Date Received: 2019-03-20
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: The XXXX XXXX XXXX, ( PHEAA ), who use to be my loan servicer for my daughter 's parent or/ & direct plus loan, ( which is my name ), has ordered or hmade my new loan servicer, XXXX XXXX to add the direct plus loans from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX added in with the other loans I had consolidated. Problem is that I requested in writing for this not to be done to the XXXX XXXX as well as XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX stated via phone conversation that they aren't allow to go against the XXXX XXXX XXXX ; however, the XXXX XXXX XXXX keeps locking me out of my login account with them. This is making it so I am unable to sign in to send them a letter, asking why are they having loans that are in dispute & under investigation, consolidated? According to the written instructions even of the " borrower defense refund cancellation form '' dept, they have up to one yea to do an investigation on any case they take Then they any loan amounts in dispute, must be put on freeze! I already contacted the XXXX XXXX XXXX. about this already. Why did they still do anyway .... Oh, sreset my login infor. uso I can request & order for new login ...
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 19141
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Consumer Complaint: The XXXX XXXX XXXX took over my student loans at my request, in order to lower the overall monthly payments. Each month for the past three years, I have paid the minimum amount due, and most months I paid more than the minimum. However, rather than applying the excess amount to the principal, XXXX put in into the interest payments. So with a total of almost {$50000.00} at 4.525 % interest, my principal has not gone down at all, but the amount of interest I owe has increased. At this rate, I'll never get the loan paid off.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 024XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: The 3 credit companies are told to report the way or it automatic with me and others. I feel like as soon as I make a payment of {$500.00} or more my credit score does not go up at all but as soon as its a $ XXXX {$50.00} increase to anything on my credit it goes down 20/30 points. Then every thing that is in collections is being reported every month which I think is a inside job because the amount does not change but yet it keep being reported and making my credit go down and stay below XXXX. Since Janurary I have been paying my car note every 2 weeks {$500.00} each and once it gets reported it goes up 2 points but like I stated I get a {$20.00} increase in a bill it goes down drastically. I would like someone to open up an investigation on all 3 credit companies regarding my credit because I feel like I am being ripped off by these credit companies. I do not know if its the color of my skin or what but in the last couple of months I have bought my car note down almost {$5000.00} but yet no major increase. 1 ) My collections are being reported every single month which is not right. 2 ) I have paid {$5000.00} or more in car note in a couple of months but it has not budged. 3 ) A account can get a {$20.00} increase and my credit goes down 30+ points 4 ) My school is on my credit and ruining my life even though the department of education has sued the school for fraudulent acts and the Dept of Edu won millions but the school loan is still on my credit. XX/XX/XXXX {$20000.00} in unnecessary loans
Company Response:
State: MD
Zip: 20708
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: In Fall XXXX, I had enrolled in the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program and had my loans transferred to XXXX XXXX. At the time I had enrolled, my loans were 'paid ahead ' through XXXX/XXXX XXXX. In late XX/XX/XXXX, I received statements for payments on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX totaling $ XXXX. This was a few hundred dollars more than I was paying for my Income Based Repayment plan through my previous loan servicer ( XXXX XXXX ), so I attempted to contact customer service via email to verify the amount was my IBR amount and to determine my paid ahead status ( thinking it may have just reset due to the account transfer ). However, no one ever replied to these concerns and I was forced to pay for the amount. I then received my statements for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX totaling approximately {$470.00}, an amount that made much more sense to me, but raised questions about the previous bill. I signed up for Direct Billing and made a note to contact XXXX regarding these issues. I contacted XXXX XXXX via phone and spoke with a female representative for over an hour. I can not find the note I had written with her name and employee number. It was determined that the loans were still in paid ahead status and my XXXX and XXXX payments would continue to pay me ahead further, disqualifying the payments from the PSLF program. Additionally, they could not tell me why the XXXX amounts were significantly higher than the confirmed monthly IBR payment of {$470.00}. The representative I spoke with stated at one point, " it seems we are still transitioning payment information from your previous loan service provider ''. At that point, I attempted to disable Direct Billing myself, but was not able to do so. I expressed a desire to disable Direct Billing at that time ; however, after discussing things further with the representative ( a female, I did not write down her name or employee number ), the following plan was confirmed over the phone : 1 ) The first payments would be refunded as they were requested during a " paid ahead '' period. 2 ) The " paid ahead '' status would be removed so future payments will qualify for PSLF and 3 ) Direct Billing would NOT be disabled. This plan was confirmed 3 times before ending the hour long phone conversation. XX/XX/XXXX rolls around and I wake up to an email ( time stamped at XXXX XXXX ) from XXXX saying I had a message in my XXXX account. I logged into my account and the message ( dated for XXXX ) stated that my Direct Billing was disabled against my wishes and that my payments were past due. I tried calling that morning to talk to someone, but no one at the call center I was routed to was in the office as it was closed due to adverse winter weather. In a worried state, I had decided to make manual payments to ensure payment was not delayed further. Later that afternoon, I attempted to call XXXX again and was able to speak to a supervisor, XXXX ( employee # XXXX ), about the issue. He stated the representative I previously spoke with had disabled my Direct Billing, which had been decided AGAINST doing and confirmed multiple times during the phone conversation. He did confirm that the paid ahead status was removed and future payments would qualify for PSLF. He reinstated my Direct Billing, confirmed that my XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments would proceed through Direct Billing, and stated that he would have my XX/XX/XXXX payments backdated for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX due to their error ( they have not been backdated as of XX/XX/XXXX ). XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX roll around and I assume that my bills had gone through Direct Billing as I was told would happen. Later that week on XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed the payments had not been withdrawn from my account. I was told that XX/XX/XXXX would be withdrawn on a weekday following the Sunday bill date, but that didn't explain the delay in payment and why the XX/XX/XXXX ( Monday ) bill would not have been processed normally. Sure enough, I logged into my XXXX XXXX account to see that the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX bills are past due. As it was past XXXX XXXX, I called during business hours on XX/XX/XXXX to determine what was happening. I spoke to an " escalation representative '' as " XXXX does not have supervisors '' according to the initial representative I spoke with. I was able to speak to XXXX ( employee # XXXX ) briefly before my day began. However, during that time she was only able to confirm that direct billing was approved on XX/XX/XXXX and would not have been used for the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX dates as the bills were drawn up on XX/XX/XXXX. However, when I had checked my billing statements prior to the XXXX bill dates, I had confirmed that my direct billing was approved and saw no notification anywhere that direct billing would not be used for the XXXX statements, especially after speaking with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, who assured me it would process through Direct Billing. At that point, I had to get off the phone and begin my work day seeing patients and asked XXXX to call me back later in the afternoon after digging further. Later in the afternoon, XXXX called me back and could see that Direct Billing had previously been used shortly after enrolling in XXXX, which ruled out her previous excuse of Direct Billing being approved after the bill draw date. She then advised me NOT to make a manual payment and that she would reach out to the Direct Billing department to determine why payments were not processed through Direct Billing. She said she would contact me when this has been resolved. Over the following weekend, I received a letter dated for XXXX stating that a loan rebate program I had previously been eligible for was disqualified due to late payments in XX/XX/XXXX, which should not be the case as XXXX had said the manual payments would be backdated. This continuous error cost me around {$120.00}, which is pennies compared to my total loan debt, but still a XXXX consequence of their mistake. XX/XX/XXXX comes around and I still had not heard back from XXXX. I tried calling her again, but had to leave a voicemail on her extension ( ext. XXXX ) also adding concerns about the rebate letter received over the weekend. On XX/XX/XXXX, I tried two more times to contact XXXX to follow-up on the issue, but was unable to reach her. At that point, I decided to make the manual payments, knowing it will likely muddy things up further, but I kept being reminded by XXXX that the payments were late and prior to XXXX, I had never missed a payment on anything. Not one single late payment.
Company Response:
State: KS
Zip: 66213
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX at approx. XXXX EDT, I spoke with a XXXX representative. I was informed that Loans 1 and 2 were on PAYE while Loans 6, 8, and 10 appeared to be on IBR because Grad PLUS loans are not eligible for PAYE ( which is not my understanding ). When I filed my original income driven repayment application with XXXX ( my old servicer ), all the loans covered by it were put on PAYE and in section 2, box 2 of my original application, I specifically requested loans be put on the PAYE repayment plan. As such, no loans should currently be or ever have been on IBR.
Company Response:
State: MD
Zip: 20910
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-20
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: I mailed certified letters asking for the method of verification used to report the information on my reports tha I believe is being reported correctly. I stated that I was exercising my rights under FCRA 611 ( a ) ( 7 ) to request a complete description of all methods used to investigate my aforementioned dispute and if they could not provide it they needed to remove the items. This was now over a month ago. I want them to be investigated and I want to pursue action against them at this point. I have tried many times to get this wrong information corrected with no success and it affects my life and is costing me money!
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85339
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I have been attempting to contact XXXX for years for them to look into an issue with my balance. When my loan was first turned over to them I was making a monthly payment of {$42.00} which would be $ XXXX/annually. I then started making $ XXXX/Mth payments for a total of XXXX/annually. After I refused to pay them until the issue was resolved, they began calling my ex husband and giving personal information to him to collect a balance. This information was used against me in a custody battle. I have spoke to two different people within the last few years, both of whom told me there was an issue with the balance and that the payments I was making were not being deducted from the balance. I paid $ XXXX/mth for a year and they only deducted $ XXXX/annually from the balance. I was told this would be adjusted and fixed so that I could pay off the entire balance. At this point I put my account on a forbearance, since this was what I was told I had to do until the issue was resolved. I will make a one time payment XXXX to close this account but will not make any more payments towards the current balance of XXXX. They refuse to look into this issue and return calls or emails and continue to request money. As you can see on the attached spreadsheet, the amounts never went down, they continued to increase and payments were not deducted.
Company Response:
State: SC
Zip: 29036
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I have to re-certify my Income-Based Repayment ( IBR ) plan each year. My monthly payments because of this plan are around $ XXXX/month. In XXXX of this year ( XX/XX/2019 ) I had to re-certify again, like I do each year. Last year my household income decreased from previous years. Well, my student loan payment has now tripled to over $ XXXX/month from last year. Why? I have no idea. If you compare my tax returns, which I submit each year, you'll see the decrease.
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85142
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: In the last three months, my private student loan servicer, AES, has locked me out of my online account. Whether or not I am up to date on my payments, I have a legal right to access information pertaining to my debt. AES is violating my right to access my information online and has not honored the online account management services.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 94585
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I have 2 complaints about XXXX XXXX, the first with mis-information, and the second with mis-calculating payments and then refusing to respond to my enquiries on the subject to correct the matter. On XX/XX/XXXX, I had {$160000.00} worth of student loans consolidated and transferred to XXXX, with the purpose to repay them as part of the PSLF program. Upon consolidating and transferring them to XXXX XXXX, accurate information on payments types for PSLF were not well explained and I was led to believe any standard or PAYE payment would be counted for the program ( this is incorrect as I found out years later ). So, with this I opted to make the standard payment of {$1100.00} per month, thinking even if I was paying a bit more than I shouldve been, at least I was denting the principal amount owed a bit in case the program did not work. After this, I have not missed a single payment. From XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX, I paid {$1100.00} per month thinking I was qualifying for the PSLF program. In XXXX of XXXX, after hearing some horror stories about XXXX XXXX, I opted to check and ensure I was on track. To my shock, I then found out that standard payments do not actually qualify for the PSLF program. This would be my mis-information complaint, as I remain steadfast these payments should qualify as they were and are still well above what wouldve been paid under the PAYE program. The entire purpose of consolidating my loan with XXXX XXXX was for the PSLF program, and upon consolidation I tried to ensure I was making qualifying payments and was operating under the impression I was based on the information and guidance proved by XXXX XXXX. During these payments, I was, and still am with the same employer, so I know my employer qualifies. After discovering my first 3 years of payments werent counting towards the PSLF program, I triple and quadruple checked myself what payment plans for sure qualified for qualifying payments and switched to a XXXX plan. From XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX, I paid {$880.00} per month on time ( auto-pay ). However, when I recertified my employment in XXXX of XXXX, it only attributed 6 qualifying payments being made instead of 12. I sent in a email inquiry to have this looked at, from which I have still not heard a response from. I also emailed again in XXXX, as well as called, although they would give me no useful information, would not transfer me to someone who could help, and just kept repeating it will get looked at in the order it was received. My XXXX payment was then recalculated, and from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX I paid {$880.00} per month, again on time each month and without fail. When I recertified my employment in XXXX of XXXX, my qualifying payments got updated as well, but only to 10 total qualifying payments made. I called them again this XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and was told I shouldnt expect to hear back for up to another year on my original inquiry. This would make it a two year response time, which simply can not be acceptable under any circumstances. Since switching to the XXXX program I have made 25 qualifying payments ( I am counting the payment I just made as of XX/XX/XXXX ), which have obviously been grossly mis-counted and I would like to have fixed. Overall, I have made 65 payments on this loan under the assumption and guidance from XXXX XXXX that would count to the total of 120 payments needed to qualify for the PSLF program. I feel like I have done my due diligence and been plenty patient trying to get this sorted out. However, I need a definitive answer on if my payments are all being counted or not, because if they are not, I need to figure out how to pay my loans back, because if every year when I make payments it only counts every other payment ( or every third payment for that matter ), I will never actually get them re-paid due to the insanely high interest rate ( 7.25 % ) on these loans and them accruing interest greater than the monthly payments it allows me to make. Realistically, I should have 65 payments currently attributed to PSLF progress, and at the very bare minimum I should have 25 payments currently made. Seriously, anything you can give me or answers or clarity would save me from an insane amount of stress this is putting on my family not knowing if we can count on this repayment plan or not. Anything is helpful.
Company Response:
State: MN
Zip: 550XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A