Date Received: 2019-02-05
Issue: False statements or representation
Subissue: Attempted to collect wrong amount
Consumer Complaint: Since graduating school I have been on the PAYE plan. I learned recently while I was going through the process for re-certification this year that in 2017, interest was inappropriately capitalized to the principal balance of my loans. I remember in 2017 having issues and spending hours on the phone on multiple occasions in order for them to correct their mistakes. It was my understanding that they had corrected everything, and I've only learned now that they never fixed it. XXXX XXXX failed to properly process my re-certification paperwork in 2017. They sent me a letter saying that my plan would revert back to the standard payment plan because I had not submitted the required paperwork and interest would be capitalized. I immediately called them to address the issue because I had mailed all the required paperwork a month earlier. Over the phone, after initially denying receiving my paperwork, they eventually admitted they " found '' my paperwork and agreed to not move back to the standard plan and put me on a forbearance until they could process the paperwork. I did not have to resubmit new paperwork, because in fact they had it. This was their mistake in the first place for not processing it. They assured me interest would not be capitalized. Although I did not want to be put on a forbearance because it meant I was unable to make qualifying payments towards my repayment plan, I decided not to start a fight or anything because it wasn't worth my energy at the time. Then a few months later, they failed to process my direct debit payment information properly. After reaching out to them with a question regarding my direct debit, I received another communication that they had approved a forbearance request and would capitalize interest as a result of the general administrative forbearance. I again immediately called for them to fix this and again they agreed they had made a mistake and would not put me on a forbearance or charge me interest. I believe this resolved the issue and that interested had not been charged or capitalized for the second issue. I only now learned that in fact they did charge and capitalize the interest on my loans with regards to their initial failure to process my re-certification paperwork. This has resulted in incorrect payment and interest calculations over the last 2 years and will continue to cost me money in long-term as they continue to charge interest on the inappropriately inflated principal balances. Unfortunately, the XXXX XXXX online messaging inbox does not allow me to access documents from this time period and they have not provided me copies of any of my account documents, but I have attached the emails I received notifying me of new documents in order to show a timeline.
Company Response:
State: NH
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-05
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I submitted for my repayment plan to be from Income Drive Repayment to Extended Graduate Fixed on XX/XX/XXXX. On that day, I called in and I was told that it would take 10 business days to process. That time passed so I called in again on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called in again and I was told the repayment would be processed by Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX. On the XXXX, I called in again and I talked to XXXX - ID XXXX and he told me my plan would be changed start XX/XX/XXXX for {$310.00}. I asked him to send me written confirmation and he said it would be sent that night or the next day. I expressed to XXXX that I did not feel comfortable leaving the call until I received written confirmation because it took me so long to get this information after being told different information on each call. He refused to send an email for written confirmation to me. I expressed again that I didn't feel comfortable leaving the call until I got that information and he said, " you can hold all day but you are not getting an email ''. I asked to be escalated to a manager which lead me to XXXX - ID XXXX. XXXX started with the call that I would not receive an email and if I wanted to wait on the call, she would just put me on hold and I would be forced to wait. I found XXXX who claims she was a supervisor at XX/XX/XXXX to be disrespectful, rude and not qualified for her position. Each time I tried to explain why I was looking for the written confirmation, she would speak over me. I asked why she kept speaking over me and she would not answer. Instead, she told me my request would never happen. I started trying to go into my detail about my position and XXXX hung up on me. I would like to report both employees, get written confirmation, and have both employees written up as well.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 606XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-05
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: My loan was transferred over to XXXX XXXX In XX/XX/XXXX as the result of me filling out paperwork regarding student loan forgiveness for being a XXXX XXXX. Prior to this transfer and after this transfer I was making additional payment towards my loans above what was due monthly. These payments were applied towards future payments and each month I would receive a statement that no payment was due. I eventually stopped making these additional payments and continued to receive statements that no payment was due. Around XXXX of XXXX I received a statement indicating that a payment was due and that all of the payment would be applied to outstanding interest. Subsequent statements after this indicated the same. When I contacted XXXX XXXX they indicated interest was accumulating the entire time and that I would have had to have made payments each month to cover that interest to avoid this. The company did send me a payment history that indicated each payment received a part of it was being applied towards principal and part of it was being applied toward interest so it didnt help explain why interest would still be do. The underlying issue is the statements received during XXXX through XXXX never indicated payment was due during that time and made no mention that interest would continue to accrue and payment would need to be made to avoid this. The way the servicer applied my payments and issued statements was an unfair and deceptive act and practice as the statements should have indicated interest was accruing and a payment should have been in fact due to keep the loan current. This ultimately has made my loan cost significantly more in interest that it should have causing harm to me.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 125XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-04
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: My student loans were transferred to XXXX XXXX by XXXX XXXX. Whilst and after completing school, my loans were always in deferment or forbearance status until I could get to the point were I could manage repayment. I started repayment of these loans a few months back and noticed my account had reported late payments for XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke to an advisor and he tells me had contact with XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX and was put on a forbearance that lasted a month later XX/XX/XXXX. Which does not sound like the correct way my account was to be handled when I spoke to them I was offered the income driven plan which I have always declined and asked for my account to be put on the forbearance. The advisors I spoke to never did what they had to do on their part and instead noted my account as if I was interested in the income driven plan. I specifically explained I have never been interested in that service or plan. This employees mistake has now caused me issues with my credit because since fedloan logs separate reporting for each individual loan those 2 months that were reported late have become 12 late payments since I had 6 separate loans. This is also unfair because if the loans are separate then they should be reported once just one late payment turns into 6. This needs to change it is very unfair for customers and people who might not be in good economic conditions. They have poorly trained and lazy advisors that end up giving people the wrong information, and incorrectly note accounts. I need this issue to be corrected as soon as possible or I will pursue legal action.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 10472
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-04
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: In XXXX of XXXX, I completed an application for and submitted an employer verification form requesting to enroll in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program with XXXX. I then contacted them in XX/XX/XXXX to submit the annual employer verification form. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter stating that I will only be credited for on time payments made from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX although I have been a full time employee of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX and verification was submitted confirming this. The representative stated that they have my employer as the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX and the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. I explained that the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is the same employer and it either way it is a public institution. The XXXX representative acknowledged that the Federal ID # was the same for both names ( XXXX ). I was told that my case will be reviewed and adjustments will be made if on time payments were made while employed at my state job between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX but the review will take anywhere from two months to six months. During XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX to get an update and was told that my account has not been reviewed and can take up to a year to review and no additional information can be given to me at this time. I feel that this time is extremely long and unfair and the review should have already began as it is four months since I requested a review. I do not believe that the process takes that long as the history of my loan was forwarded to XXXX when it was purchased by XXXX. How is it then possible that they need 6 months to a year to review. It is now 4 months and my account has not even been looked at. I believe XXXX has no intention in reviewing my account with the expectation that I will give up.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 11212
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-04
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Keep getting calls about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Someone from my loan company, American Education Services contacted me today, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. It was due on XX/XX/XXXX. She asked me about making a payment on the loan. I stated that I couldn't make a payment because my husband takes care of paying that loan every month. Speaking to him and finding out why the loan hadn't been paid would be the prudent thing to do first. She became what I felt was unnecessarily aggressive in her tone and said, " Well you need to find out what's going on. '' She was doing all of this without even having all of the information on account pulled up on her computer. She finally looks at my information and sees that there is a payment scheduled for today. It will hit their account tomorrow. I guess that wasn't good enough because she continued to push for me to make a payment TODAY.
Company Response:
State: NJ
Zip: 08820
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-04
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: In XX/XX/XXXX, I graduated from the school identified in the earlier prompt. I received an Interest Notice with an option to pay it off to avoid interest capitalization. I did. I made a payment in the amount of {$4700.00} on XX/XX/XXXX specifically directing XXXX XXXX to apply it toward the Interest Notice. XXXX XXXX misapplied the payment and capitalized the interest. The issue was not resolved through customer service until I filed several complaints with XXXX XXXX and, finally, with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Then I received the 1098-E for XX/XX/XXXX reporting the wrong amount of interest I paid in XX/XX/XXXX : {$1300.00}. The actual interest I paid was : {$4700.00}. I tried to resolve this discrepancy with XXXX XXXX before the IRS deadline to file my tax returns. I received an email/secure message that my tax information was reviewed and that the XX/XX/XXXX 1098-E will reflect the correct information. Recently, I received the XX/XX/XXXX 1098-E and it only reflected interest paid in XX/XX/XXXX : {$2300.00}. The information in the form is wrong for two reasons : 1 ) it does not include the remaining interest I paid in XX/XX/XXXX which XXXX XXXX promised to correct and, 2 ) it does not reflect the correct amount of interest I paid in XX/XX/XXXX alone. I am attaching all documents pertaining to this issue, including XX/XX/XXXX Payment & History spreadsheets downloaded directly from XXXX XXXX Account with totals of interest paid in each respective year and interest reported in 1098-E. Reference IDs for the internal, XXXX XXXX Complaints : XXXX ; XXXX ; XXXX
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95835
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-02
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services
Subissue: Billing dispute for services
Consumer Complaint: RE : XXXX University / XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX XXXX, FL XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX Website : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Transaction Date : XX/XX/XXXX Amount Paid : XXXX Payment Method : Personal Check or Bank Debit XXXX Falsified Multiple Federal and State Documents under my student Identification number ( XXXX ) applying my federal grants and Federal loans for semesters after my withdraw from the university on XX/XX/XXXX . Semesters that were falsely applied ran from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. Pell Grant amount applied- {$3500.00} Stafford Subsidized Loan- {$3500.00} Stafford In-subsidized Loan- {$6000.00} Student Payments expected- {$670.00} Scholarship Used- {$750.00} Funding Plan ID : XXXX Version : 1 Generated XX/XX/XXXX Regardless of Withdrawal this amounts were authorized and processed. Eventually reflecting as negative accounts on my credit score for years. An stoping me from continuing my education because a the school refused to release my transcripts. Taxes were filed on a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX University XXXX Filer Federal Identification no.XXXX Student SS # XXXX Payments Received {$6400.00} Scholarship or Grants {$1700.00} Service provider/Acct. No. XXXX
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32806
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I previously submitted a response to the CFPB and XXXX XXXX was quick to provide a response simply to close my complaint without actually making any effort to resolve the issue. XXXX XXXX is not properly counting my qualifying payments as a result of how Loan servicing companies who are contracted through the federal government choose to apply payments. Simply because during a few months in XXXX and XXXX we paid a little extra towards the student loans, the companies moved the extra towards the next month rather than applying to the principal. Unfortunately this is not something that is clear to the average borrower. As a result, even though I never paid less than the amount I was billed, 6 of my 93 payments from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX are not even being recognized. I am truly astounded that XXXX is allowed to continue being the sole servicer who handles the PSLF program. Rather than working towards assisting those who work full-time in public services qualify for forgiveness, they clearly demonstrate their main intention of extending the time for repayment thus increasing their profit. At this point I feel completely defeated and truly hope that the Department of Education realizes that they either need to provide a clearer direction on how XXXX is handling the PSLF or they take steps to have additional servicing companies. Despite my efforts to gain assistance from XXXX and the parent company PHEAA, there appears to be no end in sight. It is astounding that it took the company close to a year to " manually review '' the payments that I had made from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX and provide an incorrect count. Then when I submitted my first complaint with CFPB on XX/XX/XXXX they were able to response in less than 24 hours on XX/XX/XXXX indicating that " XXXX performed a thorough review of your accoun ) t. Specifically, we review the account activity notations, payment history, and forbearance/deferment history. '' So unless they were not actually taking any action during the initial period until I took the steps to have them expedite the manual review, there is no way that the XXXX was able to actually conduct a thorough review. I would hope that with this second complaint that XXXX actually takes the opportunity to be an advocate on my behalf. It is not reasonable to believe that paying a few extra dollars here and there would end up costing thousands in additional payments. I will continue to try and pursue getting this issue resolve. I have made it a point to ensure I take the steps to ensure I remain eligible for PSLF. I have always been on an Income driven repayment plan. I have always made payments time and for the amount on the monthly bill. Unfortunately I did not expect a loan servicer contracted through the federal government to apply payments in a way that benefited them I now submit the XXXX annually. I am just waiting on a response for the form I sent this month ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to update the additional payments made. While I am not confident that this additional complaint will result in an actual resolution - I truly hope that rather than receiving a canned statement that XXXX actually makes an effort to properly county my payments. And I know that I am not the only VICTIM who has had to deal with an improper count of qualifying payments.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 93726
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2019-02-01
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: in XX/XX/XXXX my federal direct loans were being serviced by XXXX. In order to enroll in Public Service Loan Forgiveness I was directed by XXXX to consolidate which I did. I'm not being told by XXXX that they were in the wrong type of consolidation account ( I wasn't given a choice on type of account ) and instead of my PSLF qualifying payments beginning to count toward the required 120 payments for forgiveness in XX/XX/XXXX when I began working for a non-profit full time, I'm being told my qualifying payments didn't start until XX/XX/XXXX.
Company Response:
State: NH
Zip: 032XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2019-02-01
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A