Dear Claudienne

I am a graduate of the University of Technology, Kingston, Jamaica (UTech). I took out a loan from the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) for the academic year commencing September 2008 through to May 2012. My capitalised balance as of January 2013 was $1,069,663.33.

Over the past five years I was unable to make any repayments to my account due to being underemployed after college which made me a delinquent. I tried to apply for jobs within and outside my field of study; however, to no avail.

Therefore, I had to settle for a customer service job which basically supported me from month to month. I could not save and my salary would not allow me to add SLB to my budget.

As of January 2018, according to a debt collector my outstanding balance was $1,924,885.75 and I’ve finally got a job that allows me to make repayments on a consecutive monthly basis.

I’ve been making payments ranging from $40,000 to $250,000 a month since January 2018. However most months I can only afford to pay $80,000 which is far more than my initial repayment agreement.

Prior to my repayments, my guarantor was harassed on several occasions and contact was hardly made with me by the debt collector until I decided to send an e-mail to her requesting that she communicates with me instead of my guarantor.

The debt collector was ruthless and wanted me to pay a lump sum that I could not manage. In my 29 years on this earth I haven’t held so much money in my hands or account so I informed her it was not feasible or possible for me to make such a payment.

Furthermore, I asked her if we could make a smaller monthly payment instead. She insisted this was not possible. On several occasions I attempted to reach out to SLB and no one was willing to assist.

I asked my mother to visit the office where they provided her with the same debt collector information which insisted I pay an arm and a leg. The representative that she spoke to at the time was audacious enough to inform her my next payment should be $700,000 which is impossible because I’m not even earning a quarter of that amount.

I’ve sent SLB countless e-mails asking for a payment plan and no one is willing to help.

They’ve recently directed me to a legal representative to which I have sent several e-mails to no avail. So I decided to ask my mother to visit the office yet again. This time they provided her with a balance sheet.

Since January 2018, I’ve made a repayment of $760,000 only to find out that my balance consists of several different fees apart from insurance and interest rate calculations. I understand there would be late fees calculated due to me being delinquent prior to January 2018. However, the additional fee balances are increasingly high.

One such fee is an out-of -pocket fee which is $152,000. As of November 2018, the amount due on my account is $1,164,885.72. However, the bureau has recently added a new fee “add recovery charge” which is $232.977.14 and this has brought my balance to $1,397,862.86.

This just seems like an impossible journey that cannot be finished.

My arrears was over-the -moon-high initially and I am trying my best to make it my priority to repay my loan given the circumstances. However, all these late fees, and additional fees make it impossible to reach my goal of concluding the payments.

I read an article online where you were able to help someone so I was motivated/inspired to request your help in getting this matter resolved.

It’s stressful enough that they expect me to repay twice the amount and with the fees that they keep adding it seems that the journey that will never end.

I am looking forward to your help.

AF

Dear AF

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the SLB in regard to your issues, since receiving your e-mail on November 29, 2018.

Although the column notes that you had not been repaying the loan for a considerable length of time, we nonetheless sought clarification from the legal officer at the SLB in respect of the various charges on the account and whether it was possible for your loan to be restructured.

We see that in an e-mail to you on January 7, 2019, an SLB debt recovery officer informed you that:

“There are no restrictions on seeking a loan from a third party institution; however, approval of said loan is dependent on the specific policies for that financial institution. A number of our customers are able to secure financing once they meet the requirements of said policies.

“Regarding your loan status, the account is classified as bad debt or has ‘bad credit’ status because of the arrears. Keep in mind, the loan entered repayment in January 2013 and the first payment was received in April 2018. The loan is considered a bad debt, due to having arrears over an extended period. The bureau’s policies dictate that additional measures must be taken once an account meets the criteria, measures such as referring the account to a third-party collector.

The out of pocket fees or recovery charges are not the same as the interest rate. The current interest rate charged on the account is 9.5 per cent and the interest charges are applied the first of every month. Interest charges have been accruing monthly since the account entered repayment in 2013 as per the Master Agreement. The recovery charges represent the cost of having the account referred to a debt collector and all costs regarding recovery of the debt will be borne by the primary borrower also as per the Master Agreement.

The bureau is willing to assist where possible but there is no option to restructure your loan presently.”

You made a request to the SLB on January 14, 2019 for the loan to be removed from the collections department and restructured. You also requested the removal of charges levied on your account relating to the bailiff. You stated: “According to an article I read in the Jamaica Observer, the legal officer can assist with the reconstruction of repayments.”

Tell Claudienne notes that the assistant legal manager at the SLB informed you by e-mail as follows;

“The bureau is unable to facillitate any of the two requests at this time.

The restructuring of accounts have been held in abatement due to system challenges and the accrual of bailiff charges can only cease upon the full settlement of your outstanding arrears. your arrears balance as at January 2019 is $1,115.925.79. We may however be willing to withdraw your account from the collector if more than 50 per cent of the arrears is cleared and where you develop a history of consistent payments over time. This should alleviate some of the bailiff charges.”

On February 6, Tell Claudienne requested the SLB CEO to review your request for restructuring of your loan and forwarded several of the e-mails you sent to the column to her. The column requested that the CEO “kindly clarify the basis for the new SLB policy that no longer allows borrowers to renegotiate loan payments they are unable to afford due to extenuating circumstances. Could you please state the date when this policy became effective.”

The manager of the legal department at the SLB wrote to the Tell Claudienne column on February 14 and stated:

Re: Disclosure of Confidential Information relative to Contractual Agreements between the Students’ Loan Bureau and its Beneficiaries and their Guarantors

The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) has received a series of correspondence from you in the form of e-mails and telephone calls regarding the loan accounts for a number of the recipients of students’ loans from our organisation. You have attempted on several occasions to negotiate payment arrangements on behalf of our borrowers. Please note that the SLB is unable to disclose any information regarding our beneficiaries or their guarantors to any person who is not a party to the agreements which exist between the aforementioned parties.

In light of the foregoing, we will not be sharing any information concerning payment arrangements or other information essential to the contracts between the SLB, its beneficiaries and guarantors, with you or anyone else that is not privy. Such information is treated as confidential; therefore, we must accord the proper regard to it.

We have extended an invitation to YF to visit our offices upon her return to the jurisdiction. We anticipate a satisfactory resolution.”

You told the column that the SLB had written and invited you to a meeting on your return to the island. You also told the column that the collections agency had advised you “that the Students’ Loan Bureau has an incentive programme that would allow you to settle your debt at a reduced amount. If you are interested, please inform me and this offer ends March 2019.

We are willing to accept $845,925.79 as final payment towards your Student Loan account. Please note that if said amount isn’t forthcoming by the latest March 2019 this figure will go back to its original amount ($1,259.551.71) where interest, late fees, recovery charges and insurance will still continue to accrue on a monthly basis.”

Tell Claudienne notes that you have returned to Jamaica and that you met with the SLB legal department on Friday March 22. 2019. You told the column that at the meeting you were given three options that would allow the balance owing on the loan to be repaid over different time frames extending up to four years.

We note that on Wednesday March 27, you made the final payment of $845, 925.79 to the bureau, under the SLB Incentive Programme that ends March 2019.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 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.