Consumer complaint received 2019-10-02
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: NY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
Issue 1 Response : We agree that you made a payment of {$260.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and that your due date was XX/XX/XXXX. However, no payment had been received in XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, the payment received on XX/XX/XXXX needed to be credited toward satisfying the delinquent bill from XX/XX/XXXX. Because the XX/XX/XXXX payment was received more than 15 days after the XX/XX/XXXX due date, it did not count as a PSLF-qualifying payment. Therefore, no qualifying payments were counted for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 
Response to Issue 1 : My previous loan servicer ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) is no longer in existence. When I try to login to prove my XX/XX/XXXX payment, the website is defunct. My bank also does not keep payment records from this far back. Its egregious that they wouldnt count the XX/XX/XXXX payment because they say I didnt pay my XXXX. Paying a XX/XX/XXXX bill on time, but saying its late because its the XXXX payment, is unacceptable. If I needed to pay both XXXX and XXXX to qualify for XXXX, they should have billed me that amount. I actually did this on XX/XX/XXXX, at the advice of XXXX XXXX XXXX, and paid {$520.00} ( 2 months worth ). 
Therefore, I request that XX/XX/XXXX be counted and the months worth of EXTRA payment I made on XX/XX/XXXX, at the advice of the loan servicer, be counted for XX/XX/XXXX as I was told. 

Issue 2 Response : Your Direct Consolidation Loan transferred to FedLoan Servicing on XX/XX/XXXX ( with an effective date of XX/XX/XXXX ). The financial history confirms that no payments were received from you in either XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, a delinquency existed on the account. To resolve the delinquency after the loan transfer period, FedLoan Servicing applied an Administrative Forbearance to the loan on XX/XX/XXXX. This forbearance status was approved retroactively from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX to cover the past-due bills. As a result, no qualifying payments were counted for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. FedLoan Servicing is unable to address any processing delays that may have occurred prior to its servicing period. 
Response to Issues 2 : XXXX XXXX XXXX transferred to FedLoan Servicing, which was completely outside of my control. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me a notice saying my loans would be transferred and my bill would be XXXX until the loan transfer process was complete. FedLoan themselves say that the loans were officially transferred finally on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX placed me in administrative forbearance without any choice on my part, and I had no way of even making XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX payments. Saying that they are unable to address any processing delays in unacceptable for people who are attempting to count every payment possible towards loan forgiveness. This was completely outside my control. 
Therefore, I request to have the ability to make retroactive payments for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

( Issue 3 Resolved ) Issue 4 Response : On XX/XX/XXXX, you made an online payment of {$390.00}. However, for that month, the monthly installment was only {$350.00}. The payment entirely satisfied the XX/XX/XXXX bill and partially satisfied the XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, only a portion of the monthly installment ( {$320.00} ) remained due to satisfy the XX/XX/XXXX bill. You were notified of this amount, which you paid on XX/XX/XXXX. However, the full monthly installment amount ( {$350.00} ) still needed to be paid in order for the payment to count toward the PSLF program. Therefore, no qualifying payment was counted for XX/XX/XXXX. Regardless of the amount due on the monthly billing statement, please continue to remit the full monthly installment if you wish for it to be counted toward the PSLF program. 
Response to Issues 4 : My bank, XXXX XXXX, made automatic withdrawals ( which I signed up through my fed loan servicing ). FedLoan made a mistake when I called and said that my loan recalculation was off, which was why my payment was actually lower than my previous {$390.00}. Its unbelievable that I would pay exactly what my bill says ( and actually pay MORE the previous month due to the fault of Fedloan ) and get penalized for it. Fedloan should have billed me the correct amount, ESPECIALLY when I had automatic withdrawals FROM Fedloan. 
Therefore, I request that XX/XX/XXXX be overridden, and that I have the ability to pay the small difference it what they say I still owed for XX/XX/XXXX. 

Issue 5 Response : On XX/XX/XXXX, an electronic application was received. You requested the repayment schedule to be changed from the IBR plan to the Revised Pay As You Earn ( REPAYE ) plan. Within eight ( 8 ) business days, on XX/XX/XXXX, the process to remove the account from the IBR plan ( opt-out process ) was initiated. The IBR opt-out process, which was completed in accordance with federal regulations, requires the remittance of a payment under a Standard Repayment plan. If a borrower can not afford the installment under the Standard Repayment plan, then a Reduced Payment Forbearance may be selected. This forbearance option allows a borrower to make a lower payment in order to exit the IBR plan and to change to a different repayment schedule. 
Response to Issue 5 : Taking three months to review someones loan information, especially when they are applying for loan forgiveness, is unacceptable and denies me due process. They even said I made the required {$280.00} reduced payment ) on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Therefore, I request that XX/XX/XXXX be overridden and be counted towards my qualifying loan payments, and that I have the ability to override and pay for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief