Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Consumer Complaint: XXXX XXXX is failing to process my re-certification for the IDR plan. I mailed, faxed and uploaded to their portal the IDR re-certification and included my most recent tax return in XX/XX/XXXX. They denied the application claiming they didn't have the required documentation and would not allow me to upload any documents and despite faxing and mailing it again they did not process the request. I resubmitted the application again on XX/XX/XXXX the day after they notified me that I had a new payment plan but there was no balance listed on the portal or in the paperwork. They denied the application again this time claiming it could not be processed because my payment was past due more than 15 days even though the alleged payment wasn't due until XX/XX/XXXX and I was not even informed of the payment amount until they denied the application on XX/XX/XXXX. So based on their own timeline, the basis for denying the application is erroneous. I immediately applied for forbearance but they claim it will take 10 days to review the request which will make me 30 days late and disqualify me from IDR loan forgiveness. This is bad faith, illegal, and they are intentionally causing people to default on student loans.
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85013
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I have been under an Income Driven Repayment Plan for many years. This past year they raised by payment by over XXXX XXXX/mo when my income did not increase by that much. I called in XX/XX/XXXX to ask why this was. The rep told me about the REPAYE plan that would base my payment off of 10 % of my income rather than 15 %. She assured me that I'd still qualify for the PSLF program under this repayment plan, so I said lets do it. She told me the only down side is that moving from IBR to REPAYE requires one month of a standard payment, but that I could select a small amount, as little as {$5.00} to pay that month during an administrative forbearance month and then would go into REPAYE. I received an email directing me to the Student Loan page ( federal page ) to answer a series of questions about my income, spouses income, number of children, etc. This was approximately 10 questions at most. I then electronically signed this document -- my spouse got an email verifying the information as true and he signed off. The issue and reason for my complaint comes from a Capitalized Interest notice of over {$20000.00} that I received in XX/XX/XXXX. When I asked why i was having interest capitalized I was told that happens if you move between plans. When I asked where I was notified of this either in writing or verbally followed by consent of understanding, I was directed to page 8 of the application. The issue is that this page 8 was never provided to me during the above electronic questioning that I mention. Further more, the terms listed on page 8 state capitalization will be done when leaving the plan -- yet plan is not clearly defined. One could see this as the IDR plan ( which there are numerous types ). If I had been given a direct notice of -- you understand that by leaving IBR and going to REPAYE that your interest will be capitalized at the amount approx $ XXXX, i would have NEVER consented. Not only are reps pushing for this REPAYE plan, but XXXX XXXX XXXX is not adequately notifying consumers of big changes that such moves can create. This almost seems as if they are purposely trying to get more interest from borrowers. With any other loans -- for example my mortgage. If I were to refinance, I would receive VERY clear documentation that the new interest rate is X, the new payment are X for X number of months, etc BEFORE I agree with signature. Why is XXXX XXXX not held to this same standard? My husband immediately called on his loans when we received word about why my interest was capitalized and asked for them to STOP the processing of moving him to REPAYE. The rep actually told him that capitalized interest won't really matter because he is under PSLF and that will just mean more that is forgiven when the time comes. That is NOT a promise. In fact the PSLF program is under direct attack by the current administration and the fact that reps are saying this is XXXX. My husband was wise and said, NO -- make it stop now! Please help by looking into sneaking practices of not clearly notifying borrowers of capitalization of interest and what " leaving a plan '' actually means. $ XXXX is a HUGE amount of money. You will see from the attachments both the full PDF application that was not accessible until AFTER I signed off AND the second attachment is the language found in the electronic application when signing. You will see it mentions the need to pay a min of {$5.00} for a month between the two plans if switching and many more items BUT There is nothing about interest capitalization OR a statement saying I have read all links provided to fully understand the plan.
Company Response:
State: MT
Zip: 59601
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
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: My student loans have evolved to the point where they are completely unaffordable for me. Although I have been making my income based repayments, Fed Loan reported an increase of {$500.00} to my overall amount, this in turn caused my credit score to drop by 90 points! Although I have been making my payments, they just now reported this and there is no way I can stop it. My only alternative is to find another company to service the loan. Since the loan is so large, I haven't been able to do so. If this continues, not only will I never pay the loan off, I also will never have a decent credit score. My score dropped from a XXXX to a XXXX. I feel hand-cuffed and there is nothing I can do. had I known about the IBR earlier, perhaps I could have mitigated the amount of interest that was accruing. I may never recover from this.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32779
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Back in XX/XX/XXXX, a friend of mine offered to pay off my student loan. I contacted XXXX XXXX and the US Department of Education. I went back and forth for days before a supervisor at XXXX told me to hand write a letter of compromise. I am asking that I only pay back what was borrowed, since none of my payments over the years have even touched the principal balance. My income driven payments went from {$45.00} to {$180.00} per month. I can not pay this and have explained it multiple times to XXXX and US Dept of Edu. The last call I received from XXXX, ( XXXX ), was rude and did not listen to me. She was hasty in saying that settlements are never offered. Im only requesting that the interest be waived and then we will pay you in full. Now there are missed payments being reported to the credit agencies, so my score is suffering even more because of my student loans. You are treating me like an uneducated criminal, when all I did was go to college. Below are my notes from conversations with XXXX representatives. XXXX XXXX instructed me to write a handwritten " letter of compromise '' fax it to them at XXXX account number : XXXX XXXX and her supervisor employee ID : XXXX XXXX forbearance XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX My account should have been in a forbearance after speaking with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX -- - Update - XX/XX/XXXX Now my payments have jumped from {$180.00} to {$200.00} per month. My rent went up in XX/XX/XXXX and I can not afford this. They only take income into account when calculating monthly payment.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95608
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Dates of Service : XX/XX/2012 - XX/XX/2012. Didn't attend for months specified on credit report.
Company Response:
State: GA
Zip: 30126
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Dates of Service : XX/XX/2012 - XX/XX/2012. Didn't attend for months specified on credit report.
Company Response:
State: GA
Zip: 30126
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: My loans were recently transferred from a previous service provider in order to facilitate the XXXX XXXX. The date of transfer ( according to the previous provider ... since XXXX never contacted me during the process until after it was done ) was the day after my loan payment due date. I, of course, made my payment on time. When they finally showed as transferred and I set up my account online, my account showed as several weeks delinquent and my payment for this upcoming month as double ( which I can't afford ). I called immediately and submitted a request to reflect the previous payment on my account. Several days later, this has still not been fixed and my payment due date is looming closer. I have called again and submitted requests online to be contacted confirming that it is fixed. The people on the phone are seemingly helpful but also oblivious and I have yet to be contacted based on my online email requests. To be blunt, this is ridiculous and sure as heck not a good first impression. During my very fist call about this I was informed that this is a common problem. Two issues with that statement : 1 ) If it is so common, why is it taking so long to fix, and 2 ) If people know about it, why hasn't something been done to prevent it from occurring in the first place. I will now be expecting both that the original problem is fixed, but also an apology with assurance that no issues will be handled like this again.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 77845
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2019, I sent my IDR Recertification as required, including my entire tax return to XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/2019, I received a document stating I had not sent all required information. I immediately called and asked what was required, and the agent said there had been an error and they would send my documents for review again,. As I didn't hear from them two weeks later, I called again. They didn't know anything about my previous call 's results, and they said again that I had in fact sent all required pages and they would review it. Two weeks later, I had heard nothing, so I sent an email requesting follow up. I immediately received an email of links to the FAQ but nothing actually relevant to my problem. After one week with no further response, I called again, This time, it was claimed that my documents had been reviewed both times but I had not received the results I wanted. Note that I had received no notification of these supposed decisions. I was asked for other proof of income. I have uploaded these documents but received no confirmation of receipt. I also have no confirmation that I will not be required to pay the full amount in XXXX when my IDR expires. Moreover, if my IDR is calculated based on pay stubs rather than my income tax return, I will end up being billed more because my deductions will not be considered. This is fundamentally unfair.
Company Response:
State: MH
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: This is a follow up to case # XXXX as the concern is still not resolved. My request was misinterpreted. I did not request a list of the periods that did " not '' qualify and why. First, I specifically asked for reconsideration of the payments made in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX due to the new law signed into Congress as I had described in my complaint. Additionally, I'm not sure why you are saying I was in deferment for one month back in XX/XX/XXXX. I had never to my knowledge been informed of this nor did I request a deferment. Please explain. Lastly, I'm asking for the official letter, as originally requested, showing the total number of qualifying payments I've made toward PSLF, which still hasn't been provided to date.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 752XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-03-06
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: AES/PHEAA has reported to the credit bureaus that I was delinquent on one of my student loans from 60/90/120 days, however, my billing letters note ( that they are able to view in my account ) that my account was in deferment. I have submitted disputes since last year and they have not resolved my issue. They asked me to student a credit dispute from and I did. They asked me to submit my credit report and I did. They provided me with the wrong dispute form and just advised me today that, that was the discrepancy because I kept telling them I sent them the form. We have been discussing this dispute since XX/XX/XXXX, and today was the most recent correspondence. They have caused emotional and financial stress because of there error. Credit Report notes I was late on loan from XX/XX/XXXX -XX/XX/XXXX ( 60/90/120days ).
Company Response:
State: VA
Zip: 22192
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-03-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A