Thanks for providing additional information. Your situation is becoming much clearer.

When you made an application to NB Financial Assistance for "Interest Relief", there was no guarantee that the application would be approved. While you were temporarily relieved from making any principal payments on the loan, the lending institution, namely CIBC, still required to be paid the interest on the loan. In order to facilitate this monthly payment, CIBC required a "void" cheque which would provide the necessary details as to which bank account to charge. Until your application for "Interest Relief" was either approved or denied, you were responsible for the interest portion of the loan.

Your normal repayment start date would have commenced on December 1, 2008 and continued until May 31, 2009 at which time you then received approval for your initial "Interest Relief" from June 1, 2009 until December 1, 2009. These "Interest Relief" approvals are done in 6 month intervals because if there is a change in your income status, you could lose the protection of "Interest Relief" and now be required to commence making payments, including principal and interest on your student loan.

If you check your bank statements for the period December 1, 2008 until May 31, 2009, you will probably find that at least one or more amounts for interest were withdrawn from your bank account and remitted to the CIBC. In all probability, the CIBC was unable to withdraw all their monthly amounts on time due to insufficient funds in the account. As the CIBC reports monthly to both Equifax and TransUnion, they would have reported these withdrawals ( which in reality did not happen ) as 30 days late, 60 days late, etc.

I would strongly suggest that you verify this information with the CIBC. Start with the branch from which you originally received your loan and go from there. It's highly unlikely that the branch will be able to assist you, but they will know what channels to pursue to get to the source of these delinquent payments. In addition, if you do not currently have bank statements for the period December 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009, request a copy of these statements from your bank. There may be a fee charged for this service. Once you get a handle on this situation, ask the CIBC how is it that Equifax and TransUnion shows this account as "Paid as Agreed".

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Educating one Consumer at a time .

I just doubled checked on the paperwork that I have from the National Student Loan Service Centre and I do have a confirmation of approval letter for "repayment assistance" beginning on June 1, 2009 until December 1, 2009.

1) In New Brunswick, I applied for Student Financial Assistance. I originally received a loan from the federal government and one from the provincial gov’t. The original loans were from CIBC, however, NB and the federal consolidated to my understanding and now the loan payment is combined. CIBC was reporting to the CB, but that line now shows that the account is “paid” with a “0” balance.

2) If I had ever made payment, it would have come directly out of my bank account. NB Student Financial Assistance required a void cheque when applying for “Interest Relief” and then “Repayment Assistance” in case I was not approved and had to make payments. All paperwork came from NB Student Financial Services and did not include information about paying any bank.

3) I was on “Interest Relief” before the Repayment Assistance program” and did not qualify to make payments.

4) The reporting agency is listed as “CDA Student Loans” on the credit report.

I hope this helps.

Still some missing links and unanswered questions.

Neither the Federal or Provincial governments are in the money-lending business. They do not make loans to students. The government may guarantee the payment of interest and/or principal of a student loan to a financial institution. Also, they do not report to Equifax or TransUnion.

Once again, I need answers to these questions:

1. From which financial institution did you originally borrow your student loan(s)?

2. If you had made any repayment on your student loan(s), where would that payment have been made?

3. You state that you graduated in May 2008. You have a 6 month grace period before you are required to begin repaying your student loan. You further state that you have never made a payment on this loan because you qualified for the Repayment Assistance Plan. Under normal circumstances, your repayments would have started in December 2008. The Repayment Assistance Plan did not come into effect until August 1, 2009. That leaves a gap of 8 months. What gives?

4. You further state that you sent letters to both Equifax and TransUnion questioning their reporting of missed payments of 120 days and that they both confirmed that the information was correct. With whom did they confirm this information?

5. If neither the Federal or Provincial government reports to both Equifax or TransUnion, then who does report to these credit bureaus?

Based on the information that you have provided, it would appear that the Federal government has paid the interest portion of your student loan to a financial institution pursuant to some form of Federal Interest Relief Program. It also appears that this financial institution is reporting to both Equifax and TransUnion.

Let's see if you can answer my questions so that I can finally put some closure on your situation.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

The loan was issued for the period of 2002-2008. The government loan is combined now all into one (both provincial and Federal). I have never been required to make a payment since graduating in May 2008. I had the grace period of 6 months and then immediately qualified for Repayment Assistance. I currently have an income and the Repayment Assistance ends at the end of the month. CDA Student Loans is reporting to both Equifax and TU. It is currently reported as “paid as agreed”, but there is a history that shows missed payments during the time that I was on Repayment Assistance.

Need some further answers to your situation.

1. Is this the Federal or Provincial portion of your student loan?

2. When was the student loan obtained and from whom?

3. To whom were you making payments on your student loan prior to you making an application under the Repayment Assistance Plan?

4. Do you have a source of income and what date did you cease making any further payments on your student loan?

5. Who reports this information to both Equifax and TransUnion?

6. What is the effective date when the Repayment Assistance Plan begins?

The Repayment Assistance Plan became effective August 1, 2009. While I am not privy to your application process and subsequent approval under the Repayment Assistance Plan, is it possible that you ceased making payments on your student loan prior to the effective date of the Repayment Assistance Plan? If so, this could account for the missed payments of more than 120 days.

With answers to the above questions, I may be able to provide some explanation.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

I have a Government issued student loan and it is currently being reported to both agencies as "paid as agreed". However, my issue is that in 2009, both TU and Equifax have reported that I missed payments more then 120 days. I have letters from CDA Student Loans stating "Confirmation of Approval for Repayment Assistance". This is a program that exempted me from making payments. I sent these letters into TU and Equifax to prove that I was exempt from making payments, however they sent back letters stating that they investigated and found the info my my credit report to be accurate. I don't understand this, I sent them copies of the letter from CDA Student Loans proving that I was exempt from making payments. How can I fix this? I have just sent another request to fix errors with Equifax and have included the letters from CDA Students Loans. Hope someone can give me an answer as to what I can do to fix this if they do not change the error after this 2nd request.

Thanks