The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, A Memoir, Bill Bryson, page 63, (2006).
"Sue the Bastards!"
Victor J. Yannacone, Jr., Speech, East Lansing, Michigan, April 22 1970
Like Sallie Mae. And their ilk. (P.S. ---Don't you love that phrase? and their ilk?)
Student lenders are and their collectors have to be some of the lowest forms of life out there. Somewhere slightly ahead of amoebas, but definitely behind ants.
I have a loan with Sallie Mae, and have faithfully made payments for over ten years. I recently reread the the contract, and discovered that because I was disabled, my loans were to be forgiven, ad I no longer had to make payments. All I had to was send in the the paperwork, and voila! No more student loans. (They have to discharge the loans upon death of the the lendee, anyway).
So in February, shortly after being given my Last of my x months to live forecasts, I started going through my financial affairs and discovered the dischargeability of the the student loans. My oncologist quickly (within a week filled ) out the other paperwork, and I waited (The sixty days) which they are allowed to make a decision, meanwhile not making payments because I was not required to. (Now, I understand that they get to make their own independent evaluation of my condition, But when your oncologists are calling it quits, what do think the answer is going to be?) 120 days later, I started getting telephone calls demanding payment . When I explained that discharge was under consideration the person on the other end of the phone told me that decision had been made and been denied. When I inquired as to when this decision had been made, and on what basis) I couldn't get a straight answer.
Of course, you can never get an answer as to whom you are speaking to, they say tell them you spoke Bob1178K4". Yeah that's gonna get me real far when I'm trying to straighten out my credit rating or my wife's. Even the "Supervisors" don't have real names. I just tell them I can't speak to people who don't have last names , addresses or direct dial telephone numbers. When I did finally receive the letter, the claim made by Sallie Mae was that someone other than my doctor had filled out the form. I did check with my oncologist and he was pissed. He confirmed that he had filled out the form. I wrote the legal department around June 15 and indicated that if they didn't figure it out I (Or my estate would) sue if this matter was not immediately cleared up. Of course, I have not a word from them since sending the letter.
If you or your loved one (whether or not the loan was with Sallie Mae) is interested is in possibly suing these goons for breach of contract, fraud, etc. please leave a comment with an e-mail where I can get a hold of you.
6 comments:
Wow have you just struck a nerve!
My sister is bi-polar and has been on SS disability for several years now. She has been fighting this very battle for over a year now. Her psychiatrist (who works for a state run clinic in Kansas) has certified that she is disabled and cannot work three times now, with remarkably similar results to your own.
I have been after my sister to fight this for months, however she has no assets and her credit was destroyed by her illness years ago (a bi-polar suffering through a manic phase can make illogical choices). She feels that she has nothing to lose because they can't really do anything to her. Because her illness is triggered by anxiety you can imagine how enthusiastic she is about becoming a plaintiff in any suit.
These bastards are the worst form of scum our society has to offer. They prey upon the injured, the infirm, and the weak with the full knowledge that they are less likely to fight back.
We can at least take some small solace from the fact that Congress is about to reduce Sallie Mae's fat federal subsidy down to a more reasonable level.
Tom Ashworth
p.s. On a somewhat related note, I've been pushing my senators for years to allow a full student loan interest deduction on state income taxes (and not capped like the feds). If you want to keep young professionals in Iowa, there's your answer.
Wow nice grammar in my last post. I was so pissed I couldn't write right.
Ashworth
Note to self: Never piss off an attorney who is not troubled with a heavy case load at the moment. :)
In all seriousness. Best of luck my friend. Hopefully others will hear your cry and you can rally together. Can you say, class action?
This post and Aaron's recent post make me think what mom has often said - what the hell do people without lawyers in the family do?
I got a same situation too, but our sickness is different. By the true, I have try to end up my life before. But I fail to make it, I was very thinking, how really can make my sickness worst then now. My life time may have only less then 1 year. But i think 1 year for me, I cant do anything. I just try to end it up as fast as I can, now I choosing a way to kill my self by natural, work work and keep working, without resting, I know I will gonna fall down faster then fast. Life for me, I with no more hope, means hopeless. Before someone who give me strenght to survive, but within this few days. I dont think it will have again. Just to say farewell to the world.
Hi Tom, you can also pay your debts the way I did it. There are lots of things to be thankful for but i guess none of them is my debts. I don't want to sound bitter but it is something i can hardly be proud of. My family knows about all my debts, they really wanted me to help on this but then, all of them have their own life too, until they discuss me about the free credit repair, credit report score, Three Credit Report, Bankruptcy Credit Report now I am free from debts You can also finish paying all of your debts after 2 months like me,goodluck on yours thanks for sharing
Thanks,
Gabby
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