Ashley
Springfield,#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, May 19, 2009
the talking to others about your debt is for bill collectors. Not the original creditor.
Benthefinanceguy
Buffalo,#3Consumer Comment
Tue, May 19, 2009
You didn't post the specifics of your loan, so it is possible that the loan was "extended" in the sense that you are making extra payments to cover late fees or penalties, which may very well be legitimate. The one big problem I see here is that they called your employer. This is a huge no-no. How did they get the number? If they talked to someone other than you about your debt, you may have legal grounds to have the debt discharged.
Ashley
Springfield,#4Consumer Suggestion
Tue, May 19, 2009
Its due to being late and the way interest is calculated: If your payment is due on the 1st, and you pay on the 2nd, you have to pay extra interest for being 1 day late. There is no grace period. If you pay on the 10th, you have to pay extra interest for 10 days. 10 days late may seem just fine, it's not like you are 30 days late, but in a simple interest loan, 10 days late can be problematic. Let me give you a rough example. These loans can be difficult to figure out, but here goes. Say your payment is $500 per month, and in the beginning of your loan, $420 goes toward interest and $80 goes to principal. This is if you pay the loan on time. Since $420 goes towards interest, that amt divided by 30 days = $14 per day. If you are 10 days late, that is 10 extra days worth of interest = $140. When you make the $500 payment, the $420 goes towards interest for the month, plus the $80, which was supposed to go towards principal, now goes towards that $140 extra interest you have to pay. So the month you were 10 days late, NO MONEY went towards principal and you are, in fact, still $60 in the hole for late interest. Next month, if you make the payment ontime, around $420 goes to interest for that month, $60 goes towards the extra interest from last month, and the rest goes towards principal. Do this enough times and you may end up not paying any money towards the principal for months. So what happens is everytime you are late you owe more interest on the loan. This money will get tacked on the end of the loan extending your loan a number of months to pay off this excess interest you accrued for being late.