Consumer complaint received 2019-04-12
Company: GREAT LAKES
State: IL
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:
I am an XXXX and graduated from XXXX school in XX/XX/XXXX. That is paid for. I went back to school and completed my XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, and my XXXX in XXXX/XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. A year after graduation the alumni from my school had a meeting because there were no jobs, or extremely low paying ones, and way too high student loan debt. There was so much XXXX among all of us as this was not anticipated. Shortly after I graduated I tried a couple positions in XXXX. I found that I could not afford to have such low pay with such high debt. I gave up on the idea of working in XXXX  ( what I went back to school to do ), and went back to working in XXXX. 

My loans have been consolidated, and transferred repeatedly to different loan servicers : XXXX XXXX, Great Lakes and XXXX XXXX among them. I owe 10 's of thousands more now than I did when I started paying on them ( I owe over {$150.00} ). I'm in the IDR program right now since about XX/XX/XXXX, and my current servicer is Great Lakes.I had inquired numerous times ( since XX/XX/XXXX ) to the loan companies, and was lead to believe that the PSLF program hadnt begun yet, or the person I was speaking to didnt know about it. I found out ( around XX/XX/XXXX) that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program began in XX/XX/XXXX. Just prior to XX/XX/XXXX, I had cut my hours down from full time, at a XXXX position I worked, at a XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX . That is when I got into the IBR program with the goal of getting into the PSLF program. If I had been properly directed into the PSLF program, I could have applied for it in XX/XX/XXXX. I would have been eligible. I would have kept that my full time XXXX position ( or at least would have kept a position ) at the XXXX  as well. My loans would be ( or should be ) paid by now. I needed a desk position because of XXXX  problems, and geared myself toward one when I was seeking a new position. I never found one outside of that institution that was a full time XXXX  position that would have qualified me for the PSLF program. 

Whenever my loans were transferred and I would call whatever loan servicer to make an inquiry about anything, it was as if my payment history was not accessible to them. No one was ever on the same page, I'd get a different response from every person I spoke to. I gave up a long time ago on trying to keep track of my payment history.I never got any information about applying to the PSLF program till I could have been 5 years into the program already, at that time ( in XX/XX/XXXX ). 

When it was time to reapply for the IDR plan in XX/XX/XXXX, I was asked if I wanted to be in the plan where the government pays half of the interest each month. Of course I said yes. Only when I went to reapply in XX/XX/XXXX did I find out, that as a result of accepting that program which is in the IDR plan, I was started over, and would be repaying for 24 more years. I spoke to a supervisor when I found out. I dont know his name. 

I filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General 's office stating that I would like my student loans forgiven. As if Id have been in the PSLF program since XX/XX/XXXX. Which I should have been. I received a response from Great Lakes with information about the PSLF program. It did not even address my complaint that I was repeatedly misdirected away from applying for it beginning in XX/XX/XXXX. Today I contacted XXXX XXXX Citizens Advocate who provided the contact info for Senator XXXX XXXX office. I called Senator XXXX XXXX office and filed a complaint against Great Lakes. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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