Consumer complaint received 2021-02-17
Company: Utah System of Higher Education
State: ME
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I have sent in two complaints to the XXXX XXXX XXXX and to my States Attorney General but have not heard back from the Attorney General. The XXXX XXXX XXXX has tried to help but can only do so much in this situation. I need help and I need it fast before this loan company charges me any more money when I have already sent them my loan payoff check. I am copying and pasting both complaints in full. I apologize for how much is here, but Im trying to give as many details as possible in order to get this situation resolved. 

Complaint # 1 : Submitted XX/XX/2021 I currently have a school loan with Utah Higher Education XXXX which I am attempting to pay off after the sale of my home. They have been consistently difficult to work with throughout the years and I am thankful to finally be able to take the proceeds from the sale of my home and pay off the full amount. 
Unfortunately, UHEAA has always been very difficult to work with and is carrying on the same pattern of fraudulent activities as it always has. 
I have heard and read of many complaints against school loan companies over the years and thought it is simply a result of people who are complaining solely because they are unhappy with their debt. However, as I have been attempting to work with UHEAA over the past few years and, even as I attempt to pay off my loan currently, I am beginning to realize that all the complaints at least against this company are true. 
I imagine how many other young professionals are going through the same horror story as my own without knowing how to find freedom from this company and its domineering practices. I hope my complaint will be able to help others in the future. 
Years ago, my school loan ( initially a XXXX XXXX loan, who was under Federal investigation ) was sold to UHEAA without my knowledge. At this time they began to harass me with phone calls from multiple unlisted numbers regarding paying my school loan. Not knowing that this company now owned my school loans, I ignored the phone calls. Once I found out through a mailing ( which UHEAA no longer does ), I was able to set up payments with this company. Unfortunately, my credit score had already dropped because my account had been listed as delinquent during this time of transition even though I was unaware of the circumstances until it was too late. 
Despite that, UHEAA has always followed a consistent fraudulent pattern when managing my account. After researching reviews of this company, I see now they do the same pattern to everybody. 
When requesting a hard times forbearance, or changing the payment plan, UHEAA initially requests that I fill out paperwork and fax it to them. When I call the same day to verify that the paperwork was received, they acknowledge the receipt of paperwork and state that it will take up to 5 business days to process the information. Typically, after submitting the paperwork, I would receive a notice about 7-10 days later stating my account was delinquent. 
When I would call UHEAA to find out what was going on, they would say the paperwork was never received. When told that I had confirmation that the paperwork was received, UHEAA would then check and confirm that they truly had received the paperwork even though they originally said they had not. This was usually followed by a statement placing the blame on me, stating I had not filled out a form that was necessary or that my paperwork did not have the necessary information. This pattern would go on every week or two for at least 6 weeks with me calling and going through the whole process multiple times until UHEAA finally processed the paperwork on their end. 
I recently sold my home and am using some of the proceeds to do a full payoff of my UHEAA school loan. 
This time, when it came time to pay the loan off, I requested my Title broker assist me by taking the payoff of the house and completing the process for me. I hoped they would be more professional with my broker and I wouldnt have to fight with UHEAA anymore. 
My loan had been in forbearance due to COVID financial difficulties and my first payment was due on XX/XX/2021 after my forbearance was up. The broker called before the XXXX to attempt to pay off my loan using the proceeds of my home sale. She completed all the paperwork and was told by UHEAA that it would take 5 business days to process. UHEAA informed my broker that they would contact her within 5 business days to complete the loan payoff. 
I called my broker last Friday, the XXXX of XXXX to see if she had heard from UHEAA. Knowing UHEAAs reputation for never returning phone calls, I encouraged my broker to call them and follow up when she stated that she had not yet heard from them. She was unable to reach them until Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. 
In the meantime, I received an email from UHEAA stating my account was past due and delinquent, despite the fact that the payoff paperwork had already been submitted for nearly 2 weeks. When I informed my broker of this, she immediately called UHEAA. They informed her that they refused to process the previous paperwork she had submitted because I had not signed an authorization for release form for UHEAA to discuss my accounts with my broker. 
By this time, my broker had carried out at least 3 phone conversations with UHEAA regarding my account and the paperwork necessary to complete the payoff for me. Why did UHEAA never even bother to inform my broker about the need for the release forms on any of the previous phone calls? 
Being disgusted with UHEAAs practices, I called UHEAA myself after leaving my brokers office and signing the release form. I informed UHEAA that if this payoff was not completed within 2 weeks I would be reporting UHEAA as well as seeking legal counsel against them. Today, in response to my phone call stating I would be reporting their fraudulent practices, UHEAA sent me a notice stating that my account was delinquent and no longer in good standing. 
UHEAA consistently follows the same pattern of behavior of not processing billing and payoff requests until at least 4-6 weeks unless we, the consumers, call frequently to check up on them. UHEAA further delays the process nearly every time by saying the wrong paperwork was submitted or inadequate paperwork was submitted when it is the representatives at UHEAA who tell us which paperwork to submit. If we are submitting what UHEAA tells us to submit, how can it always be the wrong paperwork? 
It is a ploy to lay the blame back on the consumer so UHEAA looks like they are in better standing than they are. 
UHEAA also states that information submitted on paperwork ( Ie : check stubs, employer forms ) does not have accurate or necessary information for UHEAA to accurately process the paperwork when all the information truly is right where it needs to be on the paperwork. 
In the meantime, UHEAA is able to drag the process on for weeks and even months, continuing to accrue interest instead of allowing a loan to be paid off or to accrue late fees instead of allowing a loan to be placed in good standing. It is a fraudulent practice to draw the process out to make more money and then blame it on the consumer when the consumer has, in fact, done everything UHEAA has requested. 
Please, please help me! All I want is to get this school loan paid off forever. But at this rate the interest continues to accrue and UHEAA starts the process of assessing late fees when none of my paperwork was late. Please help me! I just want to be free of this company forever! 


Complaint # 2 : Submitted XX/XX/2021 I recently filed a complaint over the way UHEAA is handling my attempts to pay off my school loan with them. They use fraudulent and underhanded business practices to prolong any process of the customer taken to pay UHEAA in order to accrue further interest and sometimes even incur late fees where a late fee is unwarranted. 
I recently sold my home in the end of XXXX and my title attorney and myself have been attempting to pay off my school loans serviced through UHEAA. UHEAA continues to prolong the process by refusing to return phone calls, omitting essential information necessary to complete the process, or misdirecting any requests and questions by myself or my title attorney. 
Upon further review of other complaints against this company, it is clear that UHEAA does this to many of its customers. I am beginning to believe this is a fraudulent practice enacted intentionally on the part of UHEAA in order to gain more money from their customers. If UHEAA charges {$10.00} a day in interest to 1000 customers attempting to pay off their loans and UHEAA prolongs the payoff process for 30 days, UHEAA stands to make {$300000.00} extra off of these customers above what the customers originally intended to pay. This is a very lucrative means of increasing the amount of money that UHEAA makes on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. It is even more lucrative if you consider late fees that UHEAA might stand to accrue if they prolong the process even further than 30 days, say 60 or 90 days ... Especially if UHEAA can effectively make it look like all the delay is the customers fault by stating the customer did not present the necessary documentation, that the paperwork was filled out inaccurately, or by omitting necessary information that the customer needs in order to carry out UHEAAs appropriate protocol. 
UHEAA may allege that no illegal activity is occurring here by laying all the blame back on the customer, but UHEAA is indeed carrying out illegal activity by refusing to give accurate information necessary to the customer in order to carry out appropriate payment. 
I state all this in response to UHEAAs response to my previous complaint. After filing my complaint, I received a very prompt return phone call from UHEAA the next day. However, the delay tactics continue even now weeks later. First, UHEAA attempted to lay the blame back on me for payoff problems by stating I and my title attorney filled out the wrong paperwork. Of course, UHEAA never told myself or my attorney about the form required during the multiple phone calls regarding what documentation was necessary in order to finalize loan payoff. Once we learned of the necessary paperwork, it was filled out and returned to UHEAA within 24 hours. Another phone call to UHEAA revealed that UHEAA was now stating we filled the paperwork out wrong. As a result, the paperwork was filled out accurately and returned to UHEAA that same day. My title attorney and I didnt hear anything from UHEAA at all after resubmitting the paperwork. I provided my attorney with a number for the embezzlement department that UHEAA gave me after filing my previous complaint. When she attempted to call more than 3 times, she did not even receive a dial tone on the other end of the line. Not until I called the embezzlement department and told them to call my title attorney, was she able to reach or speak with anybody from that department. 
The embezzlement office provided my title attorney with an address to send in the payoff amount. My title attorney sent it that day via XXXX next day mail and we received confirmation that the package was received. Four days later, I am still receiving emails from UHEAA stating that my account is past due and in delinquent status even though we started this payoff process before my original payment date. Five days after the package was documented as having been delivered, I called the embezzlement office to determine if they had seen the package with my payoff check yet. I was told by the UHEAA employee that my title attorney had been given an inaccurate address by the UHEAA employee and that the mail had not been delivered to the correct address. The mail was, however, being forwarded to the correct address but the employee was unable to tell me how long it would take for the package to arrive. 
When I complained about UHEAA stating that my account is delinquent when it is, in fact, in payoff status, the employee told me that I was supposed to continue making monthly payments to UHEAA until the payoff checked is received. 
I refuse to make any more payments to UHEAA. The check to pay this account off was sent and received over 5 days ago. It is not my fault it went to the wrong address but UHEAAs fault. I will not be penalized any longer for UHEAAs fraudulent activity. If UHEAA has the gall to attempt this one one customer, how many other customers are they taking the exact same actions against? How much extra money is UHEAA making off of prolonging their customers valid and earnest attempts to pay their school loans in a manner that is ethical. UHEAA continues to carry out their unethical practices even while under review from the XXXX XXXX XXXX as well as other reporting agencies.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation