I graduated from medical school but became very sick during my residency. I am now in complete remission but have been unable to return to work as a doctor. My original Sallie Mae loans totaled approximately $25,000 but now the balance is approximately $94,000 because of “fines and fees” from going into default. I have been able to work as a nurse and removed all the loans from default status, not missing a single payment for many years now. When I sign on to the Sallie Mae website to pay my bill every month I actually get nauseous and have to complete the transaction quickly - it's that distressing to see the numbers. I have paid back approximately $26,000 at this point and have considered just stopping payments when I get to $35,000. I really wouldn't care what they would try and do to me, except that I now have a "new life" that includes a wife and 3 children, so I have to find a way to oppose the tyrants at Sallie Mae while protecting my family. I really see SM as gluttonous devourers of weak and wounded borrowers, unyielding no matter the circumstance and uncaring about the misery they inflict. I have written the DOE, all my representatives and the Governors of North Carolina and Virginia, all replying with “thanks for your story, but there’s nothing we can do…”.
I would be more than willing to be a part of a movement to take Sallie Mae down to a level of fiscal responsibility that they have strayed far from, to make them pay for what they have done to families in this country. Who in their right mind would ever consider $69,000 in fines for missed payments on a $25,000 loan, in which full payment was eventually restarted, to be fair? It's reprehensible.
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