Dear Claudienne,

I wish to bring to your attention the lack of oversight within the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB).

I got a loan from the SLB during my sophomore year ending 2020. When I became employed a few months later, I informed the SLB and was told that I would have to make a monthly loan payment of $26,539.25 monthly. However, I opted to pay $27,000 monthly and continued paying this amount until January 2024 when I started paying $26, 540.00, something. I doubt that they noticed that I had decreased my monthly payments.

I received an e-mail from the SLB on August 7, 2024 that stated, “Please be advised that as July 31, 2024, your account reflects arrears of $215,621.78 on your closing loan as of August 31, 2024.”

A loan statement was attached, and I questioned whether my account was overcharged. Why was my account in arrears? Why was my outstanding balance over $2,500,000 despite repaying over $1,000,000 over three years? I was not able to visit the office at the time due to illness. I went to speak with a representative in October, who, unfortunately, could not give me the answers I needed. A few days later I received an e-mail that I had a late payment for September 2023 and six missed payments dating back to 2022. I forwarded four (4) National Commercial Bank receipts or bank statements to the loan officer. She later e-mailed me that the dates for two of three bank statements were not reflected despite being printed on the top right corner. Unfortunately, the payments for June 2022 and February 2023 were missing. This really rubbed me the wrong way. Why was I being told this two and a half years later? Why was I being threatened with legal action that the SLB contributed to? Why wasn’t an automated e-mail sent to inform me of the missed payments? Furthermore, if I paid my loan before the last business day of the month, why are there so many late penalty fees of $750 added to my account? This is a major driving force behind the brain drain, we borrow a loan to get a tertiary education only to find out we are swallowed in debt.

I would appreciate your help as I need the authorities to address my concerns. I simply cannot afford this level of negligence.

DC

Dear DC,

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the Student Loan Bureau about your concerns and notes that the agency is in dialogue with you to address the anomalies in respect of your account.

The column has received the following e-mail from the manager of loan servicing at the SLB:

“We have been working closely with the beneficiary to amicably resolve the matter. Additionally, we sincerely apologise for any frustration experienced by the beneficiary regarding her loan account. We will now address the issues raised seriatim:

1) Three (3) loans were disbursed totalling $3mn (approximately) for the academic years 2017, 2018 & 2019; and were capitalised and consolidated September 1, 2021. The repayment of the consolidated loan commenced September 2021 of the following year, after the year of the normal expected graduation date. Interest starts accruing on all loans after they are disbursed.

2) As part of our Client Relationship Management Process, regular payment and arrears notifications are sent to our customers each month to the contact information we have on our records.

3) The repayment notification of the consolidated loan was sent to the beneficiary during the month of August 2021 advising of germane information regarding the consolidated loan including that:

1) All payments are due on the last business day of each month. In the event the monthly payment is not received by the last business day, additional interest will be charged to the account the following month.

2) A late penalty of $750.00 is charged to accounts if the:

3) monthly payment due is not received by the 15th of the following month.

i. the amount paid is less than the monthly payment.

ii. loan is in arrears; and that the charge will be applied monthly until the arrears is cleared.

4) To date we have resolved four (4) of the missing payment records with our corresponding bank.

5) We are currently working with them to resolve the remaining missing payments in the shortest possible time.

Additionally, we have been in contact with the customer seeking clarification and will revert to her after the matter is fully addressed.

One of our goals is to ensure that all payments are accurately reflected on our client’s account and once the issue of the missing payments is fully resolved, the associated late fees will be reversed from the customer’s account.

We understand the impact that this situation has on our client and are committed to resolving the matter fairly and efficiently. We appreciate her patience as we continue the thorough review of the account and will follow up with the appropriate resolutions.

Once again, we apologise for any distress this has caused and are dedicated to ensuring that the matter is addressed.”

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or Cell/Whatsapp # 876-484-1349 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.