problems with them as well. :mad:

[trinity]

I have a coworker in the same position-she applied for interest relief, thought it was approved and they went and sent it to collections. This made her mad so now she won't pay at all, and good luck with filing her taxes on time either. Not the smartest choice but you can see how people get screwed over. I have another coworker who wanted to pay her loan off faster so she took a second job and started making extra payments, so they UPPED her payment to $500 and said it was because it appeared she was ABLE to pay it. It made it hard when she got laid off from the second job and they would not lower the payment. For me, I cant get them to STOP sending me statements in the mail, I view my balance online and I have all the rest of my banking and bills set up via epost or email, but not that one-I cannot get them to go paperless! I also tried paying extra one month and they just took less of an automated payment at month-end. Listening to all these horror stories, I am going to let sleeping dogs lie and shred the statements monthly and not pay any extra, I'll be paying $92 per month til I'm dead.Anything appears to be better than talking to them!

[bubbles]

i had a similar situation about a year ago. I applied for intrest relief and faxed in the info at thier request since it was quicker. I got a letter a few weeks later saying that my payment was past due. I called them up only to find out that they never received the faxes. I resent all the information to them by fax as they assured me that they dont usually have problems receiving faxes...lol. ya right!! Again a few weeks later i get yet another bill and letter so again i called them and guess what they didnt receive that fax either. I asked them if there was somewhere i could physically bring the info so we could get the intrest relief started. They then told me that it was sent to collections for non payment and it could not be back dated even thou it was there mistake for losing the info. So now and for the last year i have had a payment of 293 a month which i dont pay and my intrest is growing every day with no way to stop it. They have offered to lower my payments but i dont see any point in paying it since my payments that i can afford are lower than the interest every month!!

This is insane. There should be something that can be done. I have heard that after a certain amount of time has gone by that you can apply to have the interest frozen or the loan im not really sure but im going to look into someday

[subaru2222]

i am on interest relief for my student loan and I haev been since 2003. i have had nothing but good luck (knock on wood) they send me the forms I fax them in and a few days later I get the confirmation in the mail saying I it was approved. Even if I go over the 6 month period and forget about it they always freeze payment unit they receive my fax. I know what you are all saying happens a lot and it sucks when it does. But I guess sometimes they get it right.

[kaj27]

Did you miss or skip out on your payment? They have every right to withdrawal the funds if you don't pay on time.

[Cherry Pop]

I'm on interest relief too and always have to reapply every 6 months. They never send me anything in the mail. I just know that at the 1st of Dec. and the 1st of June, I have to call them for interest relief forms. I always fax them as well and I always have problems with them. I've learned though that you have to continue calling them every 3 days after you send in your forms and bug them or they put off your forms and after 30 days the forms expire. Everytime I call I have a pad of paper and a pen. I write down the person's name, date and time of the call and any info they give or say to me at that time. Then later if I have to speak to a supervisor, and believe me many times I have had to, I have all the info in front of me and they can hardly argue with dates, times , names etc. Yes it is a big pain in the butt to do all that but it's worth it cause they can ruin your credit. My credit is very good and it's important to me for it to stay that way.

[T4]

Uggh,,, this sounds like it's going to be a major pain!! I work all day, so hopefully they are there in the evenings. Do you have to be in a certain pay bracket in order to receive interest relief?

[Rae_Maill]

i'm still in school but this trash with student loans scares the crap outta me. I just keep wishing i had never taken out a student loan. or that i won the lottery so i didnt' have to worry about it :rofl:

[Tara]

I won't go back to school unless I'm able to pay for it myself, or take out a personal loan or what have you. Preferably pay for it myself. Which means I'm never going back to school LOL

[Cartersmom]

well a student loan is technically a better idea, IF you can forsee yourself being able to pay it off without interest relief. The problem is the schmoes at the NSC seem woefully inept.
But it's not considered "bad debt", interest rate isn't bad, you have up to 10 yrs to pay it off (so it ends up being a very manageable payment) and you get a non refundable tax credit on your income taxes..

For the people who have had it go to collections, you need to try to get the black mark on your credit reversed..you can both PROVE that they are incorrect, and were incorrect for sending it to collections (as why did they ever cease payments if not that you applied (and were accepted for) interest relief.
Put everything in writing, be as specific as possible, CC yourself a copy of everything you send and the date, and follow up with a supervisor.
Believe me, I am not normally so anal, but when it comes to credit you will be kicking yourself for the rest of your life if you don't get it reversed.

I had a similar incident re: a bad mark on my credit report, which I didn't have a clue about..and I had applied for a mastercard and if you're rejected they're required to tell you the reason. I got this nice little letter in the mail saying there was an account in arrears with Atlantic Health Sciences Corp ! ( I think that was who it was from) becasue I needed an ambulance at one point, I PAID the bill, and they didn't think I did or whatever ...and sent me to collections or somrthing, but I was totally unaware, no one called or wrote a letter to me..and I didn't have reason to suspect anything since I did pay it..
We fought and fought and finally got it reversed. I didn't even have a recipt (it was for the previous year and I was a teenager..) lol

[mommahas2babies]

a little off topic I appologize but does anyone know about declaring bankrupcy on student loans? I know everything has changed with the rules in the last few years... I will never pay off my student loan at this rate... payments are 557 a month! interest of 120 a month... I can only afford 50 a month on it... anyone know if u can declare bankrupcy on student loans?? if so.. how long... how.. etc...

[Mandi]

a little off topic I appologize but does anyone know about declaring bankrupcy on student loans? I know everything has changed with the rules in the last few years... I will never pay off my student loan at this rate... payments are 557 a month! interest of 120 a month... I can only afford 50 a month on it... anyone know if u can declare bankrupcy on student loans?? if so.. how long... how.. etc...


ten years I believe from when you left college or university

[Tara]

Yep it is 10 years

[friskeywhiskey]

they do have debt reduction programs available for canada and new brunswick student loans. if you qualify, you can get up to 26,000 off your canada and 50% or $4,000 which ever is less from your NB wiped from your loans. I know that you must have your account in good standing (at least making your interest payments) and make under a certain amount of money to qualify. Very similar to an interest relief application. You also have to have exhausted all your interest relief and a certain number of years have to have passed since you graduated. I recieved it last year and will be applying again this year.

[Cartersmom]

I thought you could never get discharged from student loans?

[sugadip]

You can default on student loans 10 years from your last day in school. I just set up my student loan payments which are $44 a month, $14 going toward the loan and $30 is interest. That seems like a lot of interest to me on a $4000 loan. I'll be paying until 2020 (seriously).

[trinity]

I briefly saw part of an article in a paper somewhere about getting money off your student loans if you 1. graduated from a NB uni and 2. had been working in NB- it is basically an incentive to stay here. Well, I did both and I'm still here. I want to find out more info about this, I only owe 5900$.

[Cartersmom]

If that's the same one on TV they're talking about the tuition rebate program. Basically you get half your tuition back, to a max of 10,000.
Your tuition is 5k, you get back 2500. BUT they don't just cut you a cheque. The rebate is applied against the NB tax owing on your tax return..so you'll get it if you have a job, but it might take a few yrs depending on your income level to see it all.
More info is at gnb.ca keyword finance..lol yes I watch too much tv.