Washington law requires trustees to have a local office so borrowers in default can submit documentation or last-minute payments.
"A private loan can cost a borrower 2 to 3percentt more if they acquire that loan through the direct-to-consumer channel compared to acquiring that loan through the financial aid office, and borrowers would in most cases pay higher upfront fees," said Matthew J. Snowling, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey.
Su Casita also has a network of branch offices where borrowers can pay in cash few Mexicans have bank accounts–and Su Casita employees can go knock on doors if a payment is late.
Slick back office systems mean borrowers can get their money in less than 15 minutes.
The elected leader of the group, a tall lady in glasses called Mazeda, who looked like a lawyer (though she, too, could not read), explained to me what I had heard in head office: that the Grameen borrowers organised themselves, as a condition of their loans, into groups of five.
Near the infamous branch office in Bellingham, another borrower sued: Jeanie Luna says that at her closing, her husband, Joseph, spotted a 12.7% rate on a document, even though the branch manager, Melissa Drury, had cited a 7% rate.
And Mr. Easley's office has received complaints from borrowers, including Benny and Linda Mackey of Chocowinity, about 100 miles east of Raleigh.
To meet monthly targets set at Green Tree's headquarters, Ms. Weakley said the office would accept loans whose borrowers did not meet the company's credit criteria, especially near the end of each month.
Debtors gave the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman, an office Congress created to assist borrowers, abysmal ratings in a customer satisfaction survey in the last fiscal year, according to the agency's annual report.
Jeff Simendinger, who co-founded Simm Associates in 1991 with his father in their Delaware home, said his firm has "absolutely nothing to hide" and asked HuffPost to share his direct office telephone number with aggrieved borrowers.
