Student Loan Principal Payment ??

Avatar for 2locachicas
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Student Loan Principal Payment ??
6
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 11:31am

Okay....DH has subsidized student loans(2) but I pay them at the same place. one is only 4k so I have been trying to double the payments on that one because it is ridiculous that a 4k loan has a 20 year term!

Here is my question. I pay it online & I double the payment & check the box to put it on principal but every month my payment goes down that much every month. I don't understand why it would do this. To me that would indicate it isn't going on principal but I could be wrong.

I can't call on the loan because it's not mine and DH is out of state for 2 weeks...I was hoping someone could shed some light on this...

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 12:39pm

I'm confused...when you say the payment goes down-do you mean the payment due the next month goes down? Or do you mean the payment against the overall loan seems to go down and it doesn't show it as being applied to the principal? Maybe some numbers would help.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 1:59pm
I am currently paying a student loan online (sallie mea). There is a box that I check that says towards principle. If your total loan amount goes down by the amount you paid minus interest than it is being applied to your principal. If it wasnt being applied to your principal, then the next payment wouldn't be due till the following month, or just the interest that would accure for the month you are paying in advace for woudl be due. For example if your original amount due was 4000, your payment due amount was 50. You pay 100 and you owe 20 in interest, your final amount due in the loan should be 3920. And your next payment due day for the amount of 50 should be due the next month...say March. If the amount is not being applied to your principal than it would say your next payemnt was due in April...as if you paid a month in advance or it would say you still owed the interest for the month of march. And your total amount due on the loan would be 3940. ($50 paymentFEb+20 interest....3970...minues $50 payment March +20 interest march). I hope this isnt confusing...really was tryign to help lol.
Jacky
Avatar for 2locachicas
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 3:22pm

Our total payment is 152.49 a mont(for 20 years!! Yeah right) it is broken up into 2 loans. the smaller loan payment is 27.36 per month. Last month I doubled it(I am just starting this doubling thing) and this month my bills is for 13x.xx which leads me to believe that it went to the next months payment and not the principal like I checked it to.

What do you guys think??

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 12:33pm
I am not experienced with two loans from the same company. They put the bills together in one bill? It would seem they would have to seperate them. From what you explained in your last post, it dosnt look like they posted the extra amount to your principal. It seems like they applied it to your next months payment, which lowered it to the amount you now owe. You can usual access detailed information online about the account. If the total amount of your loan isnt being lowered by the amount you pay each month, before interest is applied, then the doubel payment isnt being applied to the principal. The only way to fix this error, that must be an error in the online system is to call, which would have to wait till your DH gets back, or you may be able to e-mail the company and inform them of your problem with a "contact us" icon on the site.
Hope that helped some
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 12:46pm

I agree that it sounds like they made a mistake and unfortunately you'll probably have to wait until DH comes home to fix it or see if he can deal with it from the road. You might also check the fine print if you still have original loan documents. I know our car payment would do that automatically unless you wrote a letter requesting that the extra amount go to the principal but I wouldn't think that's the case here since they have a button to push for principal. Good luck!

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2004
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 5:59pm
This is something that I can help you with. I called Sallie Mae with the same question and this is what they told me. If the amount you send in is more than 1 months charge, but not equal to or over 2 months then the overage is applied to principal. If the amount you send in is equal to 2 months charges, then it is applied as 2 payments with both principal and interest taken from both payments. I try to send in an overage amount that is close to but not quite 2 months, that way all the overage goes to principal. I hope this helps. Annie