Consumer complaint received 2023-05-09
Company: MOHELA
State: TX
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms

Complaint:
I have been attempting to apply for the PSLF program since XX/XX/XXXX. First with XXXX XXXX who kept kicking my application back for various reasons. When they closed, my loans were transferred to XXXX XXXX. They referred me to MOHELA for all of my PSLF needs. I am an employee of the state of Texas. I flat out qualify for their program. 

The issues are as follows : XX/XX/XXXX - application received, processed. Indicated that a notice had been sent, but this was not true. I was required to reapply for PSLF as MOHELA stated that I had an outstanding loan consolidation application and instructed me to contact XXXX. XXXX XXXX  had incorrectly told me to reapply for loan consolidation. XXXX indicated that I did not have any outstanding applications and let me know that they had closed the application and canceled it as my loans have been consolidated since XXXX. I had to reapply to the PSLF program and they said that it would be assigned for review. Never got an update. 

XX/XX/XXXX, application received, processed. Indicated that a notice had been sent, but this was not true. My application was again kicked back due to this unprocessed consolidation application that does not exist. I had to apply for another review/appeal and resubmit my application. At that time, the support staff told me that my application looked perfect and that there should be no reason that it was denied again. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I contacted MOHELA as I had not heard anything regarding my previous appeal. I spoke with two representatives that day. My application was once again on hold due to the nonexistent loan consolidation application. At this point, I had not received a single letter or email from MOHELA regarding ANY of my applications. Per the support staff, there were no notes on my account related to the previous review or application and there was no documentation in my activity section. I was told that there is no formal notice indicating anything until your loans are fully transferred to MOHELA. When you apply for PSLF, your loans are automatically transferred to MOHELA. ( This is not true ) She stated that I would get notification of approval or denial when that happens. Once they look at your loans, they process the application. My application was submitted for supervisor review. But it was indicated that they could not provide me with any sort of reference number or proof that my case was being reviewed and she would not provide me with a name or ID of the person reportedly conducting the review. It was stated that a supervisor had to manually request my loan transfer. She indicated that I would be contacted by someone, in some capacity in 7-14 days. This never happened. I was also told to resubmit a portion of my application because there could be potential issues. This was immediately closed as a duplicate application. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I signed in to look at the status. It shows that the loan consolidation application is STILL pending. I contacted XXXX and it literally does not exist in their system. They do not understand why MOHELA has this in their system. StudentAid.gov has no open or pending applications or cases for me. My loans have been and are still consolidated. Currently, my PSLF application is on hold due to the consolidation application. They keep saying that I applied for loan consolidation and that my loans were not financed within 60 days. I have no idea what this means. They are also saying that they are in the middle of trying to verify my employment. My application was signed TWICE by an HR manager in my agency. I do not know what else they want. My calls disconnected three times and not a single person called me back even though they ask if they can and verify your phone number. I am on hold for the second time today. I have been on THIS call for an hour. I am unable to speak to a supervisor or anyone that can explain anything to me. 

I have been attempting to apply for PSLF for over a year now. XXXX XXXX gave up on everything once they decided not to renew their contracts and now all of the work is being piled on MOHELA. Every single time I call, I get a different answer to my questions, no one knows what is going on and they literally have misinformation posted on their website. I applied before the XX/XX/XXXX deadline to have ALL payments reviewed and counted, including some periods of forbearance counted. None of this has happened. MOHELA will not communicate with consumers or process applications or update their website, but they want us to pay them for our loans. This entire experience has been unacceptable. I am concerned about future dealings with this company.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief