Suntrust physician loans - review

[Torsed]

The purpose of this thread is to share my experience with SUNTRUST to give others an idea of using this company.

I took out a Suntrust bank physician loan to help me through fellowship training because one still only makes peanuts even with moonlighting. I borrowed 15k and the interest rate was 11.5 percent (in 2009). I really didn't have much of a choice as one does not have many options. The interest on this amount (to give you general idea) was approximately 150 a month.

PLUS: They get the money to you ASAP (2 or 3 days).

NEGATIVE: Customer service is awful, wait times are plus 10 minutes on the phone, when you do get someone they often can't help you and have to refer you to the commercial department who is staffed by equally brainless zombies. The customer service people are rather rude, a massive turn off. No one is helpful.

NEGATIVE: The website is difficult to use, hard to find numbers easily.

NEGATIVE: For the physician loans, they require you to send in a letter (in writing) that you are moving to a new residence (location).

NEGATIVE: I paid my loan off and didn't hear from them for a month and a half, when I called to inquire if everything was satisfactory, the said I owed 45 cents. I asked them if I could pay and they said NO! (What the hell!?) The representative said they would write it off, but its been a few weeks and I am still waiting for a confirmation letter.

OVERALL, I would recommend other sources of loans if you are looking. I would have rather dealt with a bank in town that you can call/show up and speak with easily. SUNTRUST may seem like easy one stop shopping for a physician loan, but my experience has been LESS THAN IDEAL.

Hope this helps some poor, unfortunate soul who follows here.

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[cincincyreds]

I'm just thankful I've never had to borrow money from scum like suntrust. At least you are getting the word out to everyone. You are trying to be responsible and they are trying to screw you over. Maybe you could write to your attorney general about or consumer affairs. This is ridiculous. If you call them at any point, you should be allowed to pay off the debt. I bet in a few months, they will say you owe 5 bucks and they will just continue the trend. Just disgusting on your part. You are trying to be an outstanding citizen and they are just screwing with you. It is sad how others treat physicians.

Like I said, thanks for getting the word out. The internet has an amazing ability of spreading the information. If this stupidity continues with them, I would just talk to a lawyer and have a certified letter sent to them.

 

[DZMotors]

I had a physician loan with Stuntrust bank for the last few years of residency and it was one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with.

Their customer service is even worse then their awfully high interest rates.
'Physician loans' are considered commercial loans even though they are all based on your personal social security number rather than a tax-ID etc. Which is fine, but the commercial loan accounts are not accessible when you call in to customer servie on weekends or evenings (if you're in residency and your only time off is odd hours... good luck getting a hold of anyone!).
Then when you call in their security questions are ridiculous... unlike any other financial organization I've dealt with.
(Perhaps that's a result of this http://articles.cnn.com/2002-07-10/...ts-social-security-numbers-hijackers?_s=PM:US)

The senior customer service reps never followed through to return my calls.
I've asked about online access to my account... and it was never made available.
It is rather surprising that they target this loan to physicians... when they have no means for us to contact them during our hours.

My recommendation if you're in a bind during residency is that you are better off with a 0 or low interest credit card then these guys.