Date Received: 2019-08-21
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2019, I paid $XXXX on my student loan. This payment was made manually by phone because I changed my repayment due date. The representative of AES advised me to pay manually because my Direct Debit would not be applied. However, on XX/XX/2019, an unauthorized withdrawal of $XXXX was taken out of my checking account by Direct Debit. This wrongful transaction has caused undue financial hardship. I am disputing the period of time that I was told by representative on XXXX XXXX it would take (30) days to receive a refund. My account was wrongfully debited. My rights to disallow me my refund sooner is totally unjustified. Please investigate this matter in order for me to receive speedy resolution to this situation. I am in a dire financial crisis and need replacement of my funds as soon as possible.At first, I was going to resolve the problem by allowing the payment to be applied to the month of XXXX payment but recanted my decision to do it that way.
Company Response:
State: MI
Zip: 48224
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I am applying for TEPSLF Loan Forgiveness because I qualify for it but not for PSLF due to being on Standard Extended plan, which servicer originally told me was right plan for PSLF (but wasn’t). I have made 122 monthly payments on time since XX/XX/XXXX, and have been full time with the same qualifying federal employer for the last 144 months to present. On XX/XX/XXXX, FEDLOAN asked for my income, family size for TEPSLF process. I provided to them via their app document upload XX/XX/XXXX. Today XX/XX/XXXX, they say since I never provided that info, they are canceling my TEPSLF request. They lied, and I have the upload and email proof I provided info on time. They have failed to provide correct loan calculation of all qualifying payments, and refuse to process my loan forgiveness. They continue to intentionally mismanagement this program and are committing fraud by lying about not receiving the requested info. Online search reports they deny 99% of people who qualify for loan forgiveness...Can President Trump and the Education Director fix them? No other financial institution make these kind of errors, therefore it must be intentional by FEDLOAN. Please help, they refuse to do their job.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 77581
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Don't agree with the fees charged
Consumer Complaint: I received a letter from MyFedLoan on XX/XX/2019 telling me my deferment period was about to end and I would have my interest capitalized if "you do not make a payment to satisfy the full amount prior to the Anticipated Capitalization Date." The total came out to $XXXX. I called MyFedLoan and ask to speak to a representative to clear up if there was a specific way to pay my owed interest so that it was applied to only my owed interest since I did not see a different way to apply the payment online. She confirmed that I would make the payment regularly as I would make any payment and because I was in deferment, the full payment would go towards my interest and cover it entirely. I also explained that I would be paying in ahead of time in order to give the payment adequate time to process. She agreed that was a good idea. I proceeded to make a XXXX ($XXXX over) on the XX/XX/XXXX, 5 days ahead of the due date in order to avoid issues with the payment not processing in time and having the interest capitalized. Although I followed the directions on the letter and by the representative exactly, I was penalized for paying 5 days early and charged interested which capitalized to almost $200. I was not notified about the increase in my account balance although I paid the total amount that I owed and continued to make on time payments. MyFedLoan gave misleading and just down-right wrong directions out to its customers and then is still sneakily charging them when the make the full requested payments.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 78213
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I would like to bring to your attention an ongoing issue with FedLoan, which is servicing my PAYE income-based student loan repayment plan. I have outlined a timeline of events below that covers the past couple of months, and then identify several specific issues I would like to bring up. I have documentation of everything I mention below and would be happy to provide it upon request.Prior to XX/XX/2019, my monthly payment amount was set at XXXX. Then, beginning XX/XX/2019, my income dropped significantly. On XX/XX/XXXX, I reported this change in income via a recalculation request and attached paystub from XX/XX/XXXX. I included, as the instructions ask, a note indicating that the pay period was biweekly. My pre-tax deductions are listed on my paystub as either “tax deferred” or “pre-tax”, so I expected it would be clear that these are not part of my taxable income, but I just wanted to be sure it was extra clear, so I also included, though it was not requested in the instructions, a breakdown of my gross pay, my total pre-tax deductions, and my Adjusted Gross Income.On XX/XX/XXXX, I received notice that, as a result of my drop in income and recalculation request, my payment amount had INCREASED to XXXX (the notice was dated XX/XX/XXXX, but I was notified of the amount via email on XX/XX/XXXX). That same day, I notified FedLoan that they had miscalculated my new income. On XX/XX/XXXX, in response to myXX/XX/XXXX message, I received a message from FedLoan stating that my paystubs did not indicate pre-tax deductions. While this is untrue, later that day I went ahead and sent another paystub in which I even more clearly outlined and demarcated the pre-tax deductions on my paystub, along with text documentation in my response message listing each pre-tax deduction and its amount. I also noted that “It appears I've been paying way too much since FedLoan was not accounting for pre-tax deductions, and I did not know I was responsible for sending supplemental documentation about which deductions are pre- vs. post-tax on my paystub.” I asked if there was any communication to borrowers indicating that they needed to send supplemental documentation (as I wondered if I had missed communication of that sort at some point) in order to have their AGI used to calculate payments instead of their gross income, and requested that if not, I would like to have my overpayments refunded. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a response indicating that FedLoan “would not be able to retroactively adjust the installment amount of your payments.” My question about the transparency of FedLoan’s policy of defaulting to gross income was not answered.OnXX/XX/XXXX, I responded to ask why the charges could not be refunded, and asked if there was any way I could appeal the decision internally. On XX/XX/XXXX, my payment amount was adjusted from XX/XX/XXXXto XXXXXX/XX/XXXX I received no response to my XX/XX/XXXX message, and on XX/XX/XXXX I followed up with the same questions. Later that day, I received a response from FedLoan stating that my previous overpayments would not be refunded because my “original documentation was not clear.” I responded objecting to that representation of my original documentation, and framing the issues I outline below. I also again asked if there was any way I could appeal the decision internally.On XX/XX/XXXX, my payment amount was adjusted again, to XXXX. That day, I sent a message to FedLoan again requesting that they adjust my monthly payment amount to the appropriate amount, or explain to me how they arrived at the XXXX amount, since it is XXXX higher than the Department of Education’s formula would result in. I have several issues here that I would like to highlight:FedLoan has been overcharging me by hundreds of dollars each month and, even after acknowledging that my payment amount had been incorrect, refuses to provide any recompense, using the excuse that my documentation was “unclear.” I provided complete and clear documentation of my income via a complete paystub which lists income deductions that are "pre-tax" and "tax-deferred," and even added calculations outlining my gross income minus my pre-tax income and the resultant AGI. The claim that my documentation was unclear is simply untrue. FedLoan consistently miscalculates my payment amount even once we agree on the income numbers that should be used, and have absolutely no transparency about how they arrived at the payment amounts they did. Please see my calculations below and please, tell me if I am missing something, because it sure seems like I am still, after all of this communication clarifying my situation, being charged XXXX too much per month!! According to the Department of Education, monthly payments for the PAYE program are set at 10% of the difference between the borrower's AGI and 150% of the federal poverty level. My bi-weekly paychecks have a gross pay of XXXX, with an AGI of XXXX after pre-tax deductions. Multiplied by 26, that gives me a one-year AGI of XXXX and a monthly AGI of XXXX. The federal poverty level is XXXXXXXX, and 150% of the poverty level is XXXX, making the monthly 150%-of-poverty-amount XXXX. This means my monthly AGI minus 150% of the poverty line is XXXX (XXXX minus XXXX) and my monthly payment should be XXXX. I have asked FedLoan representatives over and over again how they arrived at the number they did, and have still received no answer.I asked multiple times if there was a way I could appropriately escalate the issue internally via an appeal/complaint process, or by speaking with an Ombudsman or similar, and each time received no answer...although it seems that the consumer advocacy office, which I found on my own, may have turned out to be the appropriate avenue.FedLoan seems to, by default, use a borrower’s gross income to calculate payment amounts for non-tax-return recalculation requests, unless the borrower manually outlines non-taxable income and adds extra labeling to such effect onto a paystub even when to even a casual observer the non-taxable income is already transparently identified on the paystub - and in no way instructs or even suggests that this is necessary to avoid having payments based on gross income in any of their literature or communication. What's more, FedLoan knows that most people have some pre-tax deductions. To knowingly and continually use an applicant's gross income, and to make no attempt to incorporate pre-tax deductions that are included in income documentation nor ask for clarification from the applicant (until the issue is forced upon them by the applicant), demonstrates at best gross negligence, and at worst willful deceit, regarding my right to be charged a monthly payment that is in accordance with my adjusted gross income.At every turn, this process has been marked by a lack of transparency or accountability, a reticence to answer my questions in full or at all, and a willingness to take advantage of unknowing loan holders. I am quite frankly disgusted with the process and feel completely powerless to do anything after many attempts.On XX/XX/XXXX, I also sent a letter to the FedLoan Consumer Advocacy Office, detailing the above issues. On XX/XX/XXXX that office sent me an acknowledgement that my monthly payment “was previously calculated incorrectly.” It stated that the correct payment amount going forward should be XXXX. The letter still did not explain what the mistake was nor how the payment amount was determined. The letter and a followup letter on XX/XX/XXXX (after I requested further explanation on this topic) from FedLoan’s Consumer Advocacy Office also stated that my payment amounts for XXXX and XXXX (XXXX and XXXX, respectively) would not be adjusted or reimbursed retroactively, since “the documentation you provided on XX/XX/2019 did not explicitly list the pre-tax deductions on your pay stub.” As I’ve stated above, this is both untrue (as I did in fact identify my deductions) and misleading (as FedLoan provides no guidance or indication in their literature or communication that the hyper-explicit and annotated documentation they seem to now be requiring is necessary).
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 10032
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I am on Income Based Repayment for my student loans. I was given incorrect information over the phone, and verified this information multiple times with different people, about when the interest amount would be added to the principle amount of my student loan. I acted based on this incorrect information, and due to that, the interest was added to the principle because I missed a deadline. My loans are now growing at a faster rate because the interest amount each month is now greater, and my income based payment amount does not cover the interest that accrues.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 14618
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: After graduating from my XXXX at XXXX, my student loans were serviced through XXXX. When I obtained employment that qualified me for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, I was notified that my loans would be transferred to Fed Loans for servicing due to this program in May of 2018. In June of 2018, I contacted Fed Loans to begin the process of being approved for the programming. I was told that my account would be placed in Forbearance/Deferment while I gathered the appropriate documentation from my employer and concerning my income to be considered for the Income Driven Repayment Plan and Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness. I had the documentation completed by my employer and sent to the provided agency. I thought everything was taken care of and my payment would be $0. In late July, I received notification that I had a monthly bill of over $1000 due to Fed Loans in August. I called as soon as possible and that was on XXXX XXXX. In that phone conversation, I was told it was an error and that my records showed that I should of been placed in Forbearance and/or Deferment and that they would prompt the appropriate paperwork (again) which would automatically place me in either forbearance or deferment for them to be able to review the paperwork. At the beginning of September I found that I had been reported by FedLoans for being 90 days delinquent. I immediately called Fed Loans, was told again it was an error on their part and that they would remedy the situation which would be changed by the beginning of October. I was in the middle of obtaining a loan to make repairs to a home that I bought and my credit score dropped by almost 120 points. October came and they still hadn't corrected the error. Several months later, they changed the status of my loan to no longer delinquent but despite multiple calls and disputes, they have continue to report that I was 90 days delinquent in August of 2018. I have attached the letter another complaint that I have made to Fed Loans, my phone records showing the calls that I made to Fed Loans in June, August, September and October (I have more but printer ink is limited), an email from FedLoans confirming my contact with the company on August 3rd, 2018, the results of my credit disputes where Fed Loans confirms that my payments were on-time in May 2018, June 2018, July 2018 but somehow 90 days delinquent in August 2018, print outs from my Fed Loans Account that show that I have 0 days delinquent and a letter from them stating that I have 0 days delinquent. It has been almost a year and Fed Loans has still not removed this from my credit reporting and despite significant efforts on my part to repair my credit, I have still been able to gain only 20-30 points after loosing almost 120 points to their error. I have seen that they have been sued for these same errors and have been found to do this to consumers repeatedly who have also made multiple complaints with the same exact experience. I do not understand if it takes just a simple click of a button for them to ruin a person's financial health and so many opportunities, why it is so difficult for them to fix these errors. I really, really need help. I cannot wait another 6 years to be able to provide a home to my children or refinance the high interest loans that I have been forced to resort to due to how the "90 Days Delinquent in August 2018" on 3 to 5 student loans (depending on the credit agency) effects my credit score.
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 157XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone
Consumer Complaint: Called company about their reports to credit report company. I pay XXXX$ a month and they stated my interest is XXXX$ a month so I’m short XXXX$ a month on interest so my balance only should be going up XXXX$ a month and they are reporting it’s going up XXXX$ every month
Company Response:
State: KY
Zip: 40324
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: My husband and I have AGAIN been denied TEPSLF, despite being guided through the process by FedLoan Servicing case managers. The first time we were denied TEPSLF, we were told in writing to make three (3) more payments, resubmit employment verification and resubmit the request ot the TEPSLF program to have our loan forgiven. We did all of that. Our case has been screwed up from day one (1) with FedLoan servicing. We have CONTINUALLY been given misinformation regarding our case. No one ever gives the same answer, and the ball has been dropped over and over again. I have document after document, email after email and phone call after phone call, of misrepresentation and guidance by Fed Loan servicing staff and agents. My husband and I are now planning to seek legal advice because of the most recent correspondence denying our request, for not having made 120 qualifying payments under TEPSLF. It is sad, that our case has been so mishandled and drug out by FedLoan Servicing, we are having to are consinder legal counsel. It appears as though we continue being led in a cirlcle, in an attempt to collect money. We are both public servants who have served well beyond the the required time in service, and made well more than the required payments to qualify. The poor business practices, lack of training, and knowledge of the law by FedLoan Servicing personnel continue to cause our family mental anguish and undue stress. The practices by this company border on criminal. It seems we are nothing more than a revenue stream, whom FedLoan Servicing has no intent of letting go.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32327
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-20
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Consumer Complaint: To whom it may concern,Please consider this letter as a formal, written grievance against the mishandling of the federal loan account ending in XXXX and, the subsequent disputes regarding an erroneous delinquency reported to the credit bureaus, to include XXXX, XXXX and XXXX. I implore you to review the inconsistencies within your internal emailing system and the misstatements given by your managing account specialists. Moreover, I would like to bring your attention to two phone conversations held with federal loan specialists, in which the first agent provided contradictory information to that of the 2nd representative.Initial call took place on XX/XX/2019 at proximately XXXX XXXX. Please track sequence and review this call. Within this call, the representative scoffed at me to imply that I was lying about ever submitting a deferment. The federal loan account specialist confirmed with upmost certainty that there was absolutely no record of Any deferment documents in her system. Her condescending tone was quite discouraging therefore, I allowed her to terminate the callWithout resolve. She advised, as you will hear from the recording, that without a confirmation email, no receipt could be verified. Later that evening, I called and advised that I would record the call for quality assurance. The call had to be transferred . XXXX (XXXX sequence number) was gracious enough to review file. After searching multiple times, she was able to confirm my deferment documents. This leads me to believe that when the deferment was confirmed over the phone previously , that the file was mishandled, file was not denoted and I, misinformed. This has caused a great deal of emotional distress upon me. I have pleaded for assistance but, instead I’ve been ignored and bullied by the federal loan team. I have attached phone records for your reference so that you may locate calls and I have printed both confirmation emails.This is my last attempt to resolve amicably.If not able to resolve, I will retain counsel to litigate these matters. Please be advised that a copy of this letter and supporting documents will be provided to credit bureaus. Regards.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33137
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-08-19
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Yes I contacted the feldloan today XX/XX/2019 and before too and they told me that they didn't any reports because my loan are in stop payment until XX/XX/2019. Also they Sayed that not understand why my loan are like that because they never reported. All is related with students loan. And they recommend that contacted the XXXX. I am calling many time but nobody answered.. the only I need they check that information and remove that Thanks!
Company Response:
State: MD
Zip: 20705
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-08-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A