When I wrote to my Servicer and complained, they REVERSED MY CAPITALIZED INTEREST. They said it was done as a “courtesy!”

I suggest they did it because they do not know how to handle these types of issues.

You can save money too if this type of thing happens to you. Let us know how we can help at www.loanlook.com

Raj
CEO, Loanlook Inc.

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Raj
CEO, Loanlook. Inc.

You can check out the official press release here.

“I have multiple PLUS loans for both my children and they are held by Direct Loans (ACS). They are all in repayment and I am current.

Yesterday, I logged in to www.myedaccount.com to make a payment and found that on Jan 7, 2013, these loans were “Paid in Full.”
Knowing I did not pay them off, I decided to look for the loan detail on the site. Nothing else except a Paid in Full and I could not make my scheduled payment.

I went to NSLDS and the loans were NOT Paid in Full. Finally the Loan Detail page gave me information, right at the bottom that my loans had been transferred from ACS to Great Lakes, one of the government’s 17 Federal loan Servicers.

I have not yet received anything from Great Lakes or Direct Loans as of today. They have not informed me about where to make payments; to whom; and when. NOTHING!

On Monday, Loanlook.com updated my loans automatically – and sent me an email that my Servicer has changed. The site does work.
I am a student loan expert. Or so I thought. Not sure how those without my understanding even begin dealing with this.”

Raj
CEO, Loanlook Inc.

Duane Starks played in the NFL from 1998-2007. After winning a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him 10th overall in the 1998 draft, Starks spent time with the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, and Oakland Raiders.  Starks had his best season in 2000 as part of the Super Bowl champion Ravens.   He was a consistent contributor on one of the best defenses the NFL has ever seen (they allowed only 10.3 points/game).  During his career he maintained a reputation for making big plays totaling four (4) interceptions in just six (6) playoff games including one (1) returned for a touchdown during the Super Bowl.

Congrats to @harrisoncoll for providing loanlook.com to their students at no charge; here’s hoping more colleges follow suit

— Wes Welker (@WesWelker) December 5, 2012

Welker played college football at Texas Tech where he was a bit of a jack of all trades. He often lined up as a running back and excelled at catching the ball out of the backfield. Welker also made a name for himself as a special teams return man. His collegiate success did not land him an NFL job however and he went undrafted before signing as a rookie with the San Diego Chargers where he was cut mid-season and moved to the practice squad. Welker then signed with the Miami Dolphins and started to see some success on the field before eventually joining the Patriots where he has since been one of the most consistent performers in the game. He has been selected to four Pro Bowls and has led the league in receptions three times. He has broken numerous NFL records and played in a couple of Super Bowls. At only 31 years of age he will likely go down as one of the all-time greats.

To enter for a chance to win, all you need to do is register for a FREE Loanlook account using referral code Izzy71 between November 18th and November 30th.

U can Win an iPad mini by Registering at loanlook.com!! Use code “Izzy71”

— Israel(@iidonije) November 18, 2012

 

Idonije has been a major contributor to one of the best defenses in the NFL for almost a decade, playing both defensive end and tackle for the Chicago Bears.  His path to the NFL was not an easy one, however, the Nigerian born Idonije played his college years at the University of Manitoba in Canada and was first drafted to play in the Canadian Football League, but never played a down there.  He then signed with the Cleveland Browns practice squad before signing with the Bears a year later. Since then Idonije has proven that hard work and determination can be used to achieve your goals.  He has participated in 118 games (39 starts) over the past eight seasons with the Bears, registering 222 tackles (120 solo), 21.0 sacks and 20 TFLs.

Official rules can be found here.  Follow @iidonije on Twitter and check the Loanlook blog for updates.

“Athletes for Loanlook” is a program provided by Loanlook, Inc. in association with professional athletes who are engaged in their communities and passionate about student success.  The athletes involved promote awareness among students regarding the importance of proper financial and credit management, particularly surrounding student loans.

To enter for a chance to win, all you need to do is register for a FREE Loanlook account using referral code EW74 any time between November 1st and November 15th.

The Loanlook team will pick one registrant at random to go to Arrowhead Stadium for an upcoming Chiefs home game. Official rules can be found here.  Follow @ericwinston on Twitter and check the Loanlook blog for updates.

Winston is an original member of the Athletes for Loanlook program.  He graduated from the University of Miami where he was named to numerous All-American teams and was widely considered the best lineman in college football.  Since then Winston has played for the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs, where he has been a consistent presence on offensive lines that have paved the way for some of the best rushing attacks in the NFL.

“Athletes for Loanlook” is a program provided by Loanlook, Inc. in association with professional athletes who are engaged in their communities and passionate about student success.  The athletes involved promote awareness among students regarding the importance of proper financial and credit management, particularly surrounding student loans.

Taylor was busy all day between taking pictures with adoring fans, promoting financial awareness through Loanlook, and giving interviews for media including the student newspaper and the local NBC and ABC affiliates.  Check out The Independent Florida Alligator’s coverage of the event here.

Taylor was a perfect addition to the Loanlook exhibit as he spoke from experience dealing with personal finance and student loans.  Loanlook will be exploring more ways to engage students through the Athletes for Loanlook program so be sure to visit our blog to learn about future events. (You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook)

A special thanks is owed to Fred Taylor and the UF students who came together to make this event a success.

P.S. Here is a link to additional coverage from TV-20

Fred Taylor is a Florida native and four year contributor on the Gator Football team where he helped the Gator’s win the National Championship in 1996.  The following year he served as team captain and gained All-American honors en route to being drafted 9th overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  He enjoyed an over decade long career in the NFL earning All-Pro Honors and in this blog’s opinion is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Taylor is actively involved in the community as a member of “Athletes for Loanlook” and founder of the Fred Taylor Foundation, which strives to improve the quality of life of children challenged by adverse physical conditions or socio-economic circumstances through enrichment programs that encourage youth to reach their highest potential.

We’ve got good news for Loanlookers with an Apple device (e.g. iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch). The Loanlook app for iOS is now available in the App Store!

We want to hear from you. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about our iOS (or Android) app, send your feedback to mobileapps@loanlook.com. We have a super responsive team of developers (most with student loans of their own). Please give them a chance to address your comments and concerns so all Loanlookers can benefit from your feedback.

If you’re an Android user, or just want some more information before downloading either of our free apps, then click here.

With these changes, NSLDS added the MyStudentData Download feature, which allows you to download a text file of your loan data and pass this information to your third-party servicer (e.g. Loanlook or The i3 Group).

So what does this mean to me and other Loanlook users? We will provide an interface on loanlook.com for the new text file developed independently by the Department. This will provide Loanlook users with an additional way to refresh their Federal student loan and grant information.

We expect that most of you will continue to retrieve your student loan data with your NSLDS PIN (generally the quickest way to refresh loan profiles on loanlook.com). But you will soon have the option to upload the text file provided by NSLDS to your Loanlook account as well.

Loanlook users can opt to receive a notification when the new text file upload feature is in place by selecting My Profile (located at the top right of your account screen) and clicking “Update my notifications”.  An announcement will also be made on this blog (i.e. blog.loanlook.com).

Thanks for being a member of the Loanlook community!

Sincerely,

The Loanlook Team

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: Some Loanlook users are temporarily unable to refresh their Federal student loan and grant information via their loanlook.com account. This issue is due to recent changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), the source for some of our users’ loan information.

Our support and development teams are currently working towards a resolution and expect to restore the “Refresh” loans feature tonight (located under the Loan Manager tab).

To our users affected by this issue, we thank you for your patience as we work to restore full functionality to your loanlook.com account.

Sincerely,

The Loanlook Team

UPDATE: Loanlook mobile apps are now available for Android and iOS. Loanlookers with an Apple device should check out our blog post dated October 4 or search the App Store for “Loanlook” [updated 10/4/2012].

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: We’re excited to announce that the Loanlook mobile app for Android OS is now available on Google Play!

With the Loanlook app, you can: refresh your student loan and grant information on demand; view important details about each of your loans (balance, interest accrual, payment info, etc.); and receive loan status updates and other important notifications.

The Loanlook mobile app is meant to be a compact version of loanlook.com, which provides additional features including: DocSpot (cloud storage for all your student loan documents), WebChat with LIVE loan counselors, payment optimization, affordability and repayment calculators, budget generators, and other interactive tools designed to help you manage your student loans.

We want to hear from you! If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about our app, send your feedback to mobileapps@loanlook.com. We have a super responsive team of developers (most with student loans of their own). Please give them a chance to address your comments and concerns so all Loanlookers can benefit from your feedback.

But I have an iPhone… Not to worry. The Loanlook app for iOS is just around the corner. Stay tuned!

Just Log in to your account and select the Loan Manager tab. Under the “Private Loan Information” section, select “Click here to add private lenders” and the follow the directions provided.

Don’t see your lender? Tell us who your lender is by submitting a request from beneath the list of available lenders. We’ll notify you when your data is available through Loanlook.

As always, you’ll still be able to view and refresh your Federal student loans on Loanlook.

Our current roster of athletes includes: Eric Winston of the Kansas City Chiefs; Fred Taylor, former running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars; Israel Idonije of the Chicago Bears; Rob Konrad, former fullback for the Miami Dolphins; and Wes Welker of the New England Patriots.

Check back soon to get the latest news on athlete account donations and other events.

Loanlook supports a comprehensive community of users. High school seniors who are planning to go to college, parents with PLUS loans, students in college and those in repayment are all served by the site.

At a time when the administration, Congress, U.S. Department of Education, student groups, lenders, economists and parents are focused on the student loan “bubble”, loanlook.com presents a solution for each stakeholder with a bold statement—put students in control of their loans.

The biggest differentiator and benefit of loanlook.com is the availability of trained loan counselors via a Customer Service Center and WebChat. Counselors assist students and parents to better navigate what the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, recently called “the mystery of higher education.”

The site gives users a number of unique, self-service functions not seen in typical repayment tools including: a payment Optimizer that shows borrowers how to pay the least amount of interest on multiple loans and achieve savings through a shorter repayment period; DocSpot, a document repository to store pertinent loan documents; an Affordability and Repayment Module to help reduce over-borrowing and anticipate future payment amounts based on selected field of study and employment outlook; and a LoanRecords section that allows users to keep track of conversations with servicers and lenders.

A growing number of schools are offering loanlook.com as a service to their students. These include new enrollees, current students and those who have their loans in various stages of repayment. Loanlook.com is now deploying its service to over 200,000 students with well over $3 billion in loans.

Loanlook, Inc. President and CEO Balaji Rajan stated that “for too long students have just accepted repayment difficulties with a fatalist attitude. In truth, they have always had several methods to avoid serious repayment problems. The only way to fix the problem for students is to give them full information and control over their decisions. The sector has relied on a myriad of forms, letters, loans, servicers and repayment plans. Many of the requirements conflict with the best interest of the student. Loanlook.com breaks down these barriers with full, complete information and encourages students towards repayment options instead of the standard forbearance.”

The information on the site contains many Federal agency priorities including: those announced by the White House on data transparency; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) “Know Before You Owe” initiative; and the latest College Score Sheet announced jointly on July 24, 2012 by the CFPB and the Department of Education. Loanlook.com beta was released in March 2011. The site continues to develop based on feedback received from users, partner colleges and universities as well as on-campus outreach programs.

“Our business model is not to recruit students to sell them credit cards, loans or insurance,” said Rajan. “The term ‘financial literacy’ is overused to indicate how to obtain credit, inform students about consequences of default and so on. What loanlook.com offers is functional financial literacy. It is not theory. The numbers are right there in front of the student…and they can make their own choices from the moment they enroll in college.”

“There is an entire country worried about this problem and we expect to work with high schools, colleges, the Department of Education, CFPB and private sector lenders to be a part of the solution by reducing over-borrowing, delinquency and default,” Rajan explained.

Loanlook, Inc. estimates that the use of loanlook.com by students before they finalize their loan amounts could reduce excessive borrowing by up to 20 percent and result in billions of dollars saved by taxpayers, the Federal government and students.

Loanlook.com uses a technology and security architecture that is compliant with: FISMA/NIST SP800-53 standards; the BS17799 and ISO 27000 Series; and is PCI-DSS and SSAE-16 certified.

From here, we’ll announce new site features as they roll out, share tips from our student loan experts, and keep you up-to-date on the latest financial aid news.

Stay tuned!