Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: It all started in XXXX XXXX. I had been paying my student loans on timely since XXXX, I had never missed a payment. I had not missed a payment because I had my student loan setup through XXXX as an automatic reoccurring payment. Sometime in XXXX I logged in through my AES account and saw that I could save an additional .25 % on my loan if I setup the automatic debit through AES. That XXXX I went ahead and tried setting up the automatic debit. As to not pay the loan twice in one month, I cancelled my reoccurring payments through XXXX. The payment was not accepted in XXXX. When I got the email alert I called and spoke with AES customer service. They told me to try again, that there must have been an error. I set this up again and tried again the following month. The same thing happened, some sort of error. Again I called AES and they told me the same thing, to try again, to make sure the account numbers were correct and to try for the next month. I specifically asked if I needed to make a payment, I also asked if there would be a penalty and both questions were answered with a no. Finally I believe in the third month we linked the accounts. Before the success, I spoke with AES on the phone about 4-5 times, every time I was assured that my account was in good standing. After the first automatic debit I logged into my AES account, and I noticed that instead of my rate dropping .25 %, it had increased by over 1 full percentage point. I was horrified. I called AES and they told me I was part of a benefit borrowers program for paying timely. I lost that benefit when I missed a payment. I told them my story, specifically asking them to listen to the recorded conversations I had with their agents. I have not missed a payment since. My husband and I exchanged an email after getting off the phone with AES telling each other that we were, as per the agent, in good standing with no penalties? This email exchange is time stamped from XX/XX/XXXX. When I sent an email to AES, they said I could not talk to the lending bank, that I could only send an email with my concerns. I tried on two occasions, both times I was not awarded my original fixed rate. I feel like I was setup. I had a great fixed rate of 3.5 % and was trying to reduce this to 3.25 %, instead I was setup, told misinformation from their representatives all while trying to link my account and instead ended up with a 4.75 % rate and with the awarded .25 % for the automatic debit I am now at a fixed 4.5 %.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 115XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: My XXXX XXXX on my credit report shows from XX/XX/2016 to XX/XX/2016 as delinquent but my account was in forbearance with XXXX XXXX and it has not been update to reflect what XXXX XXXX has on their records
Company Response:
State: GA
Zip: 30349
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I am on the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Plan, and using the Pay As You Earn option so my payments qualify. XXXX is my servicer. I have three main issues : 1. I have to manually enter all my payments to specific loans, otherwise the loan company applies my payment only to the lowest interest loans, thus making it so my loans will NEVER be paid in full, no matter how many payments I make. This seems illegal. 2. I had to re certify my payment plan and PSLF a few weeks ago, and my payment has gone up over {$200.00} per month. They are saying it has to do with our XXXX going up, as well as my husband 's student loans being paid down by the XXXX. I spoke to a representative to see about options on XX/XX/XXXX, and even though I did NOT approve it, I had a letter stating that my loans were placed in forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX. I don't know how they are allowed to do this without my consent, but they did. 3. I have been in the public sector since XXXX, yet XXXX is saying I only have 19 payments so far. I've asked them and they're answer is partially because some of my payments didn't qualify because I was on the wrong payment plan, and that the payments under my current employer aren't counted until I have an end date. I had said numerous times that I was in the public sector, but was never informed that my payments would not qualify on the old payment plan.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95407
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I signed up for a debt consolidation loan in XX/XX/2015. Since then I have went for extended periods of time with no income. I get hired through temp agencies and work a few months and then out of work again. My debt consolidation loan has been in forbearance. The loan started out at {$30000.00}. Now my loan while still in forbearance my loan amount is {$36000.00}. I can not afford the loan now, there is no possible way I will ever be able to pay it when the amount keeps increasing. Debt consolidation is suppose to help people like me. This is not helping me. How can a consolidation company increase my amount while in forbearance? There have got to be laws to protect consumers from such practices. I do not know how companies get away this. Also I have requested information from XXXX XXXX on 3 separate occasions and I have not gotten a response still. I requested details regarding my consolidation loan. I want to know exactly what loans are covered in there. I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX and they told me they do not have that information. I was told I needed to contact XXXX. When I contacted them I never get XXXX reply. I have sent emails and made phone calls and got nothing. I feel there are loans duplicated in my consolidation loan. When the loans were sold and resold I feel that multiple companies have submitted the loans. I had a lawsuit in my local county for a student loan I never had, the company that was suing me was not even a lender. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX sued me, they lost in court. I have been notified numerous time by XXXX stating my identity has been compromised. All of my issues with my identity is from student loans. Companies buy debt and sell debt and then these loans show up multiple times on your credit. It has happened to me. It is still happening to me. I tried to do the right thing by getting a debt consolidation loan and they have been screwing me as well. I have the right to know what loans are in my debt consolidation. In order for me to owe a debt there has to be original paperwork from the original lender and the paper traiXXXX from that time. I can not get any proof or documentation from anywhere. I read reviews about XXXX and how they have fraudulent practices. I live below poverty level. I am struggling and this company possibly has loans in my debt consolidation that should not be there. When a consumer requests such documentation it has to be provided. There a laws in place to protect consumers like me and yet no one will give me the information. Can someone please help me? I do not believe I owe the amount they say I do. How can a company charge interest in forbearance, over {$6000.00}. This is insane. Student Loan Lenders are destroying people 's lives. Someone in government should step up and fight these companies. And debt consolidation companies too. I do not believe I ever had {$30000.00} worth of student loans.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 148XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I am submitting a complaint about not getting adequate help with reducing my payments to XXXX XXXX XXXX, loan # XXXX XXXX XXXX. My balance is almost {$300000.00} which I will never be able to repay. I can not make the {$720.00} loan payment they are asking for. Every year I call because the payment is too high and each year they put me on a Forbearance. They claim that I am at the lowest payment amount for my salary. They go by students gross salary and not their take home pay which is what should be calculated. They are not taking into account deductions that come out, a persons personal expenses to live. ( See enclosures ). I called XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and I spoke to XXXX, ID no. XXXX and she told me I can not switch to another payment plan as this is the only plan I can be on. I inquired about ungrouping my loans so that I can make payments to the lowest one and work my way up to the highest. She told me they dont do that. I do not want to continue getting forbearance as this is only prolonging my ability to retire. I am not trying to work until I die, but want to live out my senior years in retirement, not working for the rest of my life. I am writing to ask that you as my elected leaders, and The Department of Education change the laws so that once and for all students in debt be able to repay their loans without the hassle of trying to make a payment they truly can not afford to pay. Enclosed is copies of my expenses, my loan payment page with my balance, and scenarios of different payment options. Even if I sacrificed something in my budget it would not allow me to sustain basic living. I am however, willing to make a diligent effort to pay the {$420.00} payment I was paying when I started to repay in XXXX. I am also paying to support my daughter who has not been able to find employment since going to a school that has closed but the student loan company will not forgive her loans because she graduated. The school deceived my daughter in that she would be able to find suitable employment in her field of study. To date she has not so I am still financially taking care of her.
Company Response:
State: VA
Zip: 220XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I am eligible for the PSLF Program. In the fall of XXXX, I submitted documentation to XXXX XXXX but have still not received a status update despite reaching out to them numerous times. Each time, I have been told they are still working on going through the records. By my calculation, the first of my loans should be " forgiven '' in XX/XX/XXXX.
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: 43224
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: XXXX XXXX sent letter outside the deadline period of the 30 days to providing the promissory notes from XXXX University original signatures. The letter is post dated On XX/XX/XXXX and only provides promissory note from XXXX XXXXXXXX.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33025
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-13
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: My federal student loan repayment administrator, XXXX, has been overcharging me for the last three months by adding a charge labeled an " Additional Amount Requested '' ( which I am not requesting ) to the amount my bank account is auto-debited each month. Each month, my online XXXX account says my monthly payment is set, and the " additional amount requested '' field is set to {$0.00}. Then I get an email from XXXX that says I will be charged an " additional amount requested, '' bringing the total to be debited to $ 40-50 above my agreed upon direct debit per month. Images attached document this discrepancy for XX/XX/XXXX. The specific inflated charges are : XX/XX/XXXX : Direct debit Monthly Installment Amount set to {$110.00} ; unauthorized " Additional Amount Requested '' charged : {$53.00} ; total charged on XX/XX/2019 : {$160.00} ( + {$54.00} from direct debit agreement ) XXXX : Direct debit Monthly Installment Amount set to {$110.00} ; unauthorized " Additional Amount Requested '' charged : {$53.00} ; total charged on XX/XX/2019 : {$160.00} ( + {$54.00} from direct debit agreement ) XX/XX/XXXX : Direct debit Monthly Installment Amount set to {$110.00} ; unauthorized " Additional Amount Requested '' to be charged, per email on XX/XX/19 : {$43.00} ; total XXXX said via email was to be charged on XX/XX/2019 : {$150.00} ( + {$44.00} from direct debit agreement ) ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/19 direct debit payment suspended by XXXX phone representative ; one-time payment arranged instead ). I have emailed and called XXXX to resolve this issue multiple times. In XX/XX/XXXX, I received the response below saying the issue would be fixed ( image attached ). Instead, I was overbilled another {$54.00} in XX/XX/XXXX, and the company did not respond to an email complaint. On XX/XX/XXXX, when I received an email notifying me that I would be overbilled another {$44.00}, I spoke to two customer service representatives by phone who were unable to tell me why I was being overcharged. A representative instead put my direct debit on suspension, meaning I lose the lower .25 % interest rate promised with direct debit.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95062
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-12
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: My issue with XXXX XXXX is with obtaining the qualifying payments that I have made as it relates to my PSLF approval. I was approved for the PSLF program in XX/XX/XXXX and received aa welcome email from XXXX XXXX advising me of the PSLF approval and that my loans would be transferred and serviced by XXXX XXXX. After 4 months of payments I noticed that on my statements and my online profile, there were no qualifying payments listed for me on my account. I sent an email on XX/XX/XXXX and received a reply advising that they would be updating the profile with the qualifying payments. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another request advising that the payments had not been posted and received a reply email advising that they would soon update the account to include the qualifying payments. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another email request to advise that no qualifying payments had been updated on my account. I had not received a reply to this email and have waited month after month for the account to be updated with no avail. This week I plan to forward my annual application so that my employment at a non-profit can be verified. Please advise on what my next steps should be and if I can receive some assistance in having the account updated to reflect the qualifying payments.
Company Response:
State: MI
Zip: 48219
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-12
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I currently have eight federal student loans serviced by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( PHEAA ) and I am participating in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program ( PSLF ). I have been attempting to resolve an ongoing matter regarding my payments credited toward PSLF with PHEAA for more than a year. I am now writing to complain of PHEAAs inability to properly credit my qualifying loan payments toward PSLF, their inability to provide me with requested documentation and their inability to provide any semblance of helpful or timely customer service. I graduated school in XX/XX/XXXX and entered the workforce in XX/XX/XXXX. Since XX/XX/XXXX I have worked full-time for the same PSLF qualifying 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) employer ( without interruption, continuing through the present day ) and have made monthly loan payments under the same PSLF qualifying Income Based Repayment ( IBR ) program. My qualifying repayment plan, my employer, my full-time employment status and my employer 's 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) status have never changed since my loans went into repayment in XXXX and I began making monthly payments. I have never consolidated or refinanced my loans. My eight federal loans ( 4 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans and 4 Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans ) were serviced by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX until the Department of Education automatically transferred them to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) in XX/XX/XXXX. My eight federal loans were automatically transferred again, this time from XXXX to PHEAA in XX/XX/XXXX when I submitted my first Employment Certification Form ( ECF ) as part of my participation in PSLF. Upon balance transfer, PHEAA only credited me with the XXXX qualifying payments I made while XXXX was my servicer. I received no credit for the qualifying monthly payments I made during the two years my loans were serviced by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I initially raised this issue with PHEAA via their phone based customer service in XXXX of XXXX. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, I was finally told that PHEAA could not provide any assistance over the phone for this problem, that I should try to gather all available documentation of my prior payments and submit an email to their customer service department. I was unable to obtain my payment records from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX online so I emailed PHEAA to request these forms on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a receipt confirmation of my email but never any response. I emailed once more on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that " The payment count that you currently have is the payments that we were able to automatically qualify towards PSLF. We have not completed the full review of the entire payment history from your previous servicer as of yet. Despite multiple subsequent calls and emails over the next nine months I have never been able to obtain any meaningful updates, information or follow up of any kind from PHEAA. Additionally, they have never provided me with my payment records from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I have requested repeatedly. Instead, without any warning or notification, my credited payments were suddenly decreased from XXXX across all eight loans to non-sensical numbers ranging from XXXX to XXXX, all without having received my new Employment Certification Form. I am therefore lodging a formal complaint against XXXX for 1 ) failing to provide adequate or timely customer service 2 ) failing to provide requested records 3 ) failing to properly credit my loan payments toward PSLF and 4 ) inappropriately and incorrectly adjusting my credited payments without notice or explanation.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 11211
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A