I have been a student loan account holder for a few years now. I just started repaying last summer. I owe them a large amount, as I went to an expensive school.
Things got rough when I first gave them a change of address (before repayment started) and never got anything in the mail from them. I was at my parents' house maybe 4 months later, and they had gotten a letter from Citi Bank (they are my cosigners) that stated I was 3 months behind on my payments and had to pay it immediately. I was furious, so I made calls, told them my situation and got a deferment. That was my first negative interaction with them (not receiving notice of my payments).
Then when that came out of deferment, my husband had lost his job and I was only working part time, with other bills and loans to pay, so I was struggling. I called to work something out, and the representative I spoke with was incredibly unprofessional and rude. I asked if there was anything they could do for me. I told them I would like to give them some money, but that I could not afford my monthly payment on top of the 3 months I owed on past balances. The woman said there was nothing they could do. When I asked why they could not lower the payment and why it was so high, she said, "well you do owe us $50,000." She said it to me as if I was refusing to work with them, when in fact they were not working with me.
So I am stuck with $2000 in past due on top of my monthly payments and other bills and loans, and I do not know what to do. For the past 4 weeks I have tried calling them to make a payment of what I can and to try one more time to see if there is anything they can do, but every single time I call (and I try every number listed), the line is BUSY!
You would think a loan company would do anything to get money out of a customer, and yet Citi Bank loan representatives do not work with you at all and do not want to take anything I can give them. They want the full amount, which is impossible for me to pay right now without taking out another loan. On top of all that, they keep calling my parents, who are the cosigners, to tell them I am behind, that I am not paying and that I am refusing to do anything about it. Unbelievable. Citi Bank student loans are impossible to work with, and I will not ever recommend them to anyone.
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