How To Feel Secure With Your Student Loan Lender

You hear the horror stories of identity theft, lost paperwork, crazy fees, and more. But on the flip side, millions of student loan borrowers never have a problem with their lender.

So how can you feel secure with your lender? What steps can you take to make sure that you know you are safe? Here are three things to always check when selecting a student loan lender:

Did You Contact Them?

The first question you should ask yourself is pretty simple: “Did they contact me, or did I contact them.” The fastest way to get into trouble with a student loan company is when they contact you unexpectedly.  Many of these companies will contact you and offer services like loan consolidation or refinancing, and ask for an up-front payment to process it. THIS IS A SCAM. You should never have to pay upfront, and most fees are rolled into the loan itself.

Protect yourself tip: If you think a company is legitimate, simply search for them online and call them yourself. Never trust a random phone call you receive – always call them yourself.

Ask For Materials In Writing

Next, no matter what the representative tells you, you should always get the information in writing. This could be in the form of a letter or confirmation mailed to your home address, or a PDF emailed to you online. Either way, you want to know in writing exactly what the lender is going to do for you before you proceed.

For example, if you want to refinance your student loans, make sure you completely understand the payment length, interest rate, and all fees associated with it before you agree. Trusted companies will gladly provide this for you up front.

Protect yourself tip: Everything with your student loan should be provided in writing. You should get to review the documents before you accept anything, and then get a written confirmation immediately afterwards.

Check Them Out Online

Finally, it never hurts to look at reviews online. Yes, reviews aren’t always the best source, but you can tell a lot about a company simply by searching for them.  If you search for a lender and see nothing but warnings and scams, that should be a big red flag for you.

However, if you search for the lender and see positive news and good reviews by third parties, it highlights a much more positive picture about the company. Remember, all companies may have issues arise, but good companies address them quickly and take care of their customers.

Trust Your Gut

At the end of the day, you have to trust your gut when it comes to selecting a student loan lender online. There are a lot of great companies that will take care of you, but there are also ones that will try to take advantage.

The key is doing due diligence on your lender BEFORE you sign up.

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