Manhandled no more

Sallie Mae should change its name to Bullie Mae While Sallie Mae pretends to have the best interests of their customers at heart, they have covertly worked hard behind the scenes to pass anti-competitive legislation that costs students and parents billions of dollars. Can you imagine the uproar if homeowners were suddenly told that if they want to refinance their home, with a different lender, they can't; -- or even worse, if they were informed that they cannot re-finance at all? Specifically, I'm talking about Sallie Mae's successful effort, this year, to add to and solidify the restriction-of-trade laws that have dogged the federal student loan program for decades. This collection of laws has made it difficult, if not impossible, for student loan borrowers to shop around for the lowest available rates when they wish to consolidate their education debt. Put another way, Sallie Mae and a few other big lenders didn't want the lure of lower rates tempting their customers to switch to competitors. That's why they lobbied so hard for these restrictions. And as of now, they are still winning. For years, participants in the federal student loan program have converted their variable-rate federally guaranteed college loans into fixed-rate federal consolidation loans, to lock in favorable interest rates, in much the same way that homeowners do with their mortgages. And for the same reasons. But under the new laws effective July 1, 2006, the vast majority who had previously consolidated their loans are now legally barred from ever re-financing again, no matter what other lender later might have offered them a better deal. And no matter how many times you read this paragraph, its meaning will remain the same. Some would argue that because the government is subsidizing student loans, open market re-financing is not appropriate. But the fact is that under the just repealed laws that heretofore allowed reconsolidation, lenders -- and not the taxpayers, absorbed the cost of lower rates offered to borrowers. Also, until just recently, when Congress finally repealed the Single Holder Rule, borrowers whose loans are owned by a single lender had been prohibited from shopping around for the best of rates and terms when it came time to consolidate. The dollars lost to higher interest rates resulting from this collection of restriction-of-trade legislation will never show up in the Congressional Budget Office cost estimates that everyone in Washington is forever quoting. And if you are wondering where those dollars will end up, you need look only so far as the bottom line of Sallie Mae's income statement. And to add insult to injury, Sallie Mae, like a football player spiking a ball after a game-winning touchdown, has begun celebrating. Their VP, Tom Joyce, was quoted in USA TODAY as saying, "The consolidation loan program was never meant to be a re-financing bonanza for students." And later, his crowing grew even louder when he told the Orlando Sentinel, "Smaller corporations will now think twice about getting into the student loan business." Such ugly statements by Sallie Mae's chief media spokesperson graphically emphasize the immediate necessity of Republicans and Democrats joining forces to restore open competition in this very important marketplace. The cost of college is just too high to protect Sallie Mae's profits at the expense of America's students and their parents. C. Victoria Patrick Retired Educator, College Administrator and Financial Adviser

This Congress has to change the Student Loan Law. But more than that, they have to change other laws surrounding the whole issue. First of all, how can someone who doesn't fall under the Affirmative Action umbrella get a job? How does someone who doesn't fall under AA and is over 40 get a job without a Masters degree and how can you get a Masters degree if you can't even pay your undergrad degree? The AA law should be changed too. And the DEEMING of non-eligible spouses of SSI recipients. How can someone pay back their student loans if every penny they make to pay them, is deducted by the SSI Law? Sallie Mae has already added $16,000 to my already $50,000 loans in 3 years. I can't get a job. I earn a little money and Social Security takes it out of my husband's SSI check. The whole system is a scam. We are not free. This is an America rotting at the core, while this America fights to help illegal immigrants, and ruins the lives of citizens.

Great article! Glad there's a younger guy like Alan around to stop the fleecing of student loan borrowers

This 70 year old father and grand father, former Marine and retired federal prison officer would like to pay my respects and extend my congratulations to Alan Collinge for his gutsy and principled stand. Many years ago I was forced to accept the fact that in order to effectively root out --,and "spotlight" the rot in the system -, one HAD to take the mission OFF of our adversary's court where they write the rules and own both the scorekeepers and the referees --, and directly INTO the court of public opinion. In the "Court Of Public Opinion" the villains can NOT crush and silence the victims via nit picking, stonewalling, ceremonial legal protocol by being able to "out lawyer them" with unlimited amounts of "war chest legal retainers" and court costs. In the Court Of Public Opinon the villains can NOT bribe the judge --, buy, bully or blackmail members of the jury. And in the Court of Public Opinion their PAC money lackeys have not as YET legislated "Truth into silence" by mandating that it is "irrelevant to the case at hand". However the corporate attorneys CAN and DO "SUE" the truth into a paralyzed silence and that is a risk that Alan is taking. But he has been smart enough --, and lucky enough to get a massive abount of public exposure thus far which is the best "insurance he can buy". In the Court Of Public Opinon the villains can NOT employ their "sawed off shotgun" credit bureaus to hold victims hostage to white collar fraud, rip off, run and rotten service by holding them hostage to their credit ratings. That practice of course has all of the elements of character assassination and blackmail as well as extortion and libel. And that is how the "special interests" would interpret such technology and tactics if consumers attempted to use the same nationwide data base "snoop and snitch control technology" against the "special interests" that THEY use against US with such devastating and tyrannical effect. Alan has --, and is putting into action the"same Maverick anti status quo" courage and principles that motivated our forefathers to stand up to --, and face DOWN tyranny. Alan has the gutsy same "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it any more" determination that drove our founding fathers to "stand up TO --, and face DOWN tyranny at the hands of "ROYALTY" by waging "go for broke" battle AGAINST "ROYALTY". In 1945 just after WWII was over I heard an evangelist pay tribute to our armed forces by saying "no foreign invader will ever be able to destroy America because our boys can whip any foreign army just like THAT" as he snapped his fingers for emphasis. But he continued -, "If America is ever destroyed it will be by the RATS WITHIN". As I ponder the tyrannical, politically and legally protected and empowered scams by Sallie Mae the prophetic words of that evangelist come to mind. Alan and his supporters are on the "right track". I have been trying for years to generate public interest in creating and implementing a "copy cat, counter attack credit bureau" clone" which functions EXACTLY like the credit bureaus do but is exclusively consumer owned, operated and controlled. That credit bureau clone would have a centralized and regionalized data bank network which would collect and data base consumer complaints against the business, banking, credit and corporate community and then sell those "credibility reports" to other consumers exactly like the credit bureaus do. That consumer complaint data base would also include the records and details, findings and actions of ALL civil, criminal and regulatory actions against the "special interests", FTC, FCC complaints and actions etc Since this is a monstous and daunting mission perhaps the best way to START the process would be to limit our "targets" to ONE profession which is basically the "head of the snake" if you will think about it. Which totally self policed profession enacts the laws, interprets the laws, applies the laws, scripts the misleading, evasive, complex, murky, deceptive fine print legaleze which ENTRAPS victims into scams such as the Sallie Mae fiasco? Which profession prices EQUAL justice in the courtroom and in the Halls of Congress out of the reach of most victims of rip off? Which profession sues -, and presides over the lawyer enriching, nitpicking, stonewalling ceremonial charade that enforces the "right of the Sallie Mae's of America" to fleece and defraud us? I could go on and on but I think you know which profession I'm referring to, the "head of the snake". So perhaps it would be strategically more feasible and expedient to START our mission by focusing on collecting, data basing and selling consumer complaint information on the lawyers FIRST. Public animosity and mistrust of the profession is already deeply rooted in society and we could capitalize on that by using the power of INFORMATION TO DRIVE business AWAY from the doors of an increasing number of attorneys across the country. And if they tried to legislate or SUE that TRUTH TELLING strategy into silence -, ponder just how that would affect their "status in the court of public opinion" in their area of practice. If you will think about the MOST POWERFUL CONTROL WEAPON THAT OUR ADVERSSARIES HAVE AGAINST US IS THE POWER OF "HUMILIATION, BLACKMAIL AND CHARACTER ASSASSINATION". But as I write this we consumers and victims of that technology have not united and implemented our own consumer protecting "snoop and snitch" humiliation, blackmail and character assassination credit bureau clone. The Sallie Mae scandal and an endless list of other such consumer rip offs are a powerful and convincing argument for just such a "copy cat counter attack" weapon. We are NEVER going to clean up the polticial and legal system and make them treat us with the EQUAL respect that we deserve as long as we play by THEIR rules, on THEIR court where THEY own both the scorekeepers and the referee. They will continue to "out SPEND, out lobby, out lawyer and out credit bureau us EVERY TIME"! I have suggested this plan to Consumer Affairs.Com at www.consumeraffairs.com they are a great organization and they are considering some form of this after the first of the year. I suggest that we "network" with Consumeraffaris.com, the NAACP and other groups as well as the labor unions. The white collar types are very well organized and united. We HAVE to be as well if we intend to get justice. "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" according to the Bible. But "TELLING the truth loud and clear in the court of public opinion shall make us free" is a very timely and appropriate "21st Century spin" on that ancient truth. Ivan L Fail

Thank you for publicizing the good work Alan is doing. The student loan industry has done its evil in the shadows for far too long, and the American media's failure to protect students and student loan debtors is a national disgrace. So your coverage of this issue is much appreciated. Today I'm homeless again, after being homeless from 1997-2001, then climbing my way into a corporate executive position from 2002-2006. Student loan collectors violate collections laws with impunity and harass debtors' at their place of employment--even while garnishing wages to the fullest extent possible--until employers have had enough, and terminate them. Does this sound like an industry that's making sincere attempts to collect debts? Or does it sound more like Enron--force people into default, then manufacture "revenue" by adding tens of thousands of arbitrary, unexplained collection fees to the books before it is collected in order to boost the stock price and make executives rich? Even my US Congressman (Duncan Hunter) is impotent to compel the Department of Education to force student loan companies to explain where these fess came from. What other industry can double or triple a debt without any legal obligation to itemize where those extra charges came from? (Hint: the mafia). Sallie Mae is not alone in this--the most vicious collectors I deal with are from the Michigan Guaranty Agency, who exhibit a degree of brutality that has no place in civilized society. The student loan industry is corrupt to the core, and it is destroying the lives of many of the most intelligent and motivated citizens among us, whose only "crime" was to seek an overpriced higher education that they could not afford on their own. The news media would do well to investigate this industry before America suffers an ever greater brain drain as talented, hard-working, well-educated debtors become homeless, flee the country, or give up altogether and commit suicide. This is a BIG problem in America today. I too have been working on this issue for a decade, with no media publicity of my efforts (view my podcast at thirdworldamerican.com). Yet Sallie Mae receives front-page news when it releases its profit statements--money that was stolen from the American citizenry in a racketeering scam unlike anything this nation has ever seen.

SHAME ON YOU SALLIE MAE!?! - I abhor Sallie-Mae - it's nothing more than a scam operation: After losing my husband, the only way I could support my family was to complete my college degree. I am gratefully indebted to the US student loan program for both my undergrad & graduate degrees. I could not have done it w/o the program. I now have a career that affords a good living that includes paying back my consolidated student loans. So why the bad comment for Sallie-Mae you ask? Simple: I never signed for any loans with Sallie Mae. Yet they have repeatedly harrassed me for over $10K. they claim I owe them. I have sent them copies of all my documents showing my loans were ALL with another lender AND all the math that reflects I am currently paying a consolidation of all I ever borrowed - along with interest to boot. Sallie Mae's response: That they must have bought 2 of my loans. Proof? - They don't have any and to my horror they don't have to provide me with any according to every attorney I've talked to. You see, student loan lenders are exempt from all of those "pesky" consumer-protection laws. How these student loan lenders managed to bypass the consumer credit & disclosure laws was beyond me. Now I am reading daily about their huge lobbying machine & disproportionate profits. The worst for me is that in order to prevent them from taking everything I worked so hard for, I had to sign a forebearance BUT it comes with a catch of alot of small-print..such as promising not to take them to court & the inclusion of $6000. in interest. Talk about getting something for nothing & fleecing the public!! Sallie Mae in essence, is attempting to steal from me - & plenty of others I'm sure. If these guys want big profits, let them play by the same rules every other lender/creditor must abide by. Honesty is STILL the best policy. I have no respect for a company that steals from the backs of hard working Americans. Remember - "You reap what you sow". In the end that greedy dishonesty will be the demise of SM, I'm sure - Good Riddance, IMHO! Average Mom.

Way to go, Alan. I also am tired of being gouged by Student Loans, and it isn't just Sallie Mae. It's also Citi bank. Keep on the good fight! We need good and reasonable laws to protect us. I feel persecuted because I couldn't afford an education on my own. This is America -- not Nazi Germany.

I too was homeless and they still came after me. Funny how they outsource their "customer service reps" to India. So Sallie Mae gives jobs to foreigners living in foreign countries, jobs that Americans, like me could do (even if we hate the job), and then we could PAY our loans. And what's with the astronomical interest. One of my loans has interest that is almost as much as the loan. They also won't take an amount you can afford to pay. They say, "Send something in, but it will still be reported to the Credit Bureaus as delinquent." I just got out of bankruptcy a month ago, and now my credit will be ruined again by them, because they won't take $50 a month without reporting me as delinquent. And that $50 would come out of my husband's SSI check. Sallie Mae is worse than the MAFIA. Thank you Alan for helping.

I used to work for Sallie Mae in Las Vegas. They gave their C.E.O 6 Million Dollars in stock and cut the employees bonuses at the same time. Sallie Mae is a terrible company to deal with and to work for. In fact, they are phasing out the Las Vegas facility. Their reputation here is just too bad. They would run a huge ad every Sunday with a big dark circle around it in the help wanted section. They turned over about 80 people a month here. My team leader quit in the middle of the day and a co-worker next to me was busted for identity theft. I have help for a lot of you if you want it.

I too fell on hard times with poor health while living in an economically depressed small city named Spokane WA, and would have had to travel almost 300 miles to find employment--and to do so with NOTHING in my pocket or bank account and no car?????? And just how do you do something like that without getting killed? I almost did. My health could not withstand the added pressure from my continued hardship and my extended family is very dysfunctional. There was no one I could turn to for help. No one. All I wanted to do was get a job. My health has improved and now I do have a job. My exploited college debt means I will work for the rest of my life unable to save anything for emergencies or old age. It is more profitable for me to plan to leave the country. At this time, unless Congress can treat me like a human being and an American Citizen, I do plan to finish my RN liscence, find a country that will appreciate my services and my talent, and I will renounce my citizenship of America and become a citzen of a different country so I can SAVE some money for my future, afford to drive a car, and pay my dental, medical, and vet bills now while I work. I cannnot eat food that is highly processed, so I don't eat cheap, Sallie Mae.

The first question every victim and the rest of us should ask is "how many judges, bankers, credit card companies,CREDIT BUREAUS, politicians, media executives, lawyers, doctors and insurance companies as well as organized religion "fronts" own stock IN SALLIE MAE?" Look at what some of these "special interests" stoop to to get elected or or "get rich quick", gain power and CONTROL CONSUMERS VIA "CREDIT BUREAU BLACKMAIL" and then look at the mind boggling financial incentive as stockholders or "blind stockholders" to aid, abet, protect and empower Sallie Mae. When you find out then you will know where the problem and the SELF SERVING stonewalling runaround is really rooted! And yes the reference to Organized Crime being involved IS a valid concern and is not nearly as "far fetched" as many gullible and naive Americans assume. Organized crime DOES buy --, or bully and blackmail judges and politicians. Organized crime is and always HAS been heavily involved in the "lending industry" and plays a key role in "influencing legislation" via blackmail --, or threats, implied, unprovable and un prosecutable as well as overt against families of law makers or law enforcement officers And they have "eyes and ears as well as cold blooded henchmen everywhere". With all of the electronic spy, phone tap and surveilance equipment available to organized crime it is no problem for them to get all of the the "blackmail clout" they need to pass legislation that will "make Sallie Mae keep turning a very tidy profit. But ask your self what politician or federal judge or lawyer is going to admit to the public that they are being blackmailed or manipulated by threats against themselves or their families? They would never "go public" because it would destroy their careers OR could get their families bumped off or both. I will cite you a PERSONAL experience of that scenario in this message. You will note that "the law" as in federal judges and U. S. Attorneys did NOTHING ABOUT IT in my case! Were they afraid to? Take a look at the ethical track record of the politicians who ENACT THE LAWS. Based on the "ethcial track record" and "high roller life styles" of the legal and political profession do you think that any of them would have some career ending "dirty laundry in their closet" that they will pay dearly to keep secret. Would they promote and enact "special legislation" to "buy silence and safety for themselves or their families"? There is more than enough "rot --, cowardice and GREED in the ranks" of Congress to form a "majority vote" on passage of bills favoring the loan sharks -, especially if there is some "added incentive" next election. Well heeled organized crime gangsters CAN and DO make even federal judges "sing, dance and yodel". I "rubbed shoulders" with Mickelle Sindona one of the key figures in the Vatican Bank Scandal in the late 60's. His caseworker informed me that Sindona was worth over 2 1/2 BILLION dollars and that the Federal judge who sentenced him here in the states later resigned the bench and became his lawyer to get him released. Sindona was later deported back to Italy where someone poisoned his coffee and killed him. You can read about him in the book "In God's Name" by Yallop. Yes, organized crime IS heavily involved in the "credit industry" and they use their "sawed off shotgun credit bureaus" with the same cold blooded and deadly efficiency that they use the UZI,the Smith And Wesson or the garrot. The pattern of Sallie Mae in these student loans SCREAMS "ORGANIZED CRIME" --, AND WIDE SPERAD POLITICAL CORRUPTION possibly facilited by black mail or threats as well as larcenous greed. In 1970-1971 as a federal correctional officer I had a "stand off" with a very well heeled mob enforcer contract killer, loan shark and hijacker by the name of Harold "Kayo" Konigsberg from Bayonne, New Jersey. I had "blown the whistle" via a letter to the editor about this thug's special privileges and in that letter I referred to him and Mickey Cohen as a "pair of thugs". Konigsberg took issue with being spotlighted --, and called a thug. He started threatening my family and I. HIS ATTORNEY FRANK LOPEZ from the New York-New Jersey area hired a photographer in Springfield, Missouri to go to my house in Nixa, Missouri and take photos of my home and little 3 1/2 year old daughter playing in the yard. 4 of those photos blown up to 8x10 were found in Konigsberg's cell. I was lucky enough that Life Magazine wanted the story and I clandestinely smuggled a Life photograper inside the prison facility at Springfield and got photos of Konigsberg which appeared in the Life story "The Gorilla Cowed His Keepers" in the June 25, 1971 issue. One of those pictures appears in that story. When I learned that Konigsberg had photos of my home and daughter I contacted a federal judge by the name of William Collinson. He was totally "disinterested and unsympathetic". Because of Konigsberg's threats against my family I sent a registered letter to the U. S. Attorney's office in Kansas City in late 70 or early 71 requesting protection for my family. Today December 19, 2007 I'm still waiting for a reply from the U. S. Attorney. Konigsberg was never prosecuted for his threats or for having photos of my home and 3 1/2 year old daughter in his cell. Konigsberg's great nephew, Eric Kongisberg did a story about him in the August 6, 2001 issue of The New Yorker Magazine titled "Blood Relation, My Uncle The Hit Man".He later expanded that story into a book titled "Blood Relation". He quotes me or more accurately "MIS-quotes me" on page 39 in his book by getting some facts mixed up and omitting any mention of his great uncle having photos of my home and daughter in his cell. But the LIfe magazine story and follow ups in the Springfield News paper in July of 1971 give the details. So I know where the REAL problem is with Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae is NOT the problem, Sallie Mae is simply the SINISTER SYMPTOM OF something very sinister, corrupt and evil in the legislative, executive and judical branches of our government and in our free wheeling "tyranny behind the white collar" free enerprise system. And their "sawed off shotgun Credit Bureaus" literally practice many of the tactics which served the Gestapo so well. Before you can expect to clean up filth like Fannie Mae we HAVE to do a thorough house cleaning in our courts and our legislatures. And that mission is going to HAVE to begin in the Court Of Public Opinion". Alan Collinge is definately on the RIGHT track! You might be interested in a legal reform organization called HALT (Help Abolish Legal Tyranny) aka Americans For Legal Reform. Their website it www.halt.org and they have an e-journal at ejournal@halt.org Their phone number is 1-888-FOR-HALT Ivan Fail, Marshfield, Missouri

Student Loan Justice lists politicians who take bribes from Sallie Mae.

StudentLoan Justice lists politicians who take bribes from Sallie Mae.

Yes, the credit bureaus are definitely in on it all. I offered Sallie Mae what I could afford - $50 a month. They wouldn't take it. They said even if I paid $50 a month, they would report to the credit bureaus and the credit bureaus wouldn't post the payment - ONLY THAT I WAS DELINQUENT. So, what is the point?

Manny, I want the help. It surely doesn't surprise me that someone working there committed identity theft. Some of those "customer service" people sound like they were plucked right out of the ghetto with the crack pipe still in their mouths. Yet they have jobs, and some of us who believed getting an education would help, are left to rot in a limbo life. Affirmative Action - rah rah shit

I just had a thought that might be very helpful for the victims of the loan shark Sallie Mae student loan rip offs.In case most of the victims haven't thought about it I suggest that they file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov The FTC should be bombarded with complaints on this scandal and it is possible that the publicity that Alan Collinge is generating just might force some bureaucrats off their duffs and onto their feet and take some sort of punitive action if nothing more than "posting a report on the FTC web site". Ivan Fail

Manny, I would love to talk to you..I currently work for Sallie Mae and am currently wondering if I should continue working there..Please comment more. Thanks!

I worked for Sallie Mae in Muncie, IN for a short time. It was the worst place to work ever. I have a Masters Degree, so I am not uneducated. They lied to their employees and their customers. I resigned, because they were going to fire me, due to the fact that I was hospitalized, which violated their attendance policy. I was hooked to machines and almost died, but I guess I should have dragged my IV, etc to work.