The Student Loan Crisis: Chase Student Loan Forbearance Paradox

Does Chase Student Loans really grant forbearance on private student loans?
Listen to one outrageous Chase Student Loan collector call that I received:




When I first signed for my Chase Private Student Loan, Chase's representatives told me that if I was unable to find employment or make payments after my grace period that there were many "safety" provisions, including forbearance, that would be available in such situations.

In this call, Chase's collector first tells me that I cannot qualify for a forbearance because I cannot give them a specific time when I can resume making my payments (even though I know that sometime in April I will be able to make the payments), but he cannot tell me what Chase considers a sufficient specific time. Then he proceeds to tell me that I need to give them an exact time when I can make my normal payments. In this call, first I try to explain to the collector that if Chase cannot tell me what information meets their standards for a specific time frame, then I cannot provide information to meet their standards. Then, the collector informs me that since I cannot give Chase a specific time frame when I will be able to resume making my normal payments if I were to get a forbearance, that I need to give him a specific time of when I can make my payment. I try to explain to him how illogical this is.

Like thousands of other student loan borrowers, I feel that Chase lied to me upon entering my private student loan contract. It is now obvious to me that when I signed my loan contract with Chase, Chase misrepresented the forbearance process to me by assuring me that forbearance was an available option. The forbearance process guaranteed to be available to me upon contracting was very important in my decision to choose Chase Student Loans as my lender. I, too, was duped like thousands of others.