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Justice@studentloanjustice.org
Tennessee
The following are testimonials submitted to this site. To tell your story, please go here. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Robert My loan started out at under $45,000. The payoff now is over a quarter of a million dollars. My loans has been passed around six to seven times. I will have to get that info. I know that student loan express now has it. But the ones I can remember are Wachovia & Nations. They cant seem to able to tell me the straight scoop on my interest rate. When I look online and call its 5.25%. When I get my statement it is 8.25%. I will add to this. HELP! Currently on deferment. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tracy Lynn I
saw
a commercial
for
a school
in Nashville
in 1989
that
offered
computer
and
paralegal
classes.
It seemed
like
a great
place,
smaller
classes,
I could
attend
at night
a few
days
a week
and
still
keep
my day
job
in addition
to raising
a baby
on my
own.
I just
wanted
to better
myself
and
my childs
life
by having
an education.
I signed
up and
the
office
people
gave
me only
one
choice
of loan
to apply
for.
I did
not
know
for
years
that
there
were
MANY
places
to apply
for
student
aid.
So in
attending
this
place
for
approximately
a year
I signed
two
loan
agreements
from
horton
bank
for
2625.00
a total
of 5250.00.
I became
increasingly
frustrated
with
the
school
because
I wasn't
really
learning
anything
and
the
teachers
kept
quitting
and
revolving
so much
that
I never
knew
who
would
be in
class
from
day
to day.
some
teachers
didn't
even
show
up sometimes
and
we sat
in three
hours
of class
doing
nothing.
I got
fed
up with
what
I felt
it was
a really
phoney
situa! Maybe
six
months
later,
the
FBI
and
the
TBI
(TN
Bureau
of Investigation)
shut
the
school
down,
took
out
entire
file
cabinets
of information
and
padlocked
the
doors.
This
schools
name
was
Edmondson
Junior
College
on Murfreesboro
Road
in Nashville,
TN.
Six
employees
were
prosecuted
for
defrauding
the
Dept
of Education
by coaching
students
to falsify
financial
assistant
applications,
altering
ability
to benefit
tests,
and
altering
and
destroying
financial
aid
records
in an
attempt
to cover
up the
fraudulent
activity
in addition
to signing
school
loan
checks
for
students
no longer
enrolled
in the
school.
I could
not
prove
I went
to school,
I could
not
transfer
any
credits
to another
school
and
they
did
not
refund
my unused
portion
of monies
not
used
when
I signed
out
of school.
I really
thought
for
several
years
I could
fight
this.
Some
people
got
their
loans
discharged
because
it closed
down
while
they
were
attending
or they
had
dropped
out
only
90 days
prior.
since
it had
been
at least
6 months
for
me since
leaving
the
school
NOBODY
would
help
me.
I really
thought
I had
a decent
case
because
my education
I received
was
worthless,
nontransferable
credits
and
they
took
the
remainder
of money
not
used
from
the
loan.
Well
by 93
it went
into
default.
I still
felt
like
somebody
should
work
with
me on
this
situation
but
to no
avail,
nobody
cared.
Well
in 96
they
started
harassing
me at
my job
daily
til
I gave
in and
agreed
to payments
and
a consolidation.
Heck
I still
don't
even
know
what
consolidation
is.
The
company
I was
working
for
closed
down
and
sent
our
jobs
overseas
and
to Mexico.
So I
was
in a
tremendous
financial
bind.
I got
my car
repossessed
after
paying
on it
3.5
years.
I liked
6 months
having
it paid
off!
I was
in extreme
financial
straits
and
the
loan
defaulted
again
in 97.They
have
been
taking
my income
tax
returns
every
year
and
at this
point! Right now as of 4-13-05 I have paid in between payments and income tax returns they took from me 11,695.14 Two weeks ago I got a call at work from someone who did not identify themselves first, nor tell me what company they were calling from, they simply stated they had an outstanding balance of 2,953.77 and they wanted to know how i intended to pay it back.I said can you fax me a copy of this? she said I do not have to fax you ANYTHING! very hateful and very mean tone. I said can you tell me how much my original loan was? she said I dont have to give you that information either. She proceeded to start screaming at me. I had to yell over her to explain the school closed I had a fraudulent education and she replied that was my own stupidity for attending an unaccredited school. The yelling went back and forth until she told me she would be garnishing my wages and hung up on me. I was so upset and mad during this conversation that it did not dawn on me that the woman didnt even bother to tell me who she was or what company she represented!! Well a week went by and this mysterious phone call (they block their number on the caller ID)was made to the book keeper at my job and she said she wanted to know how long I had been employed there. My boss by now was aware of the situation going on and he told the book keeper to get a name a number and company she was representing and that any information like that would not be given over the phone. She would have to fax it to our business to be read and filled out and she would fax it back. Well the woman did not want to give her name or the company but finally gave in and gave the info. Pioneer Credit Recovery Inc. Well they never faxed anything. This week they call and this time it was the screaming woman again in the beginning. A simply impossible woman to deal with. She stated not only were they going to garnish me they were going to take my income tax return again this year and that this would continue to happen to me for the rest of my life. Yes I said the rest of my life until I agreed to make VOLUNTARY payments. She claimed that my income tax return and the garnishment would not go towards paying off my debt. This scared me to death. Well she continued yelling and so did I, until this really nice con man got on the phone and basically calmed me down. He almost had me talked into making payments of 50 a month and doing the rehab on my loan. I got him to fax me papers about it and he told me to call him back at 3:30 and he would walk thru the paper work with me on the phone word by word. At this time I had no idea they could garnish me without going to court. My boss was convinced this could not occur either. So he suggested they give me a copy of the garnishment order to read over before agreeing to sign these papers for the 50 a month payments. Well I called Pioneer back at 3:00 pm instead of the 3:30 pm appointment time. I once again get the screaming woman who says she is the man I spoke to earliers supervisor and that he was busy and she wasnt going to let me speak to him the rest of the day! I said fine. Tell Jeremy I called and heres my number and I am going to work with him on this situation. She said hes not calling you back you will have to deal with me. I said fine, send me a copy of the garnishment order you are intending to send to me and my boss so I can see its for real before I agree to sign this agreement. She said you will receive a copy soon and so will your boss. I said so you are going to garnish me and try to make me make payments plus take my income tax refund she said yes! This blew me away. We again started getting loud on the phone and I finally gave up in disgust and told her to tell Jeremy to return my call, and that I refused to talk to anyone who cannot treat me like a human being and hung up on her. I called Sallie Mae last week and got my original files with my signature and my repayments that had been made so far and was blown away I'd already paid 11,695.14! I called a lady named Terry at USA funds where the loan came from and she was actually pretty nice. She said they were indeed taking my income tax refund again this year however they were unable to take it all. my refund this year is for 3052.00 and they are taking a little less than 2,400. I said why not take the entire amount owed and she said we can't do that. So her advice to me was for me to be patient and let them apply the 2400 to the outstanding balance and then write them a cashier check for the remaining 640.00 some odd dollars that will still be owed from the remaining amount of the refund I will receive that they cannot take. So, I filed electronically today. It will take 6 to 8 weeks for this to take place with the refund being taken and applied to my balance. In the meantime I await a garnishment proceeding to start any day now and probably take place the entire time until my income tax refund reaches them and I get to pay off the remaining balance. By the way I only make 7.00 an hour and I support a legally blind disabled teenager as well as look after an 86 year old aunt. I do not know if it is true or not but they say they are going to garnish 25% of my bring home pay. But my friends...daylight is in sight for me finally because of my income tax refund paying it off for me this year. it appears that a 5100 dollar loan will cost you 14,648.91. According to these papers I have my account accrues 59 cents per day interest so it may be a slightly higher figure by the time I actually get to the point of payoff! I could have went to the mafia and got a loan for less payback than this! Sallie Mae is a crook and its a shame and disgrace what they are doing to people!!! Please say a little prayer for me that this truly will end this hell I have lived through for so many years. Finally I can start to rebuild my credit!!
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