Date Received: 2021-05-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I have been working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and have been working at the same eligible employer ( a public 4-year university ) since XXXX of XXXX. I have been regularly submitting employment certification forms in order to maintain a real-time tally of the number of qualifying payments made toward my total required count of 120. Currently, my payment counts on all but two of my loans are 118 ( the remaining 2 are 119 ) but only 115 ( and 116 for the two outliers ) have been logged as qualifying, and I contacted them today ( XXXX ) about a three-month period XXXX XXXX XXXX that has been left off my totals even though I provided them with an employment certification form for that time frame in XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that those qualifying payments were still under review by an outside entity, and they could not give me a timeframe for when they would be added to my payment count, even though I have submitted employment certification forms afterward that should retroactively reflect my continuing employment eligibility. I am concerned that this will not be resolved by the time I reach my 120 qualifying payment requirement in XXXX, and that this will delay the approval of my final PSLF Loan Forgiveness application.
Company Response:
State: WA
Zip: 981XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-19
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Consumer Complaint: Today, XX/XX/2021, I chatted online with a customer service rep with AES ( Department of American Education Services ) about my private student loan from XXXX. I did not graduate because of coronavirus and I want to go back to school and finish my degree. I can not afford the payments for repayment. I only make about an average of {$500.00} a week and the payment for the loans is about $ XXXX and I already have $ XXXX/month in rent and I also have other loans. The only options I were given were where I can temporarily decrease the payment by about {$100.00} and then in about 12 months I'd have higher payments, or I can increase the interest and do something else. I can not afford the payments at all. I can not afford to live or accrue a life savings. My only options for loan forgiveness are to be diagnosed with a XXXX, which I might actually have but would rather not live with the stigma ; or I can die.
Company Response:
State: VA
Zip: 22304
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-18
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. I am attempting to recertify my employment status as a government employee. I have been submitting PSLF certification paperwork to FedLoan Servicing. They're rejecting my certification because of the way my HR representative completes the paperwork. All required information has been provided.
Company Response:
State: AE
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-18
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I have numerous and complicated issues with my student loans from law school. Allow me to preface all of this by stating that I attended law school expressly to become a public interest lawyer, which is exactly what I've done. I attended law school from the fall of XXXX through the spring of XXXX, which incidentally left me graduating right in the midst of the financial crisis. Moreover, I find this situation both humiliating and debilitating. I feel like a fool that I actually thought student loans were designed to help students, which is why I wasnt as aggressive, and didnt clearly document everything, with regards to these loans. I feel like an XXXX and like I got scammed. Additionally, and this applies to student loans as a whole, the practice of requiring interest only payments up front for all student borrowers makes it impossible to reduce the debt. This does not occur in any other borrowing situation, and frankly makes it such that I mightve been better off paying for college with a credit card. I have paid nearly {$70000.00} towards my student loans and have barely touched the ( incorrect ) principal. My issues are as follows : 1 ) The principal amount borrowed for my student loan is incorrect ; 2 ) I was essentially strong-armed into a consolidation prior to graduation under the false pretense of securing a lower interest rate ( the rate was more than double ) ; and finally, 3 ) Upon graduating, I was under the impression that I re-consolidated into a federal direct loan eligible for public interest forgiveness, but I was not. The website for my loan indicated ( up until recently, now it doesn't indicate loan type at all ) that I had direct loans eligible for forgiveness. It was not until around XXXX, by going into the federal aid portal, that I discovered that I was in the wrong loan type. Had the website indicated that it was a FFEL loan initially, I could have reconsolidated into the correct direct loan right away and corrected the problem. My desired outcomes are as follows : 1 ) I would like my principal to be adjusted and corrected, and to be credited for overpayment of interest based on the erroneous principal ; 2 ) I would like my interest rate to be properly adjusted to the rate I was in prior to being fraudulently deceived into a consolidation, and to be credited for the overpayments of interest based on the coercively obtained interest rate ; and most importantly, 3 ) I would like to be placed in the proper XXXX interest forgiveness loan, with either my original interest rate, or a current competitive interest rate, and for my years of payments to be applied to that loan. According to the lenders website, the principal for my non-subsidized Stafford loan was {$56000.00} ( originally {$52000.00} ) and for my subsidized Stafford loan was {$49000.00} ( originally {$50000.00} ). Because I was fully under the impression that I was consolidated in a public interest loan that would be forgiven, I was less than diligent in examining the details of these totals, which I deeply regret. However, consistent with both the AES ( Lender ) website and the studentaid.gov website, approximately {$10000.00} has been added to the total of the amount disbursed, and thereby to my principal. i am using round numbers in my math, but according to the AES site, As of the date of the first consolidation, or XX/XX/XXXX, the total amount disbursed to me was about {$60000.00} ( {$33000.00} subsidized/ {$28000.00} unsubsidized ). Likewise for the studentaid.gov website. Not only is that amount consistent with the amounts disbursed up until and including the disbursement dated XX/XX/XXXX, but it was also the total of the first consolidation loan, which corroborates that amount. Subsequent to the first consolidation, there were two disbursements of subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans respectively. One disbursement on XX/XX/XXXX for a total of {$9000.00} and one on XX/XX/XXXX for {$15000.00}. The total for both of these disbursements is {$24000.00}. If you add {$24000.00} to the prior total ( whether reviewing disbursements or based on the total of the previous consolidation ), the total is {$84000.00}. There was an interest charged totaling {$1400.00}, bringing the grand total as of my final disbursement to : {$86000.00}. Somehow, in the course of the first consolidation, approximately {$10000.00} is erroneously and fraudulently added to the total, and thereby to my principal. There is no record of such disbursement, nor was there any need for a dispersement. Likewise, no such dispersement appears on the studentaid.gov website. As such, interest was accrued on the unsubsidized portion of that fraudulent addition to the principal, and ultimately, that additional money was also incorporated into the second consolidation in XX/XX/XXXX. According to the second consolidation, there were dispersals in the amounts of {$17000.00} subsidized and {$16000.00} unsubsidized. This is not correct and is not consistent with the records of dispersement. The only dispersals made after the first consolidation were dated XX/XX/XXXX for {$4200.00} subsidized and {$5000.00} unsubsidized and XX/XX/XXXX for {$8500.00} subsidized and {$6900.00} unsubsidized, again for a total of {$24000.00}. Those are the only dispersals indicated on all of my records, are the only disbursements I received. Thus, based on that blatant fraud, the total principal for my second consolidation loan is improperly and illegally inflated. I have been paying interest on a bogus principal for more than ten years ( not including deferrals ). I demand that this total be corrected, and I be credited for all overpayment of interest on the sham principal. With regard to the first consolidation, and the interest rates generally. As of the spring of XXXX, the interest rate on all of my loans was 2.43 %. In the summer of XXXX, I attended classes and worked at a XXXX in XXXX XXXX. The lender should have been well aware of this, as they were providing financial aid. While I was on another continent, with a twelve hour time difference, very spotty if any internet connectivity, and no phone availability, the lender and financial aid department contacted my family and duplicitously and coercively claimed that I just had to consolidate my student loans within the next 30 days to lock in the lowest interest rate possible. With very little information, and no ability to research, which the lender knew, I agreed. I was not graduating until the next year, so there was absolutely no need to consolidate at that time. Moreover, and most importantly, the interest rate for the first consolidation loan was 4.62 %, almost twice my previous rate. This is price gouging and snake oil salesmanship at its best. Total scam. And I, naively, still thought students loans were designed to be pro-student. I am so stupid. I feel like I consolidated with the proverbial XXXX XXXX. Moreover, despite the interest rates being at historic lows in the XX/XX/XXXX due to the financial crisis, and despite my excellent credit rating, the interest rate for my second consolidation loan was even higher at 5.62 %. This is an outrage. My interest rate for the duration of all of the loans should be adjusted to the rate it was at before the fraud was perpetrated : 2.43 %, and any overpayment should be credited towards the principal. Finally, as I mentioned previously, I entered law school with every intention of going into public interest. My friends from orientation can attest to that. By the summer of XXXX, I had accepted a public interest position starting in XX/XX/XXXX as a law clerk in the XXXX Common Pleas Court. This clerkship paid approximately $ XXXX/year. Pursuant to my initial goal, I have remained in public interest for the duration of my career, working at the Disciplinary Board in XXXX, the U.S. Department of Labor from XXXX through XXXX, and the USPS from XXXX until present. As such, I was fully under the impression that my second consolidation in XX/XX/XXXX ( right in the midst of the bar exam, I might add ) was into the Federal Direct Public Interest Forgiveness Loan. This was a newer option at the time, but I one hundred percent believed that I had properly consolidated into the proper loan. Due to my meager salary as a clerk, I had no choice but to defer my loans until the beginning of XXXX. When I logged into my borrowers account to request the deferral in XXXX, the website clearly indicated the loan type as DIR, or Federal Direct, the type of consolidation loan used for Public Interest Loan Forgiveness ( PILF ). Likewise, when I resumed making payments, the account summary page continued to state DIR for the loan type. Accordingly, I continued to believe that I was under the PILF, that my income based repayments were being directed toward the PILF and that my balance after 10 years of payments would be forgiven. Had the website indicated a different loan type, or even if it had not indicated any loan type, this would have prompted me to do extensive research, determine the loan type, and if it were found to be incorrect, I could have refinance into a PILF Loan at any time without having wasted time and/or money making payments that did not apply. How do I know thats what I would have done because in approximately early XXXX, as I thought I was nearing the time to start worrying about PILF paperwork and also was looking to purchase a home, I checked the lenders website, and it now didnt indicate anything for the loan type. It was only at this time and by researching on the studentaid.gov website that I determined that I was somehow NOT in the proper loan, and rather somehow ended up in a FFEL loan. And moreover, that the FFEL loan was not even transferred back to the Department of Education like other FFEL loans were due to massive fraud. Great. I was so despondent and defeated that Ive been basically able to face this problem until now. I literally get nauseous whenever I even think about this horrible situation and the despicable conduct of the lender. Plus, I feel embarrassed and stupid for thinking this process was in any way for my benefit. Of course I should have been in a public interest loan. The lender knew that I was working in public interest from day one. They also knew that I had to defer paying my loan due to my meager public interest salary, which is priestly the reason for the PILF. And the fact that they mislabeled the loan is just insult on top of injury. Yes, I was a stupid XXXX to have any faith or trust in my lender, but I didnt deserve to be deceived and shouldnt have had to foresee that. The lenders dishonest and unscrupulous actions prevented my ability to foresee or correct any errors. I should be place din the proper loan consolidation and the income based repayments Ive been making for years should absolutely be applied to that consolidation. In short, I was robbed when the lender tried to slip in an extra {$10000.00} into my principal and the the lender extorted additional interest based on that theft. Then I was coerced and conned into a higher interest rate. And finally, I was deceived and intentionally defrauded from my ability to have my loan properly forgiven. At this point, I have paid back all of the money I actually borrowed, especially if you account for the incorrect principal and rates. All I want is the treatment I thought I was getting from the start. Im not trying to get more than I deserve, although I wouldnt argue- considering. It is not impossible that there are causes of action with investigating with attorneys, or even as part of existing class action suits.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 90026
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-17
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: For over 2.5 years I have been trying to get FedLoan to correct my payments for the PSLF program without any success. They payments have been incorrectly not counted after multiple attempts at resolution. Finally the counts were corrected, the issues is that I could have applied for PSLF in XXXX of XXXX, but the payment number was not corrected until late XXXX of XXXX. I received a payment count update in XXXX of XXXX which was missing around 17 months of payments. I then received another updated payment count in XXXX of XXXX, showing the correct number of payments after almost three years of regularly communicating with FedLoan and getting nowhere.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 131XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-17
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: Hello, I know that FedLoan servicing is tasked with an immense project for maintaining records for borrowers attempting to receive Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but the customer service I have received has been deplorable. I have kept records of every interaction with their representatives for the past three years because I can not trust anything that occurs with this provider. Today, for example, I was on the phone for 46 minutes attempting to resolve an issue with my employment certification, 30 minutes of which ( at least ) were on hold. Did I mention that I was attempting to call about a form I submitted two months ago, which is not showing on my account? The turn-around time for this form should be 7-10 days. Basically, any transaction I try to complete with FedLoan takes a quarter year to complete. Yes, you read that right : a quarter year. Three months. Anyway, after being told that everything looked fine on their end ( but their website was acting " glitchy '' ), I was told to wait a few days and check my employment certification again. I then received two call-backs that I missed. When attempting to call back, I was sent to three different customer service reps in rapid succession with no explanation. In the end, I found someone willing to speak to me, and they told me they'd submit some kind of request and to check again in 7-10 days. I was never able to find the original customer service representative that called me back. 7-10 days. Again. I don't know what to do at this point. It's been three years of headaches dealing with FedLoan.
Company Response:
State: MO
Zip: 65203
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-17
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: I have been in the public service loan forgiveness program since graduating from graduate school in XXXX. I've qualified 120 payments under the conditions of the program and sent in an application for forgiveness in dated XX/XX/XXXX. I contacted the federal student loan ombundsman in XX/XX/XXXX and was again told that I had 120 payments that were qualifying but that the application was " still in process '' with no clear idea of how long to expect that process to take. As of today the application has been in process for more than 4 months and would appreciate a timeline as to when this might be under review or at least clearer information regarding this.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 14618
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-16
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Hello, Account # : XXXX A payment will be scheduled to be taken out on XX/XX/2021 which will bring the account current. This is a forewarning that if AES does not reflect the payment being taken out on that date and a false report to the Credit Bureaus is received, AES/PHEAA will face consequences. In addition to the level of fraudulent behavior that has been occurring from charging Interest incorrectly, to recording borrowers over the phone without their express permission, AES/PHEAA has also in the past incorrectly reported balances and statuses of the account to the Credit Bureaus, which I intend to defend the legitimacy of with irrefutable proof. AES/PHEAA has also intentionally delayed Loan Forgiveness in certain situations for ulterior motives to gain profits. The following activity has been made due to these unfair business practices. -The District Attorney 's office has been contacted. -I 've made contact with New York and Massachusetts regarding the violations which were alleged, and ongoing documentation is being gathered to build a potential lawsuit -A payment in the amount of {$380.00} will be made/scheduled on XX/XX/2021. If at any time after XX/XX/2021, AES/PHEAA decides to report that the account is 30+ days late on that date, this will be additional behavior which will be added to the list of incriminating points within the complaint, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the CFPB will be contacted immediately reporting the false allegation which will force auditors to review your Systems. -My attorneys will be contacting each company individually by phone prior to filing the complaint with the court. AES/PHEAA XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX AES/PHEAA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-15
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Information is missing that should be on the report
Consumer Complaint: I applied for a home loan with XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, AL and upon the initial review it was not made known that I had two loans with American Education Services ( original {$3000.00} each, now {$6000.00} each ) that did not show a monthly payment amount. I did not notice this until the 11th hour of closing, XX/XX/2021, where closing is XX/XX/2021. Now I know why the loan consultant kept mentioning DTI. Instead of listing my actual monthly payment of {$25.00} on the credit report that I consistently paid with an arrangement due to a chronic medical issue. Before this payment, I was making {$42.00} each loan for three years straight ( {$84.00} XXXX without a decrease in principal in which documentation is attached. XXXX XXXX Loans has assessed the 1 % rule to these loans now totaling {$12000.00} which is showing a monthly payment of {$120.00}, bringing up my DTI where I have to put down 20 % instead of 16.5 %. This is very stressful, to say the least, unfair, and a violation of fair credit law. The loan consultant at XXXX XXXX XXXX is refusing to accept my request to correct the matter due to time constraints and the fact that these loans are in deferment.
Company Response:
State: AL
Zip: 35124
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-05-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I consolidated ALL of my student loans and set them up on the REPAYE plan ( revised pay as you earn plan ) on XX/XX/XXXX. After consolidating, the consolidation loan was moved to FedLoan Servicing. Everything was going fine until I noticed one day that my account information had changed. FedLoan Servicing had separated out my one consolidated loan into two separate loans in my online account. The separation was done by whether or not the loan was subsidized or unsubsidized but the problem is the payments were not reflecting the same amount of payments which previously they had been. Of course, I have always made my " one '' payment each month so FedLoan had been correctly applying the payment to my one loan and then to my new two loans. The payments on both of these FedLoans should ALWAYS be the same number. The whole purpose of consolidating is that you are making " one '' payment on " one '' loan. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I called and spoke with " XXXX '' and his rep ID is XXXX. I explained to XXXX that my payments were no correct because one FedLoan is showing 28 payments and the other is showing only 25. I told XXXX that they should both be showing the same number of payments of 28. XXXX explained to me that the reason my Loan # 1 and # 2 are not accurately showing the same amount of qualified payments out of 120 payments is because XXXX on XXXX of XXXX and on XXXX of XXXX put an extra XXXX on my unsubsidized loan ( loan # 1 ) and took away a XXXX on my subsidized loan ( loan # 2 ) and therefore ; they portioned it out incorrectly. I immediately requested for the obvious " error '' to get corrected. On XX/XX/XXXX I called back and spoke to XXXX ID : XXXX. I was under the understanding that this error would be corrected quickly but XXXX told me that my case was under review and XXXX did confirm that both loan 1 and 2 should show the exact same payments made. I again requested for the error to be corrected immediately. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with XXXX, her rep ID is XXXX. She was not much help. She told me that the people that are closest to reaching their 120 payments made take priority, and that there is a lot of manual calculation in these cases. Please note, when I make 120 payments, the remaining of my loan balance is supposed to be forgiven since I am an XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX, and her rep ID is XXXX. She said she could not help me and she had to transfer me to the PSLF ( public service loan forgiveness department ). I was then transferred to XXXX, and her rep ID is XXXX. XXXX told me the review is still open, and the discrepancy happened in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX with XXXX, and that the name of the department that reviews the XXXX records is Treasury Management with FedLoan Servicing. XXXX told me that there is no turnaround time on these reviews, and that someone would call me when my case is reviewed and not email me. Then she said I would get an email if I have elected paperless. I am tired of getting the run-a-round with this agency. They have admitted with multiple people that there is an error on my account and that both of their loans on my account should indeed be showing the same number of payments ( 28 ). This is a lot of money and this is an easy fix to me. I should not have to wait until I'm closer to the 120 payment threshold for someone to correct my account. It seems like the longer I wait the greater chance for FedLoans to forget or not remember what is going on with my account. I need my account corrected to reflect that both of the FedLoans have the " same '' number of payments. Again, I am making one payment each month which is then split by FedLoan Servicing between my subsidized and my unsubsidized loans. There is no way that these two loans should be showing different amounts of payments. One is showing 28 payments made and the other is showing only 25 payments made. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX, XXXX.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 75069
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-05-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A