Consumer complaint received 2019-09-16
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official

Complaint:
Some time around XXXX of 2018 I was sent a letter in the mail from a company called XXXX stating that I could qualify for student loan forgiveness. Being how paying off my loans has been a huge struggle for me ( as I do not make as much money in my career and have a lot of necessary bills ), I called the number on the letter just to get more information about it and see if it was something I should look into. I called and spoke to a man named XXXX XXXX. He stated that he would calculate all of my monthly payments and see if he can get my payments down to XXXX/month. I was told my loans would be consolidated and then transferred to a different company ( from XXXX XXXX to Fedloan ). I then gave him all of my monthly payments in which he calculated them. Afterward, he ensured several times repeatedly that my monthly payments would be XXXX and that I qualified based off of my monthly bill calculations. I was told I will have these XXXX dollar payments for 20 years but still have the loan debt on my record, then my loans would be forgiven and wiped away after the 20 years as long as I reapplied on time each year. I do recall him seeming pushy and wanting to sign me up right away. I told him this is something I needed to think about, do some research and discuss with my boyfriend. He then stated there was a deadline and I would need to sign up for it now/asap or I will not have that opportunity anymore. I did hang up without committing to anything just yet and over the next month I asked as many further questions as I could through e-mail, a few more phone calls to XXXX and through discussion with my boyfriend. I remember asking how this would affect my credit, and also asked if I had any other opportunities come my way if I would be able to make a change or if this was a definite commitment ( I remember him kind of laughing and then I was then told " I will never receive an opportunity as good as a XXXX dollar monthly payment '' ). Everything then looked and sounded legit so I decided to sign up for it. I made a " one-time '' payment via credit card of XXXX in which I have proof of on XX/XX/18. I also do have saved e-mails for documentation with him and a few other members of the party : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. When I went to reapply this year I put in all of my honest information regarding my family size, etc.. and thought it was odd when it said it did not match up with what I put in previously. I then received a XXXX/mo increase from XXXX for my payment with Fedloan and suspected there was a mistake. I then called Fedloan to look into it and fight the pay increase ( given what I was told previously ) just to find out that I was lied to from the beginning, had money stolen from me and that my information was falsely entered by the XXXX company against my knowledge just so that I can see the XXXX dollar payment. I was then given the FTC website to file complaint and receive refund.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation