IBR Update

Here is a post I did on what IBR is, and here was my last issue with signing up for it.

I ended up calling Sallie Mae a couple weeks ago and telling them I wanted all deferments ended, so that IBR could be processed on all my student loans. They complied, but then said I had to apply for IBR all over again. I did, except this time I sent in my tax return instead of form 4506-t (which lets SM access my tax returns at the IRS). I originally had sent 4506-t because I e-filed, and thus didn't have a signed copy of my return. The rep encouraged me to send in the return instead of 4506-t because the processing would be faster, and told me that they didn't need a "wet" signature and just to send in the confirmation page. That's proved to be a problem.

What I sent in was a copy of my status as provided by TaxAct (showing that my return was accepted by the IRS). SM didn't like that and sent me a letter stating that I needed to send in a signed tax return or, if I e-filed, the "signed confirmation page." I called SM again, asking them if I could just sign my tax return and send it in. They reiterated I should send this signed confirmation page, which was defined as the page where I put in my pin. I vaguely remember that page, but there was no reason to print it out. So I went to TaxAct for help. They basically said SM was stupid, and that what I had provided should have been more than good enough. "It would be more than you would get it if you had paper-filed," they said. They also said that the pin entering page was irretrievable.

So what did I do? I just signed the tax return. I should have done it to begin with, but I was being silly. I thought, "oh, since I e-filed, there won't be a signature block."

So I did that, except now I haven't heard from SM. They just sent me a round of e-mails, but not a word about the IBR. So I guess I'll have to call them again. Great.

Why does this have to be such a hassle?