Has anyone else received a letter recently from Sallie Mae informing them of an increase in payment?

[KansDem]

When I got home yesterday, I had a letter from Sallie Mae regarding my student loan. It said that I would be paying $8 more a month starting this month. I wondered about this since I had been making regular payments (straight out of my checking account) and didn't see why I should be paying more.

So I called Sallie Mae and after talking to three people I believe I got an explanation: Sallie Mae made an error in figuring my original payment amount. As it was explained to me, the number of payments I have remaining and the amount of each payment would not cover the balance of the loan.

I asked them since this was their oversight, why do I need to pay more? I told them I didn't appreciate entering into this contract with them based on their terms, then having them change those terms to my detriment.

$8 a month isn't going to make or break me--it amounts to around $1,250 more for the duration of the loan. But can they require me to pay more due to their mis-calculation? Can they continue to do this if they claim the amount of my monthly payments isn't enough? Maybe I'll pay $8 more this year, but what's to stop them from increasing my payment every year thereafter?

They said they'll refer my account to "research," and I should hear back in about two weeks. :shrug:

I think this is a shoddy business practice. Anyone else experience this?

[MineralMan]

1. Drag out your loan paperwork. I'm betting you find a clause

in the contract that lets them change the payment.

[BP2]

2. Every little bit hurts these days. The Fed's $46.1 billion the profit, instead of going to

the Treasury, it should be going straight to people who have seen their rates
get jacked up as a result of the banks that mismanaged their risk and got a bailout.