Dear Claudienne,

My son received a loan from the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB). He has been in Canada for the past six years, has been servicing his loan and is not in arrears.

One of his guarantors who was offerred a teaching contract in the United States has asked to be released from this position and the SLB has agreed to release her.

However, we are still facing a challenge. My son sent in the required documents for the guarantor change, and when the new guarantor went to the SLB office to sign the documents, she was told that there were arrears needing to be settled before the original guarantor could be replaced.

It should be noted that these arrears have resulted because, despite numerous requests, my son is not being supplied with his quarterly statements. He sometimes does lump sum payments so, without the statements, he has no idea of his standing.

The arrears were settled, and a request was made by the former guarantor to have something in writing to indicate that she is no longer a guarantor. My son sent an e-mail requesting this and was told that this could be done if the residential and e-mail address of the former guarantor were supplied. This was done in early September. To date, the guarantor has received neither a letter nor e-mail confirming her discharge.

My son has e-mailed the SLB numerous times to ask about the letter with no response. My sister in Jamaica has also called the SLB. On October 25, after a long wait, my sister got through only to be told that the former guarantor needs to provide a letter from the prospective employer in the USA stating why the letter is needed.

The former guarantor has already submitted her documents to Jamaica to get the no-objection statement so she can take up the new contract she has been offered.

With nothing from the SLB to show that she has no financial obligations in Jamaica, she is fearful that she will not be able to get the statement and thus be denied the offered employment as the no-objection statement is a prerequisite.

We would appreciate your intervention since numerous e-mails and phone calls have gotten either no response or conflicting information. We know you will get results.

I am also sending you a copy of the e-mail my son got from the SLB stating it was no problem for him to get the letter of discharge as well as the residential and e-mail address of the former guarantor.

CF

Dear CF

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the SLB. On November 3, 2021, the loan servicing manager at the SLB informed the column that the letter was mailed to the former guarantor.

The SLB e-mail to the column stated:

“Kindly be advised that the letter was mailed to the former guarantor, upon the request of the beneficiary; however, we just sent a soft copy to her via e-mail.”

We wish you all the best.

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