Consumer complaint received 2023-12-01
Company: MOHELA
State: MN
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
I received documentation from MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   that I was being placed on an " Administrative Forbearance ''. My 120th qualifying payment month for XXXX was XX/XX/XXXX, so on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   I called MOHELA to request the forbearance be lifted so that I could make my final qualifying paymemt. Call duration was 1hr22m42s, with approximately 10 minutes spent actually speaking to a representative. I inquired if the month in forbearance would qualify for forgiveness and was told it wouldn't ( incorrect ). I requested it be lifted and was informed it would be in 3-5 business days. The forebearance was not lifted until the end of XXXX, at which point no bill for XXXX was generated. 

As information online and direction from the Dept of Ed indicated these processing forbearances would count, I submitted a manual Employer Certification Form ( ECF ) on XX/XX/XXXX. I waited for the form to process as the website states it will take 30 days to process. I received a letter from MOHELA approximately 30 days after id submitted my ECF stating that they had just them received my form and to expect processing to take an additional 30 days from the date of the letter. 

On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  I logged in to my FSA account to determine if there was any status update on that website. There was an ACTION NEEDED flag on my ECF form submitted on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  indicating that an electronic signature from my employer was required. I switched my signature method from manual to electronic via FSA on XX/XX/XXXX, the request was sent to my employer XX/XX/XXXX, and was completed on XX/XX/XXXX. The form was signed by the same HR employee from my organization for the initial physical form, and when the request was changed to an electronic signature. I never received communication from MOHELA or FSA that additional action was needed, and I sent a message to MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  expressing my dissatisfaction with how this submitted form has been handled. I received no response from MOHELA. 

I contacted MOHELA via telephone on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  ; call duration was 47m3s with approximately 7 minutes spent speaking with a representative. She confirmed my personal information, including name, primary and secondary phone numbers, email address and physical address. I requested clarity on the status of my ECF and current payment counts. She did not share anything of value on the call beyond telling me that the XXXX forbearance would qualify for forgiveness under PSLF, however that she could not give me a timeline on when that would reflect on my payment tracker. I inquired about the ECF I'd submitted and she said it was visible to her and processing. Beyond that she offered no clarity on when I could anticipate an updated payment count. I also inquired as to why my XXXX payment hasn't posted yet as it was reflecting as processed and money has been removed from my account. I have confirmed auto-debit set up, however the website had told me I had a past due amount notification on the website and I wanted to confirm that the payment processed on time so it would count as a qualifying payment. She told me that payments wouldn't show up on the tracker until it updated in their system and it felt extremely dismissive. If my money has been debited and it shows as a past-due amount on the website despite documented confirmation of auto-debit status, that's concerning as a borrower. 

I logged in to MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX as I had a message alert. I was met with a pop up that I needed to confirm my primary phone number as it was not on file, which makes absolutely no sense as it was verified less than XXXX hours previously. Upon completing that I checked my message from MOHELA that stated their records indicated I'd spoken with a representative and so they " will assume this inquiry has been handled ''. Additionally upon review of my documents section my ECF that was electronically signed and received on XX/XX/XXXX was noted to be CANCELLED, and my manual form received on XX/XX/XXXX was noted to be a DUPLICATE FORM. 

It appears from my end that the representative I spoke with took actions to delete information from my file ( primary phone number ) and also did not inform me of what action would be taken regarding my XXXX status. I am left to wonder how best to resubmit to avoid this same issue, all while I continue to make unnecessary payments for an undetermined amount of months while MOHELA " processes '' forms. 

There is poor to no communication from MOHELA, and their reps do not seem to have even the most basic understanding of XXXX or how to help borrowers. I previously had submitted multiple ECFs while with XXXX without ANY problems, and this has been an absolute nightmare dealing with MOHELA. It truly feels as though their representatives are acting maliciously or purposely trying to cause undue harm and unnecessary stress to borrowers. Borrowers are spending ridiculous amounts of time waiting on hold only to be given incorrect, incomplete, or unhelpful information.

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