Consumer complaint received 2023-12-08
Company: MOHELA
State: MO
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:
My student loans were recently transitioned to Mohela at the end of XXXX. I had tried to pay my student loan earlier in XXXX like I normally do and was told I could not pay until Mohela sent me an email with all my account Information so I could make an account as my loans were currently transitioning to a new servicer. 

Mohela did not send me information until XXXX XXXX by email. When I made my account it told me I was past due. I was upset because I have never been past due before and alway pay my student loans and bills on time. I called Mohela on XXXX XXXX and spoke to a representative who told me that because my loan was given to them at the end of the month my account was wrong and I was not past due. She told me that Mohela would fix my account before my next payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX and that I also did not have to pay the late fee as I was in fact not late. 

I logged in XX/XX/XXXX to see if Mohela had fixed my account as my loan is due the following week. Not only does my account still say I am past due but has also added another payment and now it says I have to pay {$340.00} by XX/XX/24 instead of {$170.00}. When I call it says I have been sent to a debit collector until my account is up to date. I had also sent them a complaint on the XXXX before I called by message on their account. No one ever responded. I again called XX/XX/XXXX I have was on the phone with a representative for more than XXXX hr and my problem still has not been fixed. 

The representative said that Mohela did not receive my account until after the student loan due date and she was attempting to verify how much my monthly payment was and if I owed any late fees or anything from XXXX. She also confirmed the system showed Mohela did not send me notifications until after XXXX Also XX/XX/XXXX or the XXXX I have received letters both those days from Mohela in the mail that states my account has been transferred to Mohela . Mohela wants me to pay in XXXX but does not send me email notifications until XX/XX/XXXX and letter notifications until XX/XX/XXXX the earliest. I have informed delivery with USPS and can see when a letter arrives with a picture. While the letter is dated XX/XX/XXXX ; I did not get it until XXXX. I have been very communicative with Mohela. I understand they are getting a lot of loans from many students but the amount of disorganization and handling of student accounts is not acceptable. This problem directly affects my credit report and is not fair to someone who always pays on time and has been in contact with Mohela multiple times. 

After XXXX hr and XXXX mins on the phone I was told to either day the {$170.00} from XXXX or do Forbearance for XXXX. I asked why would I do Forbearance as that penalizes me by adding interest and the whole reason my student loans were transitioned from XXXX to Mohela is because I was accepted into the public loan forgiveness program. Doing forbearance affects the program. She told me basically that interest would be added anyway to my loan whether I did forbearance or not. This is not the type of advice I want and I do not wish to do Forbearance. For the month of XXXX I will now be forced to make XXXX payments instead of XXXX. Mohela blamed my previous servicer and stated they should have let me pay despite the account saying I could not pay because my loans were being transferred to Mohela and I had to wait to get my first email from Mohela before I could make a payment. 

When my loans were first transferred to XXXX  something similar happened but I was not forced to pay twice in 1 month or do forbearance as Mohela told me to do. XXXX treated me very well while Mohela never answers. 

I also was not notified my loans would be transferred to Mohela until I attempted to pay in XXXX with my past service loan provider. I would also like a new service loan provider as I find Mohela to be irresponsible. Paying almost {$400.00} in 1 month was not planned in my monthly budget. I do not want a company who also tells me forbearance does not add extra interest or penalizes me when I know for a fact it does and it adds more to my overall balance. This erroneous information is what a more innocent or inexperienced borrowers fall for and then pay the price. The fact that Mohela does not even know how forbearance works is a great concern to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I officially filed a complaint on studentaid.gov. Mohela had XXXX  days to answer ; it is now the XXXX day and Mohela has yet to answer my complaint. Their unresponsiveness to any message and complaint is of great concern. I also do not wish to have a service provider who refuses to communicate at all with me and wish my loans to be transferred to a new servicer who will actually work with me and answer. I decided to officially write a complaint here as Mohela refuses to communicate to anything I have sent them.

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