Consumer complaint received 2019-04-13
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: KY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
In XXXX I was XXXX in a public XXXX XXXX  and taking care of my father, who had XXXX. My student loans had been in forbearance with XXXX XXXX XXXX, as I was completing graduate school. I was not intentionally ignoring my loans, but due to living in and out of hospitals with my father, my loans were neglected and I defaulted. At the time of default, I explained my situation to XXXX, and offered to provide hospital records and documentation. They rejected my requests for help and charged me an 18 % ( {$9100.00} ) collection fee plus interest and other fees, totaling more than {$12000.00}. 
XXXX advised me to apply for a graduated repayment plan to get my loan back in good standing. They warned that my credit was going to be negatively affected if I did not complete the loan rehabilitation program and that this could have detrimental effects on me financially. I felt I had no other options, and I agreed to the plan. I was then charged thousands of dollars in rehabilitation fees. 
Once my loan rehabilitation was complete I was able to apply for the XXXX loan forgiveness of {$17000.00} for XXXX five years in a XXXX XXXX district. I was granted forgiveness, but it was negated by all of the default and rehabilitation fines and fees. I continued paying on the graduated plan from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ( around {$12000.00} in payments ) and saw a decrease in principal of {$1400.00}. 
XXXX was aware I was a XXXX XXXX XXXX and should have advised me to apply for a Direct Loan under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program in XXXX. Since the loan forgiveness was applied to my previous five years of XXXX, these two programs would have been exclusive. My continued payments would have then counted towards PSLFP for the following years. ( This is my 16th year serving as a XXXX XXXX XXXX  ). When I heard about the PSLFP in XXXX, my lender informed me that there was no action I needed to take because Federal Loans was not accepting applications until XXXX. In XXXX I spoke to a Federal Loans representative who informed me that my loans had to be Direct Loans and I should have consolidated with Federal Loans in order for any payments to qualify in the PSLFP. Had I not been misguided by my lender in XXXX, my loans would be forgiven next year. 
This year, my student loan payments increased nearly {$100.00} per month. Although I did not receive a raise, my AGI showed an increase of almost {$4000.00} because I stopped contributing to my retirement account. Due to the pension crisis in KY, I had begun contributing to a separate retirement account. I had to stop because I could not afford to contribute, due to my student loan payments. This increased my AGI and caused my student loan payments to increase. 
I spoke with several representatives from XXXX XXXX in regards to applying for a different type of repayment plan ( IDR ) and was provided with conflicting information. When my loan renewal application was complete in XX/XX/XXXX, I was told to make a {$5.00} payment during the transition. Then I started receiving notices from XXXX XXXX stating that my loan was past due and I was in danger of defaulting. Again, each time I called I was provided with conflicting information, and representatives could not tell me what was going on with my loan. I decided to apply for forbearance until I had definite answers. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, I finally received a notice saying my payments were lowered to {$230.00} per month, yet Federal Loans began withdrawing {$250.00}, and I was told the payments were not counting toward the PSFLP. I applied for another forbearance while I tried to figure out what was going on with my loan. I continued to receive messages saying my loan was past due and in danger of default. If I log into my account now, it shows my loan is in good standing, but I have {$1500.00} in outstanding interest. Was I supposed to continue to make payments that were not counting toward the PSLFP? Which representatives advice was I supposed to follow? This continual misguidance has consumed my time and energy, has cost me thousands of dollars and has been a constant source of stress in my life for years. 
I understand that it is my responsibility to repay the money I have borrowed, but I do believe I have been misguided and taken advantage of by my student loan lenders. If programs like the PSFLP are truly in place to help lessen the financial burden for public workers, then public workers should be provided with clear, helpful guidance by student loan lenders.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation