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Citibank Student Loans

Jessica of Hartford, CT January 27, 2009

Jessica of Hartford CT (01/27/09)
I have been paying my student loans from Citibank since 2004. When I pay online, I am given the option of putting my payment towards the principal. when I select that option, I notice that it NEVER goes to the principal, it only defers my next payment. The website clearly states and encourages people to apply extra to the principal except you can't actually do it.

I've spoken to several representatives and I've been told 1) send a check or payment electronically the day before my payment is due otherwise the system won't apply it to the principal and then 2) that the only way I can apply extra towards the principal is if I send a check to a totally seperate dept. I am upset that they have been LYING and MISLEADING.

I have consistently paid extra each month and I thought it was going towards principal. I work very hard as a social worker and do not make a ton of and have made a conscious effort to pay off my loans as quickly as I can to save me money. Little did I know, they were only deferring my payment. We're talking about thousands of dollars that only deferred payment. So wrong! Illegal!

Victor of Phoenix, AZ January 16, 2009

Victor of Phoenix AZ (01/16/09)
I have been paying on my student loans for 5 years now, 307.00 a month and sometimes more. Still to this day, the balance has not gone down. In fact it has gone up. I see a lot of people having problems with Citibank. I was told my loan consolidated on a 10 year plan but find out it is a 20 year. I wish someone would take this greedy giant down.

It seems that I am working to give Citibank money. My initial loan for school was 25000, why is it 32000 and going up? They explained that I need to pay 1000.00 a month to see a change in the balance.

Melinda of Chicago, IL January 13, 2009

Melinda of Chicago IL (01/13/09)
My loan amounts constantly change every month. The customer service reps barely know what's going on. I was told on January 12, 2009 that I am supposed to pay about 265 per month for three private loans when I get statements saying that I owe over 400 a month. Some of the statements are interest statements, which end up being monthly statements without my knowledge. I remember being told that a statement I had received was an interest statement. Weeks later, I had people rudely calling my house telling me that I was two months past due on paying.

The amounts change every month. Payments are ballooning every month and with cash being limited these days, I cannot make payments of 400+...or is it 265? All of my statements don't tell me the truth. The customer service representatives are barely helpful. So many people tell me so many things without options of helping. In January 2009, I cannot take out a consolidation loan because they don't do those anymore. I need to apply for a new repayment plan. I can't get the Extended Repayment Plan at the moment. It's too much.

Irate phone calls received. I don't have 400 lying around my house to pay back student loans every month. That's not even a car note. I'm not getting any assistance from Citibank. I have two loans with an interest rate over 10% even though interest rates have dropped. I can't get a lower interest rate unless I've been paying on the loan for 48 months, a loan that has just come out of forbearance. Can't consolidate because they're not doing that at the moment. Citibank doesn't want to offer any real assistance that will help a person. Something has to be done here.

Todd of Auburn Hills, MI January 3, 2009

January 2, 2009 After several years of paying back my student loan, and in October, finally getting to pay more towards principal than interest, I noticed that Citibank altered the amount of deduction from my account, which meant that I was paying more on interest than toward principal, again. What happened? And how many people do they get on technicalities every year?

Here is what happened: When updating our accounts after Christmas, I discovered that only 135.53 had been automatically deducted for my student loans for the last 2 months, rather than the usual 327.46. This was in disagreement with what I received from the webpage of my account,

I called Customer Service: 3:15 PM, Maria (Customer Service Associate) explained that because I made 36 successive payments my interest rate dropped by 1%, down to 4.625. This is a good thing, right? Not completely.

“The System Automatic Repayment re-adjusted� my automatic monthly deduction (i.e., from 327.46 to 135.53), a whopping drop of 241.6%. Moreover, this drop was completed without notice by mail or even electronically via email. This caused my monthly payment toward principal to go down 73% (240/327) to 44% (60/135). A superior to Maria, Theresa, confirmed this drop. She re-set my automatic monthly deduction to (roughly 330.97), which is good.

I think we lost between 180- 360, only because I routinely check my accounts. I wonder how many people get nailed on this and how much money Citibank gets annually from this quasi-legal embezzlement practice. You can bet I would have been in deep trouble had I paid 241% less on my usual bill! Why should they get away with this?

Terry of San Diego, CA December 31, 2008

Terry of San Diego CA (12/31/08)
I have also taken out a Student loan. I have been paying for over 10 years and I owe more now then when I took out the loan. I understand why people are not paying off their loans, because there is no paying them off. They have increased the interest at least 3 times since I've taken out the loan. My payment have almost doubled. I don't see the light at the end. I don't think it is fair for those of us that try to pay our bills should have to help pay for those that don't.

The additional interest never allows my balance to go down. They should not be allowed to increase the rate. It should have been locked in at one rate and one rate only.

Amy of Santa Monica, CA December 6, 2008

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