Consumer complaint received 2018-07-04
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: MN
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:
Hello, I attended the University XXXX XXXX from XXXX, and my largest student loan was from the Federal Government, disbursed from XXXX. This loan was a combination of Direct Stafford Loans,  subsidized and unsubsidized. I began making FULL payments on this loan in XXXX. At that time, I was also working in public service, full time, for a police department. I was not aware of the " Income Based Repayment '' plan at that time, and I continued to make FULL payments on this loan until XXXX. 

In XXXX, I leaned of the IBR plan, applied for IBR, and my monthly payment reduced significantly. I am still on the IBR plan to this date, XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have been employed in XXXX XXXX as a XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, full time without interruption, since XXXX of XXXX. 

At some point, the Federal Government transferred my loan balance, or reconfigured their website to the current, " XXXX XXXX. '' It was not always called that, and I do not recall what it was called when I started repayment in XXXX. 

I submitted my Employment Certification Forms for PSLF in XXXX, in order to see how many qualifying payments I had made. XXXX responded with a letter showing that I had only made 40 qualifying payments, and that my estimated forgiveness eligibility date would be XX/XX/XXXX. After doing the math, this means that XXXX was suggesting I started making qualifying payments in XX/XX/XXXX which is NOT accurate. I believe I should be eligible for PSLF in XXXX, not XXXX. This would result in a huge difference in dollar amount that I would pay over the life of the loan. 

I double-checked the requirements for PSLF eligibility, and confirmed that my past employers and hours worked per week were well within the definition for PSLF. I even submitted detailed documentation to XXXX from past employers showing duration of dates worked and hours per week dating back to XXXX. The only thing I could not provide documentation for was payment history back to XXXX. So what did I do? 

I have made multiple requests to XXXX XXXX over the last 3 years asking for a monthly payment history dating back to when I originally started making full payments on this loan in XXXX. Typically, XXXX will send me an email response indicating they will look into the request and get back to me. Then, I receive statements in the mail 1-2 weeks later, in which XXXX shows my payments made back to XXXX. They can't even provide me with history payments back to XXXX, let alone back to XXXX. In one instance, I spoke with someone on the phone who seemed very confused, but ultimately said they would send me something in the mail. What did I get? Statements dating back only as far as XXXX, again. Worst of all, XXXX has failed to give me an explanation for why they have a minimal payment history on file for me, or explain where my federal loan was serviced prior to XXXX. 

I understand that I should have done a better job tracking my payment history when I started making full payments. However, I have dumped a lot of money into this loan and I am concerned that more than half the years of my payment records are untraceable? In addition, this could help clarify my true eligibly for PSLF. 

Any assistance in this matter would be appreciated. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation