A Bankrate.com article today revealed a coding glitch by Sallie Mae that caused borrowers' credit scores to plummet overnight. (Read earlier post.)

Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce says:

“It’s fixed. We just got confirmation from Equifax. It was taken care of overnight so consumers’ credit scores should be back to what they should be.”

The problem was a coding error at Sallie Mae. It caused borrowers making graduated payments – meaning the payments start out low and go higher – to be listed as delinquent. About 10 percent of Sallie Mae borrowers, or around 1 million people, make graduated payments.

Sallie Mae last Friday sent the four major credit bureaus the payment information of its borrowers. Only Equifax had loaded the information before the problem was discovered. So, only credit scores using Equifax information was affected.

Bankrate.com said scores fell by 100 points or more.

Joyce says it’s unknown how many borrowers might have been hurt by a suddenly lower credit score. Sallie Mae says it will supply credit reference letters to those who need to show a potential lender that they are not delinquent on student loans. Borrowers can call 888-272-5543.

Have you had this problem?