What to do when a student loan telemarketer calls - Final Part

As mentioned, aquiring student loans or deciding to consolidate your existing student loans are great financial options, but pay close attention to these tell-tale signs to make sure the person you’re speaking to isn’t more interested in filling their own pockets then filling yours.

Tips on How to Handle Student Loan-Related Phone Calls & How to Choose the Best Ones to Pursue

1) Don’t be bullied or rushed into making a decision. It’s important to feel comfortable and not rushed by the person you’re speaking with.

Make sure you’re treated with respect: Work with a company who makes it a point to listen to their clients needs. Find a company that doesn’t take one single call they make or receive for granted. Real customer-service-oriented Student Loan companies want to know that each of their borrowers is happy with their student loan or consolidation solutions. This is why companies like OneSimpleLoan® thrive on testimonials from their customers, daily. Check out http://www.onesimpleloan.com/testimonials.asp to see exactly what I’m talking about.

2) Make sure you’re talking with a student loan professional and not a telemarketer (some people are trained to make calls, not to help you get a student loan or consolidate your student loans properly and efficiently). You can tell right away if someone is reading from a script or going through the motions. Aquiring a student loan or consolidating your existing loans involves your personal finances and it’s nothing for someone to play around with.

Work with a company who has an excellent Training program: Few student loan companies invest enough into the training of their student loan consultants. It’s important to work with a company that does. OneSimpleLoan® for example puts their Student Loan Consultants through a tiered training program, which each include an entire week of in-house training letting them excel into three levels of service.

3) Do some research on the company you’re speaking with before you decide to work with them. Visit their website, check out to see if they’ve had any BBB complaints issued against them. Ask questions…if the answers don’t sound right, hang up!

Make sure the company is credible: Find out what kind of credentials the company you’re speaking with has, such as membership in their local or state chamber of commerce and Better Business Bureau. Companies, like OneSimpleLoan®, pride themselves because of these prestigious memberships and for having superb understanding and implementation of student loan laws and regulations.

Look for Consistency and valuable resources: The worst thing is having to go through a detailed process with one person and then having to explain it to someone else. Is the consultant willing to give you their full name? Can you call them back with questions? Borrowers who consolidate with OneSimpleLoan appreciate the fact that they are assigned to one consultant to help them through the entire consolidation process.

4) Listen to the person on the phone. Do they mention grace rates, borrower benefits, deferment, or forbearance? If no, they may be holding back on giving you a full range of options to help you manage your student loan debt or aquire the best student loan for your particular situation.

Make sure they’re easy to understand: Sure, the person on the phone may sound like they know what they’re talking about, but do you? It’s important that the Student Loan Consultant tries to make the process of consolidation or aquiring a student loan as easy to understand as possible by using simple to understand terms and treating each borrower like a personal friend whom they’re helping.

5) Make sure you’re speaking with someone with expertise on the subject. Get the phone number and name and even the lender ID code, if available, of the company that’s calling you or that the person represents.

Work with a company that experiences successful growth: They may be few, but there are student loan companies that do hire professional staff, have a resourceful website and a dynamic stature that make them successful members within the student loan industry.

Find out how simple and quick the process is: Before you start the consolidation process or decide to get a student loan, ask the company you’re on the phone with how long their consolidation process will take. It’s better to know and prepare yourself from the beginning than grow impatient later. It’s important to work with a company who’s process is hassle-free. A good student loan company can help you complete your consolidation paperwork in less than an hour – some even do most of the written work for you! In fact, many borrowers who have consolidated their loans with OneSimpleLoan® comment on how easy and quick the consolidation process is because of the quality of attention and service they received from the Student Loan Consultant who helped them.

Most of all, work with someone who you can tell enjoys their job of helping you get the financial option you need.

In addition to their employees, many student loan companies do have your best interests at heart – after all, a job is a choice and many who love customer service choose to help student loan borrowers make the best choices about their loans. In fact, customer service is at the heart of many of the most successful student loan companies, of which OneSimpleLoan® is no exception.

Myths and Facts of Student Loan Consolidation: Final Part

Myth: As long as I'm in school, I cannot consolidate any of my Federal student loans until I graduate or leave school. Fact: Not entirely true. If you are in graduate school, you can consolidate your undergraduate school loans. Also, if you're in a post-graduate program, such as medical school or law school, you can consolidate your undergraduate and graduate school loans!

Myth: Even if I have a high interest rate but I’ve already consolidated before, I can’t consolidate my student loans again to take advantage of a low fixed rate.
Fact: Not true. You can reconsolidate if you either received a new eligible loan since the consolidation or have left an eligible loan out of the original consolidation.

Myth: Student Loan Consolidation will hurt my credit rating.
Fact: Not true. If anything, Federal student loan consolidation may help your credit rating, so that you can have the ability to obtain additional credit for things like a mortgage or a new car!
When you apply for any form of credit, such as a mortgage loan or credit card, lenders will evaluate your credit score as part of the application process. Your credit score takes into account the number of creditors you have as well as the balance of outstanding loans. By consolidating your student loans into a single loan, you can effectively decrease the number of creditors on your credit history, thereby enhancing your overall credit score.

You’ll be happy to know that at most student loan companies, there are no credit checks!

Myth: The word “consolidation” is frowned upon in the credit industry.
Fact: Not true. There are two types of consolidations in the credit world. One is consumer debt consolidation and the other is a federal student loan consolidation. Each is very different from the other. Consumer debt consolidation is usually meant for people who have had trouble paying off their bills and can really hurt their relationships with their creditors. Student loan consolidation, on the other hand, doesn’t hurt anything. No relationships are harmed because, by consolidating all your federal student loans, lenders will be paid in full and one single new loan (a consolidation loan) will be issued in its place. In fact, your credit rating may actually improve after you consolidate!
If there’s one good thing that the government has given the American student, it’s the option of student loan consolidation. If there’s anything a student should consider after graduation, it’s student loan consolidation.

To learn more about student loan consolidation visit http://www.onesimpleloan.com/loan_consolidation.asp

Myths and Facts of Student Loan Consolidation: Part 1

If you’ve got student loans, then please pay close attention! You’re about to learn a lot of valuable information about student loan consolidation that, if acted upon, could put a lot of money back in your pocket after college.

Myth: Consolidation of student loans is just too complicated to invest time in!
Fact: While it may seem complicated or time consuming, the process of consolidating Federal student loans is rather simple and the rewards are bountiful. In fact, the process has been made easier than ever by student loan companies who will do all the work for you. They will walk you through the entire process and even help you pick out the repayment package that’s best for you. Student loan consolidation can transform your loans into one, simple, manageable repayment package that’ll make paying back your student loans easier than you can imagine.

Myth: If I have a single lender, I have been told I can not consolidate.
Fact: No longer true! In June, 2006, the single lender rule was repealed by Congress and President Bush. In fact, a student loan company, OneSimpleLoan, filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Education in June 2006. That effort was a catalyst in overturning the single lender law!

As a result, you now have the freedom of choice to consolidate your student loans with anyone you choose, regardless of who your original lender is. Make sure you choose a company that has your best interests at heart all the time.

Myth: If I consolidate my loans, I must extend the terms of my loan.
Fact: Not true. You can, indeed, maintain the exact same terms and monthly repayment amount as your original student loans. (This is a good idea, since you may be able to pay off your consolidated loan even faster!)

For more informaiton on student loan consolidation, visit http://www.onesimpleloan.com/loan_consolidation.asp

Recent College Grads! See how consolidating your student loans after college can change your life!

Sure, your student loans get you through college but don’t you just wish they would go away after graduation? I mean, after college you’re ready to get move on with you life and pursue your dreams. The last thing you want lagging behind you for years is your student loans.

But have no fear students and grads, because there is a way to get rid of the hassle of dealing with your student loans after college, and let me tell you, it could really change your life for the better!

Student Loan Consolidation, a Federally-backed program, lets you take all your student loans, all your high interest rates and all your payments and transform them into one simple manageable repayment package. What student loan solution could be better than that!

Some of the benefits of student loan consolidation:

When you consolidate your student loans, you no longer have to think about when and to whom you owe money to. Consolidation will simplify your life by transforming all your loans into one simple manageable repayment package created just for you thereby giving you just one new loan and one new lender. Furthermore, you can consolidate multiple Federal and Private student loans into just two consolidation loans, thereby minimizing the amount of loans.
Consolidation can offer you a low interest rate, so you can stop paying different rates to different lenders for different student loans. No more worries about facing the possibility of an escalating interest rate every year! A consolidation loan takes the average interest rate of all your open loans and that average, usually lower, would be your new interest rate!

On top of an already low interest rate, many student loan consolidation companies, like OneSimpleLoan for example, offer borrowers a money-saving interest rate reduction for making your monthly payments via secure auto-pay from your checking or savings account.

The interest you pay on your new consolidation loan may be tax deductible! An annual tax deduction of up to $2,500 is available for interest paid on tax qualified education loans. Visit www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc456.html or contact your tax advisor for more information.

Consolidating your student loans may also improve your credit score. Because student loans constitute money owed, having many outstanding loans could adversely affect your payment history and your outstanding debt, which compromises part of your total credit score. By consolidating your student loans, your many loans become just one new consolidation loan, thereby minimizing your debt image. By improving your credit score many students may be more likely to qualify for many post-college comforts such as getting an apartment, house, or new car since credit scores play a major role in determining whether or not you qualify for such luxuries.

As you can see, it’s obvious that based on the benefits, consolidating your student loans could easily save you thousands of dollars in fees you are now or might soon be paying in higher interest rates and high monthly payments. However, there are some situations where consolidation may not be advantageous. That’s when speaking to reputable student loan consultants such as those at OneSimpleLoan may be beneficial to you.

All in all, who couldn’t use a couple thousand extra dollars in their pocket? That extra money coupled with the possibility of an improved credit score could help you buy a new car, put a down payment on a house, or even move to the big city in pursuit of your dream job after college.

So, if there’s anything you should consider after graduation, it’s exploring the possibility of consolidating your student loans and you could see just how different your life can be after you do!

Thinking of consolidating your student loans? Choose your Student Loan Consolidator carefully.

If you're faced with a lot of student loan debt after graduation or are expecting to graduate with enormous student loan debt, student loan consolidation may be a way for you to transform your debt into one new repayment package with a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments. Sounds like a great debt management option doesn't it? It can be.

However, it's important that college students (or graduates) are careful of who they decide to consolidate their student loans with. For example, consolidating student loans through the Department of Education or using a student loan company that is a member of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), such as OneSimpleLoan, offer a student a reputation that they can trust. When it comes to customer service, it is thought that student loan consolidators that are members of FFELP can provide superior customer service since it is those companies' choice to consolidate loans for students. Because it is a choice and a livelihood of business, student loan companies that are part of FFELP, and like OneSimpleLoan, offer student loan consolidation tend to invest more time in the quality of their student loan consultants in an effort to provide optimal service and information for students.

It is also important for students to work with a student loan consolidation company that remains up-to-speed on current student loan regulations. This ensures that the students get accurate answers to their questions and know of implications that could affect their financial situation.

Work with a student loan consolidation company that has your best interests at heart. For example, the certified Student Loan Consultants at OneSimpleLoan are up front and personal and will tell students when and if student loan consolidation would be ideal for their particular situation.

So, when it comes to consolidating your student loans (or the thought of it), do a lot of research, consider a reputable FFELP member and turn to a company that offers superior customer service.