Post # 1
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
Hi,
I’m not sure whether anyone has any advice/input about this, but here goes:
I have quite a few different student loan companies I am making payments to. For whatever reason, I never received an e-bill from the one company. I happened to just check my account today and noticed that my payment of $25 was three days late (due on July 21st). We just got back from vacation and if I had received an e-bill, I would have paid it prior to leaving. So I just submitted the payment to be taken out of my account on July 26th. However, they said the payment may not be taken out until 1-2 days after that date.
It appears as if they have not assessed a late fee to my account. I cannot afford for them to affect my credit score by reporting this to the credit bureaus. Do I have any recourse? I plan on calling them on Monday to ask if there is a way that they don’t report this to the credit bureaus. Is there a possibility that this won’t be reported since I paid it only three days late? What should I say to them?
Post # 3
Hostess
18643 posts
Honey Beekeeper
Usually late payments on any loan aren’t reported until it is late by 30 days. I would talk to them to see if they will report it and I would ask about the late payment since you never received a bill (I’m assuming you signed up for e-billing and they stopped sending paper statements).
Post # 4
Member
458 posts
Helper bee
Calm down! You should be fine. Just get ahold of them and explain the situation.
Post # 5
Member
4419 posts
Honey bee
Contact the loan company and inform them that you have authorized a payment. They will make a notation on your account. Always communicate with the loan companies when things like this happen. It shows you are responsible and often, if they have accessed a late fee they’ll waive it because you contacted them.
Post # 6
Member
45 posts
Newbee
Yeah, it wont go on your credit score from one late payment. Usually doesnt effect it until it heads to collections (months after non payment).
Have you considered consolidating your student loans to make it easier on yourself? You can sometimes qualify for a better rate too.
Post # 7
Member
2186 posts
Buzzing bee
you should be fine – usually takes 30 days of non payment for it to be reported. I had the same problem once with mine when i switched to online billing i totally forgot about that bill and ended up being a week late. never showed up and showed i was always on time.
they are trying to get the “default” folks – aka the people who never pay on time or pay super late.
you should be ok.
Post # 8
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
Well, I went ahead and called them (this is a private loan BTW). I made the payment online this past Saturday for it to post today, but they told me it won’t post until maybe Wednesday! Then she said even though I was only three days late, I am subject to be reported to the credit bureaus! But, she thinks, I should be fine. I heard from others that the private loans are a nightmare compared to the Federal loans. Oh, and in order to set up automatic debit, you have to fill out a form and MAIL it in…most companies you can set up automatic debit right on their website. I shouldn’t be surprised – it’s an antiquated company in the middle of nowhere…thanks for letting me vent about this.
Post # 9
Member
1962 posts
Buzzing bee
I am like 95% sure that you will be fine. What loan company is it btw and maybe someone here has personal experience. Also check your statement about the grace period. Most loans have a 25-30 day period in which no reporting will happen.
Post # 10
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
Hi Heather. It is AES (American Education Services). I asked the woman about the grace period since I didn’t see it anywhere on the statement or website. She said she wasn’t allowed to give me information about a grace period.
Post # 11
Member
1962 posts
Buzzing bee
Ok! I do have them and they are super shady sometimes. First, my account is due quarterly instead of monthly, and who is gonna remember that. Second, I didn’t get a paper notification for my bill and I hadn’t yet set up my online account. I didn’t find out about my delinquency until I went to buy a car and my credit was a few points lower than it should have been. The car salesman runs my report and there it is. ONE FREAKIN OVERDUE PAYMENT OF $120 from AES. I called them up and kinda chewed em out. They resent the bill to my direct address and I immediately paid for it. They told me they couldn’t do anything about my credit report but let me know how to resolve it. I had to contact my college to get a letter that said the AES bill was sent to an incorrect address and that I had, in fact, paid the (measly) $120. The delinquency was immediately removed from my credit report. Your situation shouldn’t go this far but there is hope in the event that it does. Best of luck.
Post # 12
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
I’m sorry Heather! My payment’s only for $25 a month! And it seems as if they are freaking out about that. So I am just going to set up the automatic debit so I don’t have to worry about it again. It’s just funny that it takes a few months to set up. I actually have five student loan companies total. Two of them are big companies (Citibank and Sallie Mae – both are my federal loans). Three are small, private loans (AES, ECSI, UAS). I plan on paying off the private loans first since they are a smaller amount and they are a pain. I’m glad that they removed the delinquency from your report right away though!
Post # 13
Member
1962 posts
Buzzing bee
Good for you…but also pay attention to which loans carry the highest interest rate. Regardless of amount, pay them down quickly. I have basically the same carriers as you but my big federal loans have rates of like 2%. I will keep them around for a while to pay back by 5% one.
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