Consumer complaint received 2017-07-19
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:
XX/XX/XXXX  When speaking to the rep, was told " can only consolidate FELP loans '' and previous payments would not be counted towards PSLF, but once consildation is completed all loans would qualify. During the same day, I initiated the income driven repayment plan by choosing " lowest payment method as determined by loan servicer ''. XX/XX/XXXX  Received letter from Fedloan Servicing stating my consolidation request is almost complete which outlines all of my FELP loans to be consolidated along with loans not included in consolidation on page 2. On page 3, it states " When you completed your consolidation application, you were able to select the repayment plan that best works for you. If you requested a specific plan, we made every effort to honor your request. Repayment Plan You Selected : Income Contingent Repayment. Repayment Plan for Your Direct Consolidation Loan : Income Contingent Repayment. '' The letter summarizes the balances along with an estimated payment plan. Keep in mind, my understanding is that my loans qualified for PSLF per the rep by consolidating.
 XX/XX/XXXX  Received letter from Fedloan Servicing verifying that my employment qualifies me for participation in the PSLF Program for the certified periods  XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX .
 XX/XX/XXXX Received letter from Fedloan Servicing that my consolidation is complete.
 XX/XX/XXXX Submitted Employment Certification Form for XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX Submitted Employment Certification Form for  XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX  For the past 2 years, my loans were split between   XXXX    ( 80 % of loans ) and Fedloan Servicing ( 20 % of loans ). Today, I logged into   XXXX   to find that the loans have " Transferred '' so I called Fedloan to see if they are receiving them now and confirmed they should have by  XX/XX/XXXX . I spoke to the rep,  XXXX , who indicated only a few of my payments in  XXXX  qualified for PSLF for the loans at Fedloan and will need to wait until  XXXX  loans transferred to know how many payments from them qualified for PSLF. I asked if my payment amounts will change once they receive them and she said no. I asked if all my loans qualified for PSLF, she said yes. She instructed me to setup ACH and withdraw on the due date of the  XXXX  once they receive the  XXXX  loans. She also said my loans were consolidated as of  XX/XX/XXXX  and I qualified for PSLF as of  XX/XX/XXXX . She said it was " strange '' that my loans did not transfer to Fedloan after 6 months since it was done over 2 years ago.
 XX/XX/XXXX  Called Fedloan and spoke to  XXXX  ID #  XXXX  and he said loans should be transferred from   XXXX   today. Also verified Employment Certification Form was submitted and when will it be reviewed? He said 7-10 business days but they are behind.
 XX/XX/XXXX  Called Fedloan to setup ACH and spoke to ( Name? ) ID #   XXXX   who indicated the loans received from  XXXX  do not qualify for PSLF and I need to apply for IBR. She said my repayment plan for   XXXX   is the Graduated repayment plan. I told her I have never received anything from  XXXX  or Fedloan regarding my   XXXX    loans did not qualify nor that I was on a graduated repayment plan.
 XX/XX/XXXX  Called Fedloan and spoke to  XXXX  ID #  XXXX  who reviewed my account and shared the same information as the previous call. I asked to speak to supervisor and spoke to   XXXX   ID #  XXXX  and I shared with her all the information above and she said " Normally, the loans are consolidated after 6 months so I have no idea why it was not done. It is generally done when we receive the first Employment Certification Form which was in XX/XX/XXXX , but I do not know why your  XXXX  loans were not consolidated with us. We pull all the loans together and review them to make sure you are on the right repayment plans and qualify for PSLF, which was not initiated until we received your second Employment Certification Form in   XXXX   XXXX   ''   XXXX   said she could not see the letter in my account that I am referencing. I shared my disbelief that none of my payments to   XXXX   qualify for over 2 years of payments and the letter I received clearly misleads you to believe your loans are being consolidated and you are on an income driven repayment plan which is required to be PSLF. I asked about how to dispute or escalate the issue and she said to contact Dept of Education. She said she deals with these calls all the time where students have paid for over 5 years to find out the payments did not qualify for PSLF.   XXXX   said I need to reapply for IBR and choose the option to lowest payment plan as determined by my servicer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation