Grad Plus Loans Eligibility Forum

[windowshopper]

I know that there are a few posts about the eligibility requirements but I haven't seen anyone in my specific situation...

I have a gym membership that is supposed to be automatically drafted from bank account every month. I changed bank accounts and filled out the paperwork with the gym to have my new debit card charged. The gym never drafted my account, so six months later I made a large payment. Then, I filled out the paperwork again since the first one apparently never went through. Six months later, I'm in the same boat. I pulled my credit report and didn't see any negative history about the gym (actually the gym wasn't on there at all). I want to go pay off the balance but I don't want to risk them placing a late payment on my account.

Any advice on what to do? Should I pay the gym, just in case it appears on the one credit report I didn't get? Should I not do anything about the gym until I qualify for the loan (since everything seems ok right now)? I'm really worried because I don't have anyone to cosign for me, so I need to qualify on my own. Also, my law school is taking forever to award me financial aid, so I don't know how long I have to apply for the loan.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

EDIT: By in the same boat, I mean that they still haven't drafted by account so I owe six months worth of payments, again.

[thalassocrat]

I know that there are a few posts about the eligibility requirements but I haven't seen anyone in my specific situation...

I have a gym membership that is supposed to be automatically drafted from bank account every month. I changed bank accounts and filled out the paperwork with the gym to have my new debit card charged. The gym never drafted my account, so six months later I made a large payment. Then, I filled out the paperwork again since the first one apparently never went through. Six months later, I'm in the same boat. I pulled my credit report and didn't see any negative history about the gym (actually the gym wasn't on there at all). I want to go pay off the balance but I don't want to risk them placing a late payment on my account.

Any advice on what to do? Should I pay the gym, just in case it appears on the one credit report I didn't get? Should I not do anything about the gym until I qualify for the loan (since everything seems ok right now)? I'm really worried because I don't have anyone to cosign for me, so I need to qualify on my own. Also, my law school is taking forever to award me financial aid, so I don't know how long I have to apply for the loan.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

EDIT: By in the same boat, I mean that they still haven't drafted by account so I owe six months worth of payments, again.

If it helps, what I've heard from finaid offices is you don't need to apply for the GradPLUS loan until within 90 days of when you need to pay tuition, since they have to do a credit check and it's only valid for that long. As for your specific situation, it seems like it's the gym's fault, isn't it? Any chance you can sit there and watch them enter your information into the system to make sure it's done properly the next time? I've never been in this situation so I can't really help on that, sorry.

[Unadilla Kayaker]

I would imagine that it would not affect your credit unless they have creditors coming after you. I had a problem with a hospital bill and insurance many years ago, and creditors did contact me until I spent an entire day sorting everything out. Even after all that trouble, it never showed up on my credit report.

Be a good guy and talk to the gym. Tell them you will pay them regardless, but would like to know if your non-payment will have an effect on your credit. My guess is its not a big deal since you were delinquent for 6 months and they didn't kick you out after two.