Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts

Message from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree on Predatorial Banking and Student Loans

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Here's another phone call with Sallie Mae Financial (yet another lie caught on the phone!!! with their computer right in front of them, the rep knew absolutely nothing about the recent heavy involvement of the Department of Education's Ombudsman' office which was dragged in after their predators refused to send federal forbearance forms (which needless to say is a FEDERAL CRIME), and claims to know nothing about the intermediator between Sallie Mae and Department... Rosa Van Dyke???) The guy is lying, which is typical for criminals at Sallie Mae. They would rather lie about everything, even when the truth is more conducive, but they've got to beat people out of millions, so lying is second nature to the crooks.

And due to the corrupt predatorial banking fraud that is ongoing, here's a recent email from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree who addresses these issues, head-on without mincing words. I wish that there were more in Congress, concerned about these issues which are now affecting all Americans who are students of Higher Education, across the nation. Does your Congressman give a *d* or have dirty banking corporations bought your representatives, and have them in their pocket to represent the interests of predatorial bankers like Sallie Mae Financial?



From: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 4:46 PM
Subject: Message from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

Dear Sharon,

Thank you for contacting me about the importance of making higher education more accessible and affordable. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue, and I sincerely apologize for the delay in my response.

As the former chair of my school board, I care deeply about the issues surrounding education in this country - and I am well aware of the many challenges that our education system faces. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the 111th Congress to ensure that we provide a quality education to every American. This includes expanding access to higher education and ensuring that those who want to pursue a college education can do so without entering into impossible debt.

I was proud to support H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which included several provisions to make college more affordable. This recovery package provided much-needed funds for work study programs, and provided money to states to help alleviate budget cuts to public universities.

The Fiscal Year 2010 Budget, passed earlier this year, also makes significant investments in higher education access, raising the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550 for the 2010-11 school year, and making permanent the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit, which will make college more affordable for millions of middle-class families and for the first time make college tax incentives partially refundable.

Earlier this year, I joined several of my colleagues in sending two letters to Chairman David Obey and Ranking Member Todd Tiahrt of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, requesting $400 million in funding for the Gaining Early Awareness Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), and an increase of $120 million in funding for TRIO Programs for Fiscal Year 2010. Both of these programs provide invaluable services to low income students, helping them prepare for the rigorous demands of higher education while in high school, and providing college students with the support services they need in order to successfully complete their degrees.

I also believe we must address the issue of student loan fairness and consumer protection when it comes to student loans. Too many students remain saddled with debt long after graduation, and lack the help and support to pay off their debt within a reasonable timeframe. We should ensure that lenders are operating in a fair and transparent manner, and that borrowers are provided with all the information they need to make informed decisions and pay off their loans.

As a mother of three, I am a firm believer that we must work to fix our education system to ensure that every student in Maine and across the country can have affordable access to a higher education.

Thank you again for being in touch about these important issues. I hope to see you in Maine soon.

Sincerely,
Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress

To contact me please visit me at http://pingree.house.gov/
If you need immediate help with a Federal Agency please call my Portland Office at 207-774-5019 or toll free at 888-862-6500.
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Sallie Mae Lies over the Phone

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At one point during his conversation he claims there were _only 2 over the phone transactions_ back in 2007. He was trying to wiggle out of blame for the abuse of trust in banking, they did in October 2008. My bank documents to the contrary of his claims. Realizing at some point, he was a blatant liar incapable of disputing bank records at BBandT, he changed his story, saying that the transaction in question (yes, he changed his story and _agreed something_ took place in October 2008). Despite changing his story, it was on his computer screen, all along, and he was lying about it.

Over the Phone Conversation Part One



Over the Phone Conversation Part Two



http://youtube.com/watch?v=ch82L9fUty8
(7:24 / 9:01) '... He's going to pull up my history
(8:02 / 9:01) '... There's only 2 payments and that was in 2007...over the phone ma'am"
Listen carefully to his smug and cocky tone as he attempts to deny the over the phone transaction in October 2008, then diverts to the "I don't give you permission to record." He was lying and he knew it. Of course he didn't want his lying recorded.
(8:42 / 9:01) '...when did you make a payment over the phone?' (as if he didn't have the information on his screen?)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O-NfHcCQ_J8
(0:26 / 5:14) '...when did you make a payment over the phone that we took 2.5x the amount?'
(0:42 / 5:14) '...you did an auto-debit it takes it automatically out of your monthly payment.'
(0:50 / 5:14) '...you did an auto-debit October 2008...'

Initially, I didn't catch his trying to blame me for an "auto debit". He is lying. I'll let the records at BBandT speak for themselves.
http://artscape.us/sallie_mae/bbt_statement_nov_2008.jpg
10/27 SLMA DEBIT SALLIE MAE XXXXXXXD01F $313.33
Does that look remotely as if me, myself made an "auto debit"? Or rather, that Sallie Mae made that debit? It was no "auto-debit".
Which explains why BBandT issued a reversal of the charge:
http://artscape.us/sallie_mae/bbt_statement_dec_2008.jpg
Two lies don't fix the story. There was only an over the phone transaction Sallie Mae processed, and the bank statement verifies the charge came from Sallie Mae.

In fact, take a look at the way BBandT records debits from Sallie Mae vs. online checks aka "auto debits"
http://artscape.us/sallie_mae/sallie_mae_activity.jpg
03/16/2009 Debit Online Pmt Sallie Mae CKF927529477POS $40

After this act of charging 2.5x the amount, BBandT told me to not give my bank account information to Sallie Mae anymore. My bank said legitimate institutions in banking do not do what Sallie Mae has done. I think... BBandT is on to something.
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I got the woman who answered the phone _to admit_ that a forebearance "hardship form" is something that has income on it, and to be signed. Instead of such a form, they sent just another junk flyer for harrassment. See
http://www.artscape.us/sallie_mae/envelope.jpg
http://www.artscape.us/sallie_mae/enclosure.jpg (both of which are dated incidentally)
Do either of those documents look like a "hardship form" to be signed or with income on it? No, they do not. Running me around in circles and avoid sending the forbearance forms they promised back in October 2008. See: 60 Minutes CBS / Default Loans = Big Profits.

Sallie Mae has repeatedly refused to send or discuss forbearance information since October 2008 (the supervisor on floor admit during conversation forbearance can be taken care of over the phone, so I'm asking WHY WASN'T IT... back in October 2008 when they promised to send them to me., March 2009 I began contacting them again -- meeting with the same refusal to send forms....

Here's where they confirmed (after emailing telling me to log in to my account) they'd locked me out from accessing my account online. They run people around in circles for months, refusing to send federal forms like federal law requires them to do, causing them to default their loans which Sallie Mae sells off to collection agencies for big profits. (Search Google for: 60 Minutes CBS + Sallie Mae Loan Fraud)

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Westwood College Scam

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Students say college misled them
01:46 PM CST on Tuesday, February 22, 2005

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV


There's a long-held American belief that education is the key to a better life.

But a News 8 investigation has found that scores of young men and women claim to have been duped by a chain of private schools in North Texas.

They were fresh out of high school. They often lacked the grades or money for college. Yet, they wanted a degree that will lead them to a career, so they went to a private for-profit school called Westwood College of Technology for an associate degree.

What many said they got, however, were a worthless piece of paper and crippling debt.

Each morning seems bright for hundreds of students on Westwood's campuses in Euless and Dallas, because every minute spent on those campuses is based on the promise of a better life through education - a sense of promise based on Westwood's widely-aired TV commercials.

"You need to know where the really hot careers are," said the ad. "You have lots of questions, and Westwood College has lots of answers."

Westwood is expensive, from $27,000 to $34,000 for about a year and a half of classes. That's as much as a year's tuition at Harvard, or four years at UT-Austin.

Brazell said. "We were trained to make them 'feel their pain.'"

And pain is what Katrina Vargas, a single mom, felt after completing her degree at Westwood.

"Now I'm a single mother, still, and I'm in so much debt," Vargas said. "I have marks on my credit, I can't pay for my daughter's needs ... my mom has to help me."

"I got people in financial jeopardy rather than getting into a career," Brazell said. "They made bets with me on how many students I would enroll."

READ THE ENTIRE STORY:
Students say college misled them, WFAA News, Byron Harris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon"
To: stephen schoeni salliemae com
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 1:52 AM
Subject: Prison


"...And pain is what Katrina Vargas, a single mom, felt after completing her degree at Westwood. "Now I'm a single mother, still, and I'm in so much debt," Vargas said. "I have marks on my credit, I can't pay for my daughter's needs ... my mom has to help me."
~ Dallas /Fort Worth, Texas

I feel their pain, Mr. Schoeni, being I'm living through the same financial nightmare your predatory business practices lured me and untold tens of thousands into.

When Mr. Wong asked me to advertise your scam from _my_ science blog and our science web sites? Ha, there's no way... but I did tell him I'd give Sallie Mae/Westwood Scam lots of PRO BONO exposure.
I read today on one site I found discussing the Westwood fraud, that somebody 'had taken down the fight westwood site'..
Okay, as promised to do, I'll do my part and create a blogspot (~fight-westwood.blogspot.com) their idea which is good enough -- and adding lots of links to information like the article at WFAA News (Dallas / Fort Worth).. and I'll use all the pre-existing sites at my disposal to give top billing to exposing and linking to the Westwood College Online / Sallie Mae fraud, republishing some of the same letters I've shared with you and the reporters.
If victims of the Westwood fraud want to come mourn their sorrow, then I'll welcome them with an open embrace. But there will be no greater reason to rejoice, when the criminals at Sallie Mae and Westwood, are sitting behind bars.

You people deserve only a long stretch in federal prison, and the key thrown away!

Best, Sharon
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