Consumer complaint received 2022-01-29
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: UT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
My first problem is the fact that the overall amount of my loan on my credit report does not match the information in my account. All three of my credit reports have the the original total of my student loan as {$93000.00}, but my AES account has the total loan amount listed as {$95000.00}. This matters because is looks like I have only paid {$23000.00} since XXXX on my credit report, when I actually have paid {$45000.00} of the principal, and {$30000.00} for interest ( according to my AES account. The total I have paid is {$76000.00}. 

I asked AES to audit my account because my current loan plan is XXXX months at {$550.00} and the final payment is scheduled to be made in XXXX. They told me I was on a " level '' plan. If this is the case, I am on a XXXX year payment plan, but XXXX ( the year my loan was switched to AES ), would be XXXX  years. I believe AES changed the loan plan in XXXX after the loan reached {$110000.00} and started a new loan term. The reason I think this is because if a loan for XXXX with a 3.8 % interest rate is set at XXXX years, the monthly payment will be {$560.00}. That's very close to what I pay each month, after the direct debit discount is applied. 

For some reason, I was consistently unable to take advantage of any income based repayment plans ( with the exception of 6 months ), even though I was living in Michigan until XXXX, and was homeless at times. The only options offered were deferment or forbearance and {$19000.00} was added to the principal of the loan. After that, the balance XXXX to {$110000.00}. It now is less than {$70000.00}. If the loan was recalculated in XXXX, that should have been reflected on my credit report, but it's not. 

Even though I am far ahead on my scheduled payments, I am only able to postpone a payment for one month if I have direct debit. Of course, the only way to get a slight reduction in the interest rate is to have direct debit payments set up. Since I have been working two, something three jobs to pay off this loan, I want to make big payments throughout the month. Having one payment on a set day doesn't always workin in my best interest, but I'm not allowed to postpone the payment on the due date and make payments on other days throughout the month. This slows this down and forces me into a payment schedule that accumulates the most interest possible. Why can't I postpone the direct debit on the due date and pay three or four times throughout the month?

AES informed me that there was no amortization table for my loan. When I asked for one, they told me student loans don't have amortization tables because months have different days. This didn't make any sense because other loan service providers have amortization tables. 

AES has been dishonest and difficult to deal with over the years. At this point, I'd like my account to be audited by a third party and AES, and the proper information posted on my credit report. The loan was inflated in XXXX and it should have been reported to the credit bureaus. I want this information to be accurate on my credit report. I have worked very hard to pay down my student loan but my credit report looks like I have barely started to pay. I would also like AES to admit that they recalculated loan in XXXX to extend the loan further into the future, instead of offering me an income sensitive repayment plan.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation