Consumer complaint received 2018-10-07
Company: KEYCORP
State: WA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
Before filing with you, I filed with the Washington State Attorney General 's Office. They reviewed my complaint and began an informal complaint resolution process. Key Bank 's Participation in the process was voluntary and they never responded. The WA State AG 's office recommended I file my concerns with the CFPB. 

The Keybank National Association Recovery Department is engaged in unethical consumer practices and potentially fraud. In XX/XX/XXXX, after my bankruptcy was finished, my student loans were charged off from my servicer to the originator for collections. Keybank was the loan originator. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I entered into a repayment plan with Key for {$300.00} per month on 4 separate student loan accounts. Three accounts each received $ XXXX payments, and a 4th account received $ XXXX. I received my first billing statement on XX/XX/XXXX, with a due date of XX/XX/XXXX. I made this payment on time. For every month through XX/XX/XXXX, I made a {$300.00} payment. In XXXX of XXXX I paid off the 4th account, at which point I began receiving only XXXX statements for payments totalling $ XXXX. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I mistakingly sent a payment without a stamp and it was returned to me. I contacted XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, to explain that and that my payment was on the way. In early XXXX I received a letter for each account stating that I was in default. I contacted XXXX in XXXX to explain the circumstances about the XX/XX/XXXX payment and was told that I could " just burn or throw away '' those letters, and that a statement would be sent to me. My XX/XX/XXXX statement never arrived. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a Key representative who directed me to simply double my XX/XX/XXXX payment to {$300.00} and indicate that the payment was for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. I  mailed my payment on XX/XX/XXXX. 

In early XX/XX/XXXX I received letters for each account dated XX/XX/XXXX, informing me that my account was in default. I spoke with XXXX, a Key rep, on XX/XX/XXXX, and he informed me that my account was in default because my XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments were never received. I informed XXXX that I sent a money order ( my preferred method of payment for my loans because off the ability to confirm receipt ). We agreed that I would go to the post office where I purchased the money order and pay for a " money order search, '' which would reveal whether my money order had been cashed or lost in transit. During this call, XXXX put me back on my payment plan that I had established in XX/XX/XXXX ( $ XXXX on remaining accounts ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I received from the post office a photo copy of my money order when it was cashed by XXXX XXXX   ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). Upon receipt of this confirmation, I contacted XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX, and sent my first fax containing the confirmation, with an explanation of facts. I received a XXXX Report confirming receipt of my fax to the Key fax number provided to me by XXXX at XXXX PST. On the XX/XX/XXXX I called to confirm receipt of my fax and spoke to XXXX. We spoke at XXXX am XXXX. I was told my account manager XXXX was out that day and to call back on the XXXX of XXXX. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX am XXXX. I spoke to XXXX. She told me XXXX was still on vacation and to call back on Monday. I was able to call back Tuesday. I spoke with XXXX XXXX and was finally told XXXX was no longer working in the department and thus no longer my account XXXX. Neither XXXX, nor XXXX, not XXXX were able to confirm receipt of my fax on there XXXX. Thus, on the XXXX of XXXX, I resent an updated fax, with the above updated information. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called to confirm receipt of my XX/XX/XXXX fax. I spoke with XXXX. I was told that my fax was unable to be located and to fax the photocopy of my XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX money order payment to XXXX. XXXX gave me a new fax number to send to. This XX/XX/XXXX fax had a XXXX Report received time of XXXX pm PST. Finally, this payment went through and the XXXX and XXXX payments were applied to my account. 

In XXXX, I did not receive a statement again. Despite multiple calls to Key, I didn't receive a a new statement until XX/XX/XXXX ( again after calling to inform Key that I had not received my billing statement ). For XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a {$300.00} payment that covered both XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. For  each of the next three months, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, my statement did not arrive until I called Key and had them resend my statement. 

However, in XX/XX/XXXX, the Key rep I spoke to was so rude, telling that they didn't have to send me a statement because I was required to make payments even if my statement didn't arrive, that I contacted the Executive Offices. Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to several members of the executive offices on multiple occasions, and was assured that my statements would be sent and the issue would be resolved. Despite this, in XX/XX/XXXX, I called multiple times to have a statement sent but never received a statement. 

Because Key previously lost a {$300.00} payment on my account, I informed Key that I would not make a payment until I received a statement which would confirm that my previous payments had been received. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with the Executive Offices again and was assured the matter would be resolved. I also indicated that because of how my account had been handled since XX/XX/XXXX, that I would be interested in negotiating a settlement on the accounts. The matter wasn't resolved. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from the Executive Offices. I was informed that the reason I wasn't receiving my statements was because I wasn't paying my bills, that Key was under no obligation to send such statements, and that they lacked the system-wide capability to send me these statements monthly, despite the fact that from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX, I received these statements monthly, without interruption. The Executive Offices refused to send my XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXX statements, nor have I received a XX/XX/XXXX statement. Instead, Key has sent me, twice, letters of default on my three accounts. The first of these letters of default were dated the same day, XX/XX/XXXX, that I spoke to the Executive Officers and was assured that this matter would be resolved. The second set of letters of default were dated XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX days after the Washington State Attorney General 's Office deemed my complain appropriate for the informal complain resolution service. I never heard from the WA State AG that Key participated in this process. 

I am beyond frustrated. I have the money to pay my account monthly. I want to pay my account monthly. I pride myself on paying my student loans on time. But Keybank is now refusing to send me the statements I need to make the payments. Because Keybank had lost 2 months of payments ( XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX ), I am not comfortable making payments on this account without assurance that my payments are being received. This is a reasonable request for a consumer to guard against fraud. 

XXXX, on the other hand, has no reason to meet my request, even though they had sent my statements for 20 straight months without the need for me to ever call. My agreement with Keybank is  for $ XXXX on my three remaining accounts. But, if my account goes into default, Keybank can file suit in an attempt to secure a judgment and garnish my wages at a rate higher than our agreement. It is in Keybank 's financial interest to induce missed payments by refusing to send me statements. This is unethical and in my opinion, fraudulent. We agreed to my payment plan in XX/XX/XXXX and have re-confirmed these terms several times in XX/XX/XXXX. Keybank is acting in bad faith by refusing to send me monthly statements. 

Please note, I have every billing statement and money order receipt ever sent to Keybank on my account. I have all the faxes sent to Key and notes of our conversations. However, each of these documents contain sensitive account information that, per the instructions, should not be included in this initial filing. Therefore, I will not attach these documents as files at this time. If the CPFB would like to see any of these documents, I am happy to provide redacted copies of any of them. At this point, I have not received a notice of lawsuit from Key, but I have indicated to them that I will not make another payment on the account unless the account is settled ( I offered on XX/XX/XXXX to settle the account for {$3000.00}, which is almost all of my savings ) or unless they resume sending me statements that confirm the receipt of my previous payments. 

Thank for you considering my complaint.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation