Loan Servicing Department

BILLING INFORMATION

	Billing Billing Schedule Billing Information Advance vs Accelerated Payments Applying for a Cancellation or Deferment
	Collection Agencies Placement of Account Contacting Your Collection Agency Working with Your Collection Agency
	Credit Reporting Consumer Credit Report Your Credit Rights Checking Your Credit When Your Credit Has Been Denied "Credit Repair"
	Default Definition Student Loan Default Consequences of Default
	Past Due Solutions Past Due Account Solutions *Hardship Deferment *Unemployment Deferment *Economic Hardship Deferment *Forbearance Contacting Us Regarding a Solution

BILLING

Billing Schedule

Bills are sent out around the 16th of the month, with the payment due by the 15th of the following month. If your payment is not received by the time the next month’s bills are run, your account may be assessed a late charge.

Billing Information

The bill is "consolidated" which means that all accounts you may have with Weber State are joined into one payment amount. The bottom part lists the amount due for your account(s) and has a perforated edge, so you can tear off the stub and include it with your check in the provided envelope. (Note: it is always a good idea to include your SSN on your check so the proper account can be credited in case your statement and check are separated.) The top part of the bill lists the status of your account including last payment information and the current principal balance remaining on the loan. The top part of the bill also has an area for messages pertaining to specific loans. Be sure to always read your messages. If you wish to pay off your loan in full, you must CALL THE OFFICE, because the bill does not give complete information about the interest due on the loans.

Advance vs. Accelerated Payment

In general, any payment you make over and above the minimum payment amount will be treated as an Accelerated Payment and credited to the principal balance of your account(s). You will then be billed your regular monthly payment amount for the subsequent month.

If you wish to make an Advanced Payment (pay more than one installment with one payment) you must contact the Loan Office directly so the proper adjustments can be made to you account(s).

Applying for a Cancellation or Deferment

The back of our billing statement provides some brief information on loan cancellation and deferments. Take special note that you are responsible for initiating a request for cancellation or deferment.

You may contact us directly or check our CANCELLATIONS webpage and DEFERMENTS webpage for details on eligibility and printing or requesting the appropriate forms on-line.

Collection Agencies

Placement of Account

Under Federal regulations and under State statute, we may place your account with a collection agency when it becomes 120 days past due. All collection costs incurred by our office in the collection of your delinquent account are charged back to your account.

Once your account has defaulted and been placed with a Collection Agency, you may lose any rights or benefits to defer or cancel the loan balance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your account is with a collection agency, but you believe you are eligible for a deferment, you should IMMEDIATELY:

• download and print a deferment form from our Website,
• request, via this website, a deferment form be mailed to you,
• contact our office by phone at (800)433-6844 to request a deferment form, or
• write to us to request a deferment form at:
  Weber State University
  Loan Servicing
  1023 University Circle
  Ogden, Utah 84408-1023

Contacting Your Collection Agency

If your account is placed with a collection agency, you should contact that agency to make any repayment arrangements. Our office cannot set up a repayment arrangement once your account is with a collection agency.

Working with Your Collection Agency

You should not procrastinate in contacting your collection agency. They will try to collect the full past due amount. If you are unable to pay the full past due amount, you can negotiate a monthly payment plan. Remember, if you feel you are in a situation which qualifies for deferment, contact our office. We will assist you in getting a deferment. Once you have an approved deferment, we can then get your account back from the collection agency.

Credit Reporting

All your campus-based student loans and other accounts are reported to the three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW) and TransUnion. If you have student loans from other lenders, they are also probably reported to at least one of these credit bureaus. Once your student loans go into repayment, you will be building either a positive or a negative credit history.

Consumer Credit Report

A consumer credit report is a factual record of an individual’s credit payment history. It is provided for a purpose permitted by law: to help a lender quickly and objectively decide whether to grant you credit. Most of the information in your consumer credit report comes directly from the companies you do business with, but some information comes from public records.

Types of information:

• Identifying information: your name, nicknames, current and previous addresses, Social Security number, year of birth and current and previous employers.
• Credit information: specific information about each account such as the date opened, credit limit or loan amount, balance, monthly payment and payment pattern during the past several years.
• Public record information: federal district bankruptcy records, state and county court records, tax liens and monetary judgments.
• Inquiries: the names of those who obtained a copy of your credit report for any reason, during the past two years.

How Long Information Stays on a Credit Report

Federal law specifies how long negative information may remain on your credit report. Most negative information must be erased after seven years. This includes late payments, accounts that the credit grantor turned over to a collection agency and judgments filed against you in court--even if you later paid the account in full.

The length of time a bankruptcy remains on your credit report depends upon which chapter of bankruptcy you file. Chapters 7, 11 and 12 remain for 10 years. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, in which you repay part or all of your debts under a court-approved payment plan, remains on your credit report for seven years. Credit reporting agencies use the date of original delinquency or, in the case of public records, the date of filing to determine when negative information is deleted.

Positive information remains on your report indefinitely.

How Consumer Credit Reports Are Used

Federal law specifies who may obtain a copy of your credit report and how it may be used. You may request a copy at any time, but no one else may legally review your report unless they do so in connection with one of the following:

• Your application for a government license
• A credit transaction or other legitimate business need
• Employment purposes such as hiring or promoting
• Underwriting insurance
• A court order or federal grand jury subpoena
• Your written instructions

Benefits of Consumer Credit Reporting

Before the advent of national credit reporting agencies, consumers could obtain credit only in communities in which they were known and had lived for years. Now, automated credit reporting systems enable a consumer’s good credit reputation to make credit possible no matter where that consumer decides to live.

Because of automated credit reporting agencies, Americans enjoy the widest access to credit at the lowest interest rates in the world. Credit information enables lenders to either avoid consumers who don’t pay their bills or to lend to them on special terms. Credit losses, which ultimately get passed on to consumers who do pay their bills, are therefore minimized.

Your Credit Rights

Equal Credit Opportunity Act

This act was enacted to make sure women receive the same treatment from creditors as men. You have the right to obtain a credit card in your own name if you are a married woman and to have child support and alimony counted as income at your request. Creditors may not ask you about birth control or child-bearing plans. They are required to tell you their reasons if they deny you credit.

Fair Credit Billing Act

1. You have the right to file a written complaint within 60 days after the bill you question was mailed to you.
2. The creditor must acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days and reach a settlement with you within 90 days.
3. Until the matter is resolved, the creditor may not collect the disputed amount from you, nor may the creditor report any negative information about the dispute to credit reporting agencies.

Fair Credit Reporting Act

Offers legal protection of consumer privacy by:

1. Limiting the purposes for which a consumer report may be used.
2. Giving the consumer the right to receive full disclosure of everything in the file.
3. Limiting the length of time which adverse information may be reported.
4. Informing the consumer when a report has contributed to a denial of credit.
5. Providing the consumer with an opportunity to dispute information.
6. Limiting the access of governmental agencies.
7. Providing civil and criminal liability for violations of the law.

Checking Your Credit

You may obtain a free credit report if you have been denied credit within the past 60 days, or you are unemployed and intend to apply for employment within 60 days, or you are a recipient of public welfare assistance, or you have reason to believe the file contains inaccurate information due to fraud. You can call, write, or go to the website to obtain a credit report.

When Your Credit Has Been Denied

1. Obtain a free copy of your credit report to see what negative information is being reported.
2. Request an explanation of the denial of credit from the company that denied you credit.
3. If you spot an error, contact that reporting agencies and discuss the error with them. If there is an error, that agency should make the correction. If the agency says it was not a reporting error and you disagree with that decision, you should file a consumer dispute.
4. To file a consumer dispute, contact your local credit bureau. They will send you a form to complete. Based on that information, they will send an official Consumer Dispute Verification form to the reporting agency. That agency must respond within 5 days or the negative information will be deleted. Your local credit bureau will forward the change in your credit reporting to the other credit bureaus.
5. If the reporting agency is reporting correctly, but you feel there were mitigating circumstances, you may have an explanation put on your credit report. Call your local credit bureau to submit an explanation.

"Credit Repair"

"Credit Repair" is a term used by operators who charge a fee for a service they cannot perform. You cannot repair a bad credit record, you rebuild a good credit record.

1. Pull a copy of your credit report and work on the negative items. Remember that negative reporting can only remain on your record for seven years. Time will eventually take care of some of the negative information. File disputes on obvious errors, or even on simply questionable ones. Contact your local credit bureau to file a dispute.
2. Do not go to a “Credit Repair Clinic”. They are expensive and they cannot do anything you can’t do for yourself.
3. Most creditors pay attention to your recent two-year history. Therefore, build good credit, to improve your ratio of positive to negative credit.
4. Create a budget you can live with and open a passbook savings account. Set up direct deposit from your paycheck. After $500 is saved, apply for a loan secured by your savings and pay it back by making timely, monthly payments. Be sure your bank is reporting this loan to the credit bureau. You could also get a credit card from your bank, with the credit limit being the amount in your savings. Use it for purchases and PAY IT IN FULL EACH MONTH. Try to get a card with no annual fee. Be sure you get a card that gives you a 24-day grace period to pay in full before accruing interest.
5. Get a credit card from a department store or an oil company. They are usually more liberal in granting credit. Make modest purchases and pay in full each month. These cards usually do not charge annual fees or interest if you pay in full each month.

Default

The term default is often misunderstood. Actually you are in default on a loan when you miss a payment. Most businesses, however, do not officially brand your account as a DEFAULT until you have missed four or five payments. Your account rating then jumps from an R5 or I5 rating to an R9 or I9 rating. That R9 or I9 rating on your credit report means that business has pursued all due diligence measures in trying to collect the loan and they have given you every opportunity to correct the delinquent status of the account.

Student Loan Default

Default in the world of student loans has additional meaning. If you have a Stafford loan that is 180 days delinquent, it is considered in DEFAULT. With a Perkins loan, it is considered in DEFAULT, when your account is 120 days delinquent. You account can be "Accelerated" and you are not eligible for additional Title IV aid as long as you are in default on a Stafford or Perkins Loan.

You can "cure" a default by qualifying for a deferment that begins prior to that 240 day threshold. You can also "cure" a default by paying the loan in full. The third way to "cure" a default is to make six consecutive monthly payments. However, since the account is not taken out of default status until those six payments are made, it will be six months before you can qualify again for Title IV aid.

Consequences of Default

1. A very bad credit rating.
2. A hold being placed on your student records.
3. A claim on your Utah income tax refund.
4. If you are a State Employee, your state employment is subject to termination unless you bring your account current or agree to wage garnishment.
5. Your account may be turned over to a collection agency and all collection costs added to your account.
6. Your account will be turned over to the Utah Attorney General’s Office for suit and filing and execution of judgment.

Past Due Account Solutions

THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO BE IN DEFAULT OR HAVE A DELINQUENT STUDENT LOAN ACCOUNT. THERE ARE SOLUTIONS.

Hardship Deferment

If you are unemployed or are just working a temporary or part-time job, you could qualify for this deferment. It defers the principal, but not the interest. The interest accrues, but you do not have to pay it until after your account is out of deferment, or you can pay it as it accrues. When your account comes out of deferment, if you owe interest you are unable to pay, you may request it be rescheduled into a new monthly repayment agreement. If you have loans disbursed after July 1, 1993, see Unemployment or Economic Hardship Deferment.

Unemployment Deferment

Like the Hardship Deferment, you must be unemployed or just working a temporary or part-time job. Only loans disbursed after July 1, 1993 are eligible for this deferment. Both principal and interest are deferred and you get a six-month post-deferment grace period. You may only receive this deferment up to three years.

Economic Hardship Deferment

Only loans disbursed after July 1, 1993 are eligible for this deferment. If you don’t qualify for Unemployment Deferment, but have a low income or a high proportion of student loan debt, you may qualify for Economic Hardship Deferment. Both principal and interest are deferred and you get a six-month post-deferment grace period. You may only receive this deferment up to three years.

Forbearance

All loans may qualify for forbearance. We can give forbearance for up to three years, at the lender’s discretion. Interest accrues, but the lender has the option of asking that the interest be paid as it accrues or the lender can incorporate the accrued interest into a new repayment plan at the end of the period.

Reschedule

Any past due amount can be incorporated into a new repayment agreement as long as the long period does not extend beyond the ten-year limitation. Discuss this option with your lender. Graduated repayment plans can also be arranged.

Contacting Us Regarding a Solution

1. Obtain a Request for Forbearance Form.
   You may download and print the form in on your own printer or you may request that the form be mailed to you.
   Complete the form and FAX it to 801-626-7276 or mail it to the address below.

2. OR contact us via email: Loan Serivces

3. OR call us at: (800)433-6844

4. OR write to us at:
   Weber State University
   Loan Servicing
   1023 University Circle
   Ogden, Utah 84408-1023