Sallie Mae snafu dings borrowers' credit scores

Business Week reports:

Because of a computer error at Sallie Mae, thousands of people with student loans from the company had their credit scores decimated.

The problem was fixed Tuesday night, the company said Wednesday.

Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, reported erroneous delinquencies for thousands of its customers to credit-reporting agencies. The company erroneously reported graduated or extended repayment plans for student loans as arrangements for partial payment, causing the Equifax agency to falsely code some borrowers' accounts as delinquent.