Consumer complaint received 2019-10-22
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CO
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
Summary Points : 1. XXXX ( student loan servicer ) provided me with erroneous information on multiple occasions indicating that I was not eligible for public service loan forgiveness ( PSLF ), a complaint was submitted in XX/XX/XXXX and they claim to have found no record of this ; 2. Based on the incorrect information I received from XXXX, I did not pursue PSLF ; 3. I subsequently discovered XXXX provided me with misinformation and that I am in fact eligible for the PSLF program ; 4. I have made 47 ( totaling nearly $ 35K ) payments on my student loans while employed by an PSLF-eligible employer, but only 9 payments have counted towards ( please see attached payment history and employment verification forms ) PSLF program goal of 120 payments. This is because XXXX gave me erroneous information, steering me into a PSLF-ineligible payment plan under the faulty pretense that I am not eligible for PSLF. As it turns out, I am in fact eligible and the 47 payments I have made so far meet or exceed what I would have paid under a PSLF eligible plan ; 5. I ask that all 47 payments ( as of XX/XX/XXXX ) be accepted as qualifying payments as : ( i ) I have paid as much money as I would have under a PSLF eligible plan ; ( ii ) my loan servicer improperly maneuvered me into entering a PSLF-ineligible pay ment plan using misrepresentations ( whether intentional or not ) ; and ( iii ) all of these payments were made while I was employed full time by a PSLF-eligible employer. I am an XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) Veteran who served in the XXXX and was deployed to XX/XX/XXXX as a XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. I served my country for many reasons, one of which was the promise of financial help with college. This was a very attractive incentive for me as I come from a family with modest means. I was the first person in my family to be awarded a professional degree and navigated the process of applying and then paying for higher education on my own. The cost of professional school easily consumed all veteran benefits available to me ( GI Bill, State and Federal Tuition assistance programs ), thus federal loans became the only path through which I could afford higher education. During my professional studies, I unexpectedly I found myself caring for my father after a XXXX attempt as well as my oldest brother after he XXXX XXXX at a XXXX XXXX   and was then out on XXXX ( my brother unfortunately subsequently died of an XXXX XXXX, highlighting another major catastrophe affecting our country ). I was happy to be able to support my father and brother during some difficult life circumstances but as I was myself a student at the time, this caused me to rely more heavily on federal loans, increasing my debt burden substantially. After graduation, I found myself with significant student loan debt but rather than entering a high paying job in the private sector, I chose to pursue further training in XXXX XXXX XXXX so I could go down a career path of helping veterans who have suffered worse than I. During this extra training my loan interest compounded. All of my personal and professional experiences detailed above have shaped my career path and goals and I now work with veterans who have experienced XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) and on XXXX prescribing policies in an effort to combat the unfortunate XXXX  epidemic that is affecting so many families across the country. I write today to draw attention to a student loan issue that affects me and so many other student loan borrowers : the mishandling and misrepresentation of the PSLF program. The PSLF guidelines state that if you are employed full time by a qualified public service employer, then you need to make 120 payments in a specific repayment program to have your loans forgiven. In theory, it is a great opportunity for those who chose to work in a public sector job ( which in many cases means foregoing the higher payments of the private sector ). The flagrantly mishandled execution of the program, has left me with a sputtering launch into my adult professional career and family life. XX/XX/XXXXincorrectly told me that my loans were not eligible for PSLF due to a payment that I had missed in XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX relayed this to me in XX/XX/XXXX. My loans were deferred from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX while I was conducting training, though during this time the loans still accrued interest. My original loan amount was {$760000.00}, but as of XX/XX/XXXX, I owe {$91000.00}. I have made 47 payments totaling {$34000.00} since XX/XX/XXXX with a negligible impact to the principal loan balance. All of my 47 payments have been made while employed by an eligible PSLF employer. The attached employment verification forms cover all years where payments were made. My employers include the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ), the XXXX XXXX XXXX, and the XXXX XXXX XXXX. All of these employers are eligible for my payments to qualify under the PSLF program. As you can see in the attached information, the amounts paid in the ineligible payments are roughly the same as the amounts paid in the eligible payments. All payments consistently range between $ 600-800. The Implementation of the PSLF program needs to be reformed to make it more student friendly, as Congress intended it to be. One way to accomplish this is to credit all payments as qualified PSLF payments that borrowers make while employed by an eligible employer. In this manner, the deceptive steering of borrowers into non-qualified payment plans can at least be attenuated, if not eliminated completely.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation