Consumer complaint received 2023-12-08
Company: MOHELA
State: GA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge

Complaint:
I am writing to file a complaint concerning the Department of Education and Mohelas failure to provide me with proper notification of the requirements to consolidate loans or the deadline to consolidate before XX/XX/XXXX. 
I originally applied for Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not receive notification about my loans until XX/XX/XXXX, nearly XXXX years later. The letter stated that only about half my loans were forgiven due to all of them not being consolidated. It then mentioned that I should consolidate my loans by the deadline of XX/XX/XXXX. 
I was never given any notification of the deadline to consolidate loans or the requirements to qualify for PSLF. I only received a welcome letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, with no mention of the deadline or requirements. When I spoke to XXXX XXXX ( employee # XXXX ), she stated that the earliest I could have received the letter was XX/XX/XXXX, due to mailing delays and distance. She did state that this was not normal business practices. It is inconceivable that I would not consolidate my loans and have them all forgiven if given proper notification to do so. 
The process of notification, getting help, talking to a representative, or getting up to date information has been a nightmare. I spoke with Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX. I was on the phone for one hour and eleven minutes. Trying to reach a person involved going through numerous menus that only encouraged me to hang up or go to the website for about twenty minutes. Then I was given the same deadline that I was not informed of. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After being on hold for another 25 minutes, I spoke with XXXX. She had no answers about why proper notification was not given. Numerous other attempts failed to even allow me to get to talk to a representative. Mohela just leaves you on hold and then the phone disconnects. The Washington Post reported that there have been complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of wait times of 5-6 hours to talk to a representative ( XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ). The article listed XXXX active complaints of borrowers not being able to talk to representatives about such things as basic as loan amounts and payment counts. This article was written on XX/XX/XXXX, and I can testify that things havent been remedied. I know that I am not the only one who has been affected by the willful and predatory practices of the Department of Education and Mohela. 
I believe that the Department of Education violated the Higher Education Act of 1965 by not giving yearly notice or explaining what was necessary to qualify for forgiveness for the public service loan forgiveness programs. The Higher Education Act of 1965 requires the Department of Education and service providers to provide yearly notice to borrowers about the terms and conditions of loan forgiveness programs. The Department of Education also has a duty to explain what is necessary to qualify for forgiveness. 
These are the sections of the HEA of 65 that I believe were violated : 1. Loan services have a responsibility to provide proper notification to borrowers before disbursement of loans, as mandated by Section 433 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) of the HEA. If borrowers did not receive adequate notification about their loan terms and conditions, including interest rates and repayment options, then they may have taken on more debt than they could afford or may not have fully understood the long-term financial consequences of their borrowing. This lack of notification may have contributed to the need for loan forgiveness in the first place. 

2. The HEA requires loan services to inform borrowers of their eligibility for loan forgiveness programs, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) program, as outlined in Section 455 ( a ) ( 1 ) and Section 455 ( m ) ( 1 ). If loan services failed to provide this information, borrowers may not have been aware of their eligibility for loan forgiveness and may have missed out on an opportunity to reduce their debt burden. 

3. The HEA also requires loan services to inform borrowers of their eligibility for income-driven repayment plans, as specified in Section 455 ( d ) ( 1 ). If loan services did not provide this information, borrowers may not have been aware of their options for managing their loan payments and reducing their debt burden, which could have contributed to their need for loan forgiveness. 

It seems the whole goal of Mohela is to use a campaign of delay, misinformation, and bureaucratic red tape to exhaust borrowers into giving up their rights and protections given by federal law. I thought the Department of Education was there to protect borrowers from unscrupulous business practices. In my case, the DOE just rubber stamped Moehela 's predatory, unlawful, and unfair business practices. It appears that no one even gave my claims a cursory glance. I was only ( at best ) given three days to consolidate before the deadline in a letter that never mentions the requirement for consolidation or the deadline. My PSLF application was done in XXXX of XXXX. I didnt receive notification until XXXX year later. That letter instructed me to consolidate my loans by a deadline that was XXXX months past. That seems predatory especially considering Mohela has a financial incentive to keep borrowers on their books. 

I found out some very disturbing facts about the PSLF program while researching for my complaint. From XXXX until XXXX, the total number of applicants granted PSLF forgiveness totaled XXXX. Thats everybody for XXXX years. XXXX!!!!! Thats seems hard to even understand. Currently, there are about 41 million borrowers, and, even with the new temporary forgiveness guidelines, only about 650,000 have received forgiveness. That works out to about 1.6 %. It seems the goal for this forgiveness program is actually to prevent forgiveness. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX this program sought to help for XXXX years. I am not XXXX  currently due to a XXXX XXXX XXXX. I am no longer eligible for this PSLF program until I return XXXX XXXX. I was the perfect candidate for the temporary provisions in the PSLF program and I would have had all my loans forgiven. As it stands now, I owe at least {$39000.00} and my payments start on XX/XX/XXXX. The rollout of the requirements for this program appear to change arbitrarily and without notice. 

Please contact me if you need any more information or evidence. I would sincerely appreciate someone trying to find any communication with me regarding the issues discussed. I have challenged Mohela, XXXX XXXX, and DOE to find any communication that would serve as proper notification. I dont believe anyone is even reading my complaints. I will be faxing this complaint as well. 

Since I originally wrote this, things are worse. I wrote the above in May. I sent this to Moehela and DOE. No response except an automatic reply that I requested be escalated to the ombudsman. That was before XX/XX/XXXX. In XXXX of XXXX, I physically mailed, emailed, and faxed all this and my documentation that clearly proves my case. No response at all. Moehela doesn't even try to communicate with you anymore. The XXXX office has not contacted me in 7 months. I am not exaggerating that there is no communication about these issue at all. You can't get someone at Moehela even if you wait 5-6 hours on hold. They literally just disconnect you. Please, please help. Hold Moehela and DOE responsible.

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