Consumer complaint received 2020-10-14
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: NC
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:
We recently discovered that FedLoan Student loans for XXXX XXXX XXXX had been paid in full as of XX/XX/XXXX, we had no idea that there was a XXXX balance. We did not receive any communication regarding the paid in full notice or that we had been paying on an account that had been paid off. We have paid every month through online bill pay with our bank as an automatic payment-we have full records on the payment history and bank statements. I was checking our credit reports earlier this year ( XX/XX/XXXX ), and noticed that all the student loan accounts had XXXX  balances. I reached out to FedLoan to ask questions about my account and to verify that the information reported on the credit report was correct. We were told at that point there was no history on our account due to it being paid off since XX/XX/XXXX. No payments had been posted and no notations were made that our payments were still being received and posted to an account. 

The timeline of events is as follows : XXXX finished his XXXX XXXX through XXXX College-Online. He  received his diploma. 

XXXX-Later that same year we were notified that XXXX College was closing due to fraudulent admission systems and processes. 

XXXX XXXX-We received a refund check from the US Dept of Education. We knew there was a lawsuit and that they closed due to fraud so we figured that this refund was linked to the lawsuit and the closure. 

Fast forward to XXXX XXXXchecking the credit reports for scores and accuracy as we do every year-noticed XXXX XXXX loan amounts were XXXX, so we began investigating. 

XXXX called FedLoan-did n't get through due to high call volume due to Covid-reduced worker capacity and reduced call center hours. 

XX/XX/XXXX-after trying to call, logged into the online portal for XXXX-there was no account info available, no statement/payment history, all accounts showed XXXX balances. Emailed the contact us address to ask questions. 

XXXX-began an online chat with agent ( XX/XX/XXXX-agent ID XXXX ) to ask about account statements/balances/account history and dates that the account had been paid off. XXXX stated that the loans had been paid off since XX/XX/XXXX. He also stated that there was a PAID IN FULL letter EMAILED XX/XX/XXXX. He said the letter was emailed due to the online preferences for paperless account correspondence. We never received the emailed paid in full letter. 

XXXX-After the online chat, XXXX called in to speak to someone about our issues and concerns. He was told that the account was paid in full-no balance was due. After giving the call center rep the story of what was going on and the we had all the payment history and bank statements ( records dating back to XXXX ) showing the payments were sent, accepted, and posted by FedLoan, we were told that the payment address had changed. The payment address for the PO BOX in XXXX was the old address-the date or any history on the payment address changing was not provided/it was not known by the agent on the phone. No further info or insight from that call. 

Bank records show same payment address from XXXX ( when we stopped payment after discovering the issue ). 

XX/XX/2020-called into FedLoan again to ask about how to find out where our payments were getting posted and to get our money back. We told there was nothing to do except upload our documents to the online portal with a timeline of events and they would be reviewed and we would be notified about the resolution. I pushed and kept asking for a physical address-where we could mail our statements and track receipt with overnight XX/XX/XXXX with signature. We were told there was no physical address to mail anything to. Finally got a supervisor over the phone, XX/XX/XXXX-employee ID XXXX, she said I could email them to her directly and she would be waiting for it. I emailed all of our documents in to the email XXXX ( I  never heard a word from her after that ) I asked to be notified that the email and attachments were received-I didn't hear back until XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX-an online account message was posted. The letter stated the following-XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX : This notice confirms we received your correspondence or request on XX/XX/XXXX. The correspondence we received may be, but is not limited to one or more of the following : A Request to update or change your record Documentation supporting a repayment, deferment, or forbearance request. 
Documentation requesting information about your account. 
Next Steps There is no action needed from you at this time. Once we complete our review, we will send you a notice detailing the outcome of your request. 

XXXX-I sent in a request for an update via the online portal since there had been no information communicated since XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX-An automated response was posted. It read as follows : XXXX XXXX XXXX : This notice confirms we received your correspondence or request on XX/XX/XXXX. The correspondence we received may be, but is not limited to one or more of the following : A Request to update or change your record Documentation supporting a repayment, deferment, or forbearance request. 
Documentation requesting information about your account. 
Next Steps There is no action needed from you at this time. Once we complete our review, we will send you a notice detailing the outcome of your request. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX we have not received anything regarding the investigation, what account the checks were posted to, how anything is being handled, nothing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief