Dear Claudienne,

Dear Claudienne,

I am now living in the United States. My loan with the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) which was in arrears was sent to a lawyer for legal action and collection.

On November 27, 2015 I paid $394,428.00 on the account via Bill Express to clear the arrears.

On November 30 I paid an additional amount of $20,000 after an officer from the SLB informed me that the payment on November 27, 2015 had not fully cleared the arrears.

I also made a third payment of $17,000 plus after November 30, 2015.

Despite these payments, the SLB interactive voice mail, which informed me on December 1, 2015 that a closing balance of $857,059.20 was owed on the account, informed me on December 3 that the closing balance, rather than decreasing, had increased to $891,463.00.

I am also very frustrated as although the arrears on the account have been cleared up, the law firm acting on the SLB’s behalf has told me that in order for the loan to be returned to the SLB and for me to resume monthly payments of $17,295, I will have to make monthly payments of $40,000 for the next six months.

On October 18, 2015, via e-mail to six persons at the SLB, I requested a loan status sheet with an up to date balance as well as my arrears balance in order for me to understand where I stand with the SLB as well as with their lawyers, but I have not received it. I also requested a balance sheet from the lawyer in order to know what to pay. I was told by the lawyer that if I am sent such a document it would not be official and would not show the real amount that I owe.

Now that I have cleared the arrears on the loan, I would like to reach an agreement with the SLB that will allow me to pay the remaining amount in instalments that I can afford to pay.

I would appreciate your help in this matter.

TMDear TM,

TM

Dear TM,

We contacted the Students’ Loan Bureau and they responded as follows:

“Reference is made to the captioned account and TM’s email which you forwarded to the SLB on January 05, 2016 for our response.

We sincerely apologise for the delayed response which was due to a system anomaly.

Please be advised that we have contacted the beneficiary and addressed the concerns which were raised. Negotiations are ongoing to reach a suitable payment arrangement that is mutually beneficial.

Again we thank you for your assistance in referring these matters to our attention.”

We see that you have been in negotiations with the SLB and that you have agreed to:

“Make monthly payments of $25,000.00 for six (6) months effective January 2016 to June 2016;

o Make monthly payments of 20,000.00 for 12 months effective July 2016 to June 2017;

o Thereafter the account will be reviewed and further arrangements made to settle the remaining balance.

o Immediate withdrawal of $180,080.08 or 20 per cent recovery charges and attendant charges mentioned in the previous email contingent on the acceptance of the terms which I am now giving.”

We note that you have agreed to make regular payments on the 15th day of each month via Bill Express online, as you are not able to set up an automatic bank transfer payment method outside of Bill Express.

We note that the SLB has warned you that:

“If a payment is missed, the account unfortunately will have to be returned to the Attorneys without further recourse as we do not have the human resources to handle accounts which require follow-up each month.”

The SLB has also clarified as follows: “The difference in the balance from the Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) system was as a result of the recovery charges being updated at the end of December 2015.”

The SLB has also informed you that “unfortunately you cannot rely on the terms of repayment of the original contract which you had breached (i.e. original expected monthly payment). Your account is being monitored now by the Legal Department and therefore this is a negotiation of the terms going forward. “

In correspondence written to you the SLB stated:

“Given that we now have an agreed payment plan to June of 2017 , we will immediately withdraw the account (from the lawyer) which will result in the commission charges on the calculation sent to you being withdrawn as well. Kindly note that this offer will exist as long as you adhere to the terms agreed to.

“In order to ensure that you are aware of the state of your account at all times, for your convenience we have prepared a future calculation as at July 2017 which takes the payments of 25k and 20k into account. The balance as at that date will be $671,261.02 inclusive of all your assumed payments. At this point you may request a waiver of up to 100k to close in full.

“Kindly note that if you continue to pay 20k, the account will remain open until 2022. In the event that you are unable to close in July 2017 you may make a further proposal based on great blessings and financial successes to settle in full shortly thereafter.”

Please try to be steadfast in keeping your end of the agreement with the SLB.

Good luck.Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number