Consumer complaint received 2018-01-19
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: PA
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:
RE : Public Service Loan Forgiveness Eligibility for Loan Holder, for all applicable loans Dear Sir or Madame : I am writing to bring your attention to an issue regarding the administration of my federal student loans, administered by PHEAA/XXXX XXXX, regarding crediting my account for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. 

Relief Sought : I am seeking to have the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( PHEAA ) or the relevant Loan Servicer or the Department of Education, credit my loan account for approximately 46 payments toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLF ) for all payments made during the period from XX/XX/XXXX through the present, during which time I have been working for the government in qualifying public service employment and making qualifying payments on a qualifying payment plan. Currently, my first year law school loans ( which  have subsequently been consolidated in XX/XX/XXXX, which consolidation was delayed based on PHEAAs lack of clear information ) are not being credited with payments I made between approximately XX/XX/XXXX and approximately XX/XX/XXXX. 

Summary : In XX/XX/XXXX, nearly four ( 4 ) years after I began repayment of my student loans, I discovered that my 1L loans were issued under the Federal Family Education Loan ( FFEL ) program and thus were not eligible for PSLF. My 2L and 3L loans remain eligible for PSLF ; however, payments on those loans were delayed during the processing of my various income recertifications and payment plan changes. I have been given misinformation and no information since XX/XX/XXXX about the eligibility of my 1L loans for PSLF, thereby causing me to miss approximately 3 years and 9 months worth of payments that could have been credited toward my 1L loans. 

The Loans : I attended XXXX XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. My first year ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX student loans were issued in XX/XX/XXXX ( 1L Loans ). My  second year ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX student loans were issued in XX/XX/XXXX ( 2L Loans ). My third year ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX student loans were issued in XX/XX/XXXX ( 3L Loans ). Each of the three years of loans were described in PHEAA paperwork as : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX. I also had a smaller direct consolidation loan from XX/XX/XXXX after earning my XXXX degree at the XXXX XXXX University. In total, the loans, including interest, are presently valued at about {$170000.00}. 

The Agreement : Based in large part on the PSLF rules, I sought to begin my career in government service, knowing that after 10 years of working for the XXXX, my loans would be repaid. I anticipated that after beginning my repayment on or about XX/XX/XXXX, that my loans would be eligible for forgiveness on or about XX/XX/XXXX. 

The Employment : Thus far, I have worked in qualifying XXXX XXXX  employment my entire five year career. I began work at the XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX as a XXXX XXXX for several XXXX from on or about NXX/XX/XXXX, until on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I then worked in the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX as an XXXX XXXX XXXX  from on or about XX/XX/XXXX, until on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I then worked for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, assigned to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, from on or about XX/XX/XXXX, until on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I then continued working for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, after being reassigned to the Department of State beginning on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I presently remain employed at the XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Thus, I have worked in government employment for approximately 5 years and 3 months as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

The Qualifying Payments : Immediately after I began my first job as a lawyer, I began the process of qualifying my loans for an Income-Based Repayment. I have continually recertified my income every year, so that I may remain in an Income Driven Repayment Plan. I have continued to make timely, whole payments under my Income Driven Repayment Plan ( IDR ). I have not made any incomplete or late payments during my entire time in repayment. The only times I have not made payments are when my loan servicer has failed to promptly process my paperwork when I have been seeking to enter a repayment plan and schedule. Therefore, I should have credit for approximately 60 payments towards each of my loans, the loans I am identifying as my 1L, 2L and 3L loans.

The Term : The 1L loans at issue entered repayment in XX/XX/XXXX, with my first payment due in or about XX/XX/XXXX. The term of repayment, given my continued qualifying employment, should span the time frame from approximately XX/XX/XXXX until approximately XX/XX/XXXX. 

The Desired Outcome : I insist that PHEAA and/or XXXX and/or XXXX XXXX credit the 1L loans that were issued in XX/XX/XXXX, and consolidated in XX/XX/XXXX, with the additional approximately 46 payments made spanning from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX. This is the fair and just result because but for the malfeasance and nonfeasance by AES/PHEAA, I would have consolidated and made my 1L loans eligible for XXXX immediately upon my entering government service in XX/XX/XXXX. 

The Issue : At no point did my loan servicer clearly indicate to me, as per their rules and regulations, that my 1L loans, issued under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, but still referred to as Direct loans in paperwork given to me, would not be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Based on the statute, the regulations, the AES documents matching the words used in regulation and statute, the AES representatives representations to me on the telephone, the federal Department of Education representatives representations to me on the telephone, the lack of return information after request, and the submission of my employment certification form without response at the beginning of my repayment term in XX/XX/XXXX, I relied on the AES/PHEAA representation, or non-representation, that my 1L loans would qualify for loan forgiveness. 

I have since been forced to reconsolidate my first year loans into an eligible loan, thus losing credit for approximately 3 years and 9 months of time when I otherwise would have been making qualifying payments. This despite the fact that I reached out to PHEAA officials in XX/XX/XXXX on my first week on the job as a law clerk to ensure that my employment and payments would count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, despite the fact that my loan statements indicated my loans were described using terms like direct loan, which terms are used in the regulations governing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and despite the fact that PHEAA policy and FedLoan Servicing Policy was to notify the debtor about qualifications for the PSLF upon submission of an electronic certification form or similar documentation. I did not receive such notification about the eligibility of my loans, and thus, did not receive credit for payments for which I should have received credit. 

The Problem : My 1L loans, originally issued in XX/XX/XXXX, were in repayment beginning in XX/XX/XXXX under a qualifying repayment program until XX/XX/XXXX, at which point I finally received some feedback from AES personnel ( though not definitive feedback ), that my 1L loans would not qualify for PSLF. I only discovered that these loans would not qualify after seeing their PSLF status on a heretofore unseen and nonexistent website, displaying information about student loans. Since I was regularly asking AES personnel if these loans qualified for the PSLF, and nobody responded to me with clear information, ever, the approximately 46 payments I made on my 1L loans between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX should count toward my Public Service Loan Forgiveness, even though they were issued under the FFEL. 

The Solution : Please credit my 1L loans, now a Direct Subsidized Consolidation Loan, and a Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan, each issued XX/XX/XXXX, with approximately 46 payments which were made to the AES loan servicer, who serviced my 1L loans, from about XX/XX/XXXX until about XX/XX/XXXX. 

AES has caused me to expend an incredible amount of energy and time by not following their policies and not informing me about the initial ineligibility of my 1L loans for PSLF, which loans were disbursed as direct loans in XX/XX/XXXX. Because AES has failed to inform me about my 1L loans being ineligible, I have lost approximately three years and nine months of qualifying payments towards my 1L loans under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. 

I thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I have detailed notes, copies of correspondence, and paperwork related to my loans available upon request. I look forward to speaking with someone regarding resolving this matter. Please note : I am also filing a lawsuit against PHEAA, and filing a complaint with the federal XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I expect this issue to be resolved quickly and fairly. 

Sincerely, [ Redacted from Public View ]

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation