Consumer complaint received 2016-08-09
Company: GREAT LAKES
State: AZ
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about my balance/terms

Complaint:
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys submitted a request to verify my student loan accounts with Great Lakes ( GL ). 
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys called & XXXX confirmed the request was received & that GL needed 5 business days to apply the limited poa. 
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys called to confirm the power of attorney ( poa ) had been received, GL needed the Poa to be submitted along with an " Agent Certification '' form ( ACF ), & Attorneys submitted the limited poa with the ACF the same day. 
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys called & XXXX confirmed the poa & ACF was received & that GL needed 5-7 business days to apply the limited poa & ACF ( although it had already been 5 business days since sent on XXXX/XXXX/16 ). 
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys called to confirm the poa had been processed & was told by XXXX, yes the poa & the ACF had been approved & they had sent their request to me ( I did not receive any documents from GL ) as my address was the XXXX on file. Attorneys requested the documents be sent again to their office & it was confirmed they need to do research before they could provide the documents to Attorneys ( even though they already stated they approved the poa & ACF. ) XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys called again & XXXX stated they were still reviewing the poa & ACF & conducting an investigation from the request on XXXX/XXXX/16, they stated they needed 2-4 weeks to finish the investigation. 
XXXX/XXXX/16, Attorneys called again to confirm the investigation had been completed & they could now get the documents requested to verify the account, GL stated that I needed to complete an " Information Consent Release '' form ( ICRF ) ( Attorneys sent this document to me & I returned it to them ). 
Attorneys received the ICRFon XXXX/XXXX/16 & submitted it to GL, along with the limited poa & ACF. 
XXXX/XXXX/16 Attorneys followed up with GL, in accordance, GL would take 3-4 weeks to process, they were told the poa needed to be notarized in order to be valid. When Attorneys, explained this is limited poa & also confirmed receipt of the " Information Consent Release '', GL again refused to send the information to Attorneys. They stated because the poa was not notarized they could n't send the information to Attorneys but only to the address on file, when Attorneys attempted to confirm the address on file, they stated they could n't disclose that information to Attorneys because they did n't have authorization to do so. Although, GL stated they were going to send documentation to the address on file, there is no guarantee that either Attorneys or I will receive the information as they would not confirm the address in their file & refused to even let Attorneys say my address in order for them to state yes or no. 
It is absolutely ridiculous that GL refuses to talk with my Attorneys & provide documentation to them, when they have put every effort into getting GL the forms & information they have requested. It has been months & we are only looking to get information about the accounts, because it has been years since I paid them & I no longer have the records. We need to know the balance on the account, as well as receive the signed contracts. It seems unbelievable to me that it has been such a hassle to confirm the information appearing on my credit report & that any student loan company would n't know that if an attorney is involved, not to just send the documentation to an Attorney 's office, especially since I have signed 2 different releases ( limited poa & GL " Information Consent Release '' ) clearly I want them to communicate with Attorneys.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation