Loan consolidation??

[Musclez]

Alright, I've been in school forever and never been in the "real world". I've worked a ton of part time jobs and been frequently paid by the hour, but never had a salary and loans to repay. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Any recs as to who's good to consolidate with?

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[EctopicFetus]

Sallie Mae is who I went with. Make sure you wrap this up by June 1 or July 1.. The rates will go up then. Ask your schools FA dept about consolidating there are negatives to it (short term stuff). I believe Suntrust has a good option too.

 

[EctopicFetus]

I did Sallie Mae and AES because AES wouldnt let you consolidate with anyone but them.

 

[mward04]

Alright, I've been in school forever and never been in the "real world". I've worked a ton of part time jobs and been frequently paid by the hour, but never had a salary and loans to repay. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Any recs as to who's good to consolidate with?

I heard that for some reason, the following group knows how to get you consolidated at 2.8% (last year's rate). http://www.graduateleverage.com/

I don't know how they can still do it, but that's what I've heard. I would definitely check that out if you can.

Mike

 

[cowgirlcarrie]

I consoldated with AES and I advise strongly against them! They screwed up my consolidation horribly. I actually found out today that when they dispursed my funds to "pay off" the loans with my original lender, they accidentally sent the wrong amount. Thus, the orginal lender sent me a bill that said I was delinquent by 20 days. Apparently, your original lender must be paid in full by the consolidation loan people or they return the money to the consolidation people and request that the correct amount be sent. My consolidation was supposedly completed in November,so I already had that loan placed in an Economic hardship deferment for residency. So all along I have been accruing interest on my original loan AND the new consolidated loan which never paid off the original! Anyways, they are fixing everything supposedly and apologized for the mistake, but I am sure that somehow I will eventually get stuck paying off more interest caused by this mistake just because they are incompetent. So anyways, be careful who you choose and make sure that they actually pay off your orginal loans correctly.

 

[BMW19]

That sucks Carrie, how do we consolidate with someone else if we have AES already? I thought there was this new single lender law that prohibits us from consolidating with someone else?

B-

I consoldated with AES and I advise strongly against them! They screwed up my consolidation horribly. I actually found out today that when they dispursed my funds to "pay off" the loans with my original lender, they accidentally sent the wrong amount. Thus, the orginal lender sent me a bill that said I was delinquent by 20 days. Apparently, your original lender must be paid in full by the consolidation loan people or they return the money to the consolidation people and request that the correct amount be sent. My consolidation was supposedly completed in November,so I already had that loan placed in an Economic hardship deferment for residency. So all along I have been accruing interest on my original loan AND the new consolidated loan which never paid off the original! Anyways, they are fixing everything supposedly and apologized for the mistake, but I am sure that somehow I will eventually get stuck paying off more interest caused by this mistake just because they are incompetent. So anyways, be careful who you choose and make sure that they actually pay off your orginal loans correctly.

 

[la gringa]

IIRC from the exit interview last may, with whom you consolidate depends the source(s) of the original loan(s). for example, my original loans were all with sallie mae and were all from med school and under one interest rate - so it was pretty simple. you need to talk to the people at your school, or call your lender, or both.

 

[cowgirlcarrie]

That sucks Carrie, how do we consolidate with someone else if we have AES already? I thought there was this new single lender law that prohibits us from consolidating with someone else?

B-

I still get stuff in the mail from various lenders that want me to consolidate with them , so I wasn't aware that you were restricted in anyway. I chose Brazos Higher Education who uses AES to service the loans because all of my med school loans were through them and it was easier. But I also had federal loans from college that I consolidated with them that were initially from Nelnet and that wasn't a problem. Now if you have already consolidated, I don't know if you can get out of that loan and reconsolidate with someone else (if that was your question).

 

[waterski232002]

whatever you do... don't consolidate your loans with your wife! If you die, 100% of your educational loans will die with you. If you consolidate with them, then THEY become responsible for the remainder of your loans when you die.

Another good reason to pay off your loans as SLOWLY as possible.... If die, you own nothing!

 

[Squad51]

whatever you do... don't consolidate your loans with your wife! If you die, 100% of your educational loans will die with you. If you consolidate with them, then THEY become responsible for the remainder of your loans when you die.

Another good reason to pay off your loans as SLOWLY as possible.... If die, you own nothing!

Not anymore. Recent change in the law for federal consolidations through the Dept. of Ed. separates the loans on death for joint consolidations.

 

[Realtime]

I'll also warn against AES. We consolidated last year (seperately) and while I used Suntrust and had a smooth and easy consolidation, my husband used AES and they still haven't corrected mistakes made last August. The process was started in April. They put the loans through twice, bumping the interest rate each time. They do put loans through twice sometimes so that loans can be added to an original consolidation, but they put the entire amount through twice in his case. They also kept sending documents to the wrong address. Thankfully we still got our mail, but I don't know why it took three calls to change the address! I caught the mistake when I saw the increased interest rate on my husband's statement and to be honest we still aren't completely sure if it is corrected. This reminds me to follow up...again. Additionally, because they had to put the loans through again to correct we had to make a payment while waiting for the process to finish. That was definitely the wake up we needed to keep in mind how much we will be paying out monthly when deferments end! They had us do some paperwork to get the payment refund (since they aknowledged it was their fault) and we never heard from them about it. Hmmm...I'll be calling today!

Oh, but like mortgages, apparently things can change. I received a letter this month that Citibank (the lender actually) is now going to be managing my loans and Suntrust is out of the picture. Que sera sera....

 

[EctopicFetus]

So I had my Financial Aid exit interview today... Im officially worried...:GULP:

 

[DrMom]

So I had my Financial Aid exit interview today... Im officially worried...:GULP:

Mine's on Monday

 

[waterski232002]

Not anymore. Recent change in the law for federal consolidations through the Dept. of Ed. separates the loans on death for joint consolidations.

That must be new within the last 8 months..... But what's the point of joint consolidation anyways? Just makes more confusion when you get that divorce during the 2nd year of residency.