Sallie Mae 2009 Annual Report Download - page 19

amended complaint, Southwest allegedly overbilled the ED approximately $35 million in unlawful SAP
claims. SLM is not alleged to have improperly billed the government, but is alleged to be the alter ego of
Southwest. The court denied SLM Corporation’s and Southwest’s Motion to Dismiss on December 1, 2009
and SLM Corporation’s Judgment on the Pleadings on January 20, 2010. Discovery is proceeding.
On February 2, 2010, a putative class action suit was filed by a borrower in U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Washington (Mark A. Arthur et al. v. SLM Corporation). The suit complains that Sallie
Mae allegedly contacted “tens of thousands” of consumers on their cellular telephones without their prior
express consent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, § 227 et seq. (TCPA). Each violation
under the TCPA provides for $500 in statutory damages ($1,500 if a willful violation is shown). Plaintiffs seek
statutory damages, damages for willful violations, attorneys’ fees, costs, and injunctive relief.
We are also subject to various claims, lawsuits and other actions that arise in the normal course of
business. Most of these matters are claims by borrowers disputing the manner in which their loans have been
processed or the accuracy of our reports to credit bureaus. In addition, the collections subsidiaries in our APG
segment are routinely named in individual plaintiff or class action lawsuits in which the plaintiffs allege that
we have violated a federal or state law in the process of collecting their accounts. Management believes that
these claims, lawsuits and other actions, individually or in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse
effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Finally, from time to time, we receive
information and document requests from state attorneys general and other governmental agencies concerning
certain of our business practices. Our practice has been and continues to be to cooperate with the state
attorneys general and governmental agencies and to be responsive to any such requests.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
We did not submit any matters to a vote of security holders during the three months ended December 31,
2009.
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