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MELA and Firstmark Services work together to make paying back your loans easy!
MELA contracts with Firstmark Services to service The Maine Loan, The Maine Medical Loan, and the MELA Private Consolidation Loan. You will be mailing your loan payments to Firstmark Services. They are fully prepared to answer any questions regarding your loans and the MES Private Loan Specialists are available to help you as well.
For Firstmark Services correspondence:
Firstmark Services
PO Box 25410
Woodbury, MN 55125-0410
1-888-295-0915
www.firstmarkservices.com
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Repayment Options
There are a number of different options available to assist students and parents when it comes time to pay back student loans. The Private Loan Specialists at MES will be happy to help figure out what’s best for you.
Full Repayment : You may begin paying principal and interest payments immediately after the loan is disbursed, with no deferment period.
In School Deferment : You may have the principal and interest payments deferred while the student borrower is enrolled in school at least halftime. Unpaid interest will be capitalized one time when the loan enters full repayment.
Optional Interest Only: Borrowers who elect deferment will still receive an optional interest only statement from their servicer. The interest accrual is reported so borrowers have the option to pay any amount, or the entire amount accrued anytime during their deferment period. If you choose not to pay, the interest will just continue to accrue and be included in the next monthly statement. There will be no derogatory action taken. MES recommends you pay as much of this interest before the loan enters repayment for an overall lower repayment cost.
Repayment Period: The repayment period is based on the principal loan amount of the promissory note as indicated below:
Repayment Period for The Maine Loan
| $1,000 - $3,000 |
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4 years |
| $3,001 - $4,000 |
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6 years |
| $4,001 - $10,000 |
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10 years |
| $10,001 - $20,000 |
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15 years |
| $20,001 and above |
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20 years |
Loan Consolidation: The MELA Private Consolidation Loan was designed to enable borrowers to consolidate qualified alternative loans at a lower interest rate than students are either already paying or can obtain by consolidating with another lender. With a variable interest rate of 7.35% (7.696% APR*), this loan may be a useful debt management strategy for your consideration. Depending on the amount of your loan, repayment terms can be extended up to 30 years. Borrowers may also receive an immediate .25% interest rate reducation for automatic, electronic payments.
Extended Repayment: In lieu of consolidation, MELA offers borrowers on a case-by-case basis, the option of extending the original repayment term of each existing loan to a maximum of 20 years in order to reduce the monthly payment amounts. All obligations assumed when the borrower signed the notes will not change except for the extension of the repayment term.
Please note with any of these plans: The new monthly payment cannot be less than the minimum of $50.00; also you may have to meet certain criteria to qualify for some of these options.
Deferments and Forbearances
Deferments are periods when payment on the principal of a loan is temporarily postponed; they are available when the student is enrolled at least half-time. If you are returning to school or have questions about your deferment options, give us a call at 1-800-922-6352.
Forbearances may be available to borrowers who are unable to make payments and do not qualify for a deferment. Forbearance allows for payments to stop temporarily or decrease in amount for a specific length of time. Please give us a call to find out what your options might be if you are experiencing economic hardship.
Electronic KwikPay
At your request, MELA loan payments will be automatically deducted from your checking or savings account. It’s easy to sign up! Just download a request form and return it with a voided check or savings account slip for processing. Your request will take at least 10 days to be processed.
Online Payments
You can now make your MELA payments online at www.firstmarkservices.com. Payments received online before 5:00 p.m. EST will be credited to your account on the same business day. Payments received after 5:00 p.m. EST, on weekends, or holidays will be credited to your account effective on the next business day. There is no fee for this payment method.
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