Consumer complaint received 2017-07-12
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: KY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, KY XXXX Legal Department American Education Services XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX AES, While I admire your effort in trying to prove your stance by providing questionable evidence, there are multiple discrepancies which raise even more questions. And as previously stated, my position remains the same in that I am not responsible for this debt and will not agree to pay any portion. If payment is what you request, please take the appropriate legal action and file the necessary paperwork with the appropriate court system for further consideration. Otherwise your wasting your time. Also, you addressed only one of my requests. Please refer to the complaint I filed onXX/XX/XXXX with the CFPB and fulfil each of the listed requests. You are obligated by federal law to provide truthful, accurate, and pertinent information regarding any debt that you service. In rebuttal to your formal response dated XX/XX/XXXX : Number 1 : Unfortunately for you, I have to deny and challenge the authenticity of this forbearance I allegedly signed for a few reasons. One : I did not sign or submit a request for forbearance at any time. The production of such document further proves that AES engages in forgery and falsifying documents. It is all too easy for anyone to replicate or reproduce a digital copy of a signature ; any document editing program can accomplish this with little effort or knowledge. See Attachment 1 for an example of a forged document that was effortlessly created in an ordinary word processing program by simply copying and pasting. Two : Is it common for a borrower to request a forbearance for less than 2 months, or for only 2 days as indicated on these charts? Why would I, knowing that I would never be able to nor agree to pay any portion of this debt sign a document asking for a couple days to a couple months of a grace period? It is illogical to think I or anyone would do this. If I had requested the max amount of time allowed for a forbearance, that would make more sense. Three : The Deferment/Forbearance charts show the dates of when these forbearances/deferments were applied. Yet, the dates do not correspond with the fake document you provided. On the forbearance document the dates are XX/XX/XXXXto XX/XX/XXXX. The chart shows dates of XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. And within your letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, you state that I requested the forbearance fromXX/XX/XXXXto XX/XX/XXXX. So obviously there are too many discrepancies, lies, and illicit activities for you to keep track of. Four : You provided only one document, though extremely sketchy, indicating that I requested one ( 1 ) forbearance. Are there any other documents your willing to produce that indicate I requested the other eight ( 8 ) deferments/forbearances? I encourage you to send more documents like this to add as evidence that will aid in convicting you of fraud.
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I will for one moment, just for the XXXX of it, entertain the idea that I requested a forbearance for an unusual short period of time. Lets keep in mind the dates in this scenario and realize that it was only 3 months after I was forced to withdraw from school that the forbearance was supposedly processed. And this request is only effective for a couple of days to a couple of months, depending on which piece of alleged evidence you base it on. Lets also keep in mind that I was still the same young and nave boy that was duped into signing a ridiculous predatory contract, maybe about 1.5 years older than at the time of signing. It wasnt until years later that I discovered how much full of XXXX this contract and AES are, which was around the same time I began seriously disputing the debt. Now, ignorance isnt normally a worthy defense. But if its a situation where a loan shark is targeting and taking advantage of a certain demographic that has zero understanding of debt or has no suspicion that theyre about to be attacked ; then yes, ignorance is their only defense, or more simply the victim ( me ) was defenseless. And the shark knows full well their own intentions. We can see proof in Attachment 2 that at the time of the signing, I lacked the capacity to engage in such a contract. I was uninformed of how student loans worked and had no understanding of the contents of the MPN. Not to place blame on anyone for my lack of capacity, but blame is placed on you for taking advantage. Also, in Section L, item 3 of the MPN reads, I understand that I must repay this Note though I may be less than 18 years of age when the application is signed.
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So, had I been 13 years old when I signed this contract, would I still be obligated to pay? Would you attempt to permanently ruin a 13 year olds life and rid their chances for success, all for money? I think this brings about a serious legal, moral, and ethical problem which sheds light on the true predatory intentions of AES, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX.
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Number 2 : Referencing Section C item 6 of the MPN- Interim Period states, If I have chosen to defer repayment while in school Take notice to how the statement clearly identifies who initiates a deferment. Nowhere in MPN does is give any right to the servicer or holder of the loan to initiate such changes. I never chose to defer, I simply chose to refuse repayment.
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Im also confused on what my enrollment status has to do with me not agreeing to pay you. It seems like a nice gesture to apply these changes- in school deferments, military deferments, etc. It gives the false impression that you care about my financial wellbeing. But, I did not request these changes nor do I care if you know what my enrollment status is. You capitalized on this information after I began seriously disputing the debt. At which time you applied these alterations without my consent. From the time I left XXXX College in XXXX XXXX until XXXX XXXX, the loan was delinquent/in default. The only changes I authorized or requested was the removal of negative credit reporting, loan forgiveness/discharge, and complete removal of all tradelines from my credit report.
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Number 3 -5 : Im going to ignore these, they are irrelevant to the issue at hand. Except for the fact that you have yet to provide basic information on what an Administrative Forbearance is and how its applied. Something I requested in my previous letter.
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Number 6 : This is just blatantly false in every way. Im not even sure what you mean that you received notification that I withdrew from XXXX XXXX College on XX/XX/XXXX. Id like to see that notification, because I know what my dates of attendance were. I have transcripts to prove it.
Finally, AES speaks some truth. I agree that you transferred the account to XXXX XXXX XXXX on or aroundXX/XX/XXXX.
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However, as far as this email is concerned that you claim I sent you, though it seems to be similar to the hundreds of emails that Ive sent, Im having a hard time confirming its authenticity. I have records of all email traffic and this specific email is not registering. Please provide verification that this email exists. As it stands now, it looks as though you simply typed it out is your response letter. I can easily say that I received an email from XXXX XXXX that says, XXXX XXXX XXXX, I am truly sorry for the hardship that AES and I have caused you. We all agree that you are no longer responsible for this debt and we will immediately remove this from your credit history. Again, reference Attachment 1 as an example of how false evidence can easily be created. I also have evidence that shows you have purposely omitted and altered certain parts of email conversations in order to misrepresent the truth. See Attachment 3. Provide a copy of the email which must include all email addresses involved, dates, times, contents, replies, and a confirmation email addressed to me indicating the email was received-AES regularly sends automatic reply emails confirming receipt of any email sent to their addresses.
Additionally, if this email exists, it still does not represent a formal request for a deferment/forbearance. There are multiple deferment/forbearance forms on your website, similar to the one you claim that I signed and submitted. Even if it did represent a formal request, it was made after the fact that you charged off the debt and closed the account in XXXX XXXX, as indicated in one of your previous responses. See Attachment 5. Unless this email was a fabrication as well.
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Number 7 & 8 : Again, enlighten me how and why XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was authorized to reverse the default status. Is this right stated in the MPN? After explicitly stating that I refuse to pay, why would FCDB authorize such changes? And please explain why every AES customer service representative and PHEAA consumer advocate I spoke to stated there is no record of any default or delinquency. Are you concealing or erasing critical information pertinent to this issue? Or are they all instructed to lie to me?
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Number 9 : Another piece of evidence I can agree with, the fact that I disputed the default status yet again on or around XX/XX/XXXX. This is a very import time frame as it was the time in which you authorized my request of tradeline removal from my credit report due to fraudulent activity. You have repeatedly lied and placed blame on the credit bureaus for this removal. This caused a deliberate delay and misdirection from seeking the truth- an unfair and deceptive business practice which is punishable by Pennsylvania state law.
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Though I do not recall requesting that ALL SCRA benefits be applied, I do have verification of me requesting that the insanely high interest rate of over 15 % be reduced to the SCRA maximum of 6.0 % as well as noting that you refused to acknowledge an in-school deferment for the years of XXXX. See Attachment 4. However, even if this in school deferment that I inquired about, not formally requested, was applied, and according to your deferment chart, would actually be meaningless since the debt was charged off and closed in XXXX XXXX as you previously stated.
Regarding Section H of the MPN, it reads, If I am unable to repay my loan in accordance with the terms established under this Note, I may request that you modify these terms. I understand that such modification would be at your option This section clearly states once again that the borrower ( me ) initiates the request for term modification. Nowhere does the MPN give exclusive rights to the owner, servicer, lender, etc. of modifying the terms of the agreement without the consent of the borrower, much less without written confirmation that the terms were in fact modified and the details of the modification.
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It is a misinterpretation and very misleading to say that a forbearance period, may be granted at the holders discretion based on your inability to repay the loans You are misconstruing, manipulating, and omitting details of the actual meaning and wording of the agreement to justify your argument. No competent judge or investigator would agree to your interpretation and they would immediately dismiss your argument. Much like your interpretation of federal regulations not applying to this issue. See Attachment 5.
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Other Considerations : Regardless of all of this, the fact is these changes were made without my consent well after you charged off and closed the account in XXXX XXXX. See Attachment 6. Your response holds no significance other than the fact that you were attempting to clean up your mess and conceal your mistakes after I identified your illicit activities. It also shows how evasive you are in answering my questions, which is typical of a deceptive person. How did AES restore this debt after it was charged off and closed? What are the actual dates in which you applied any changes to the account? Careful in answering these questions so as not to dig even a deeper hole. It is illegal to alter accounting records, conceal information, and intentionally misrepresent account statuses, all of which are punishable under federal and state laws. You explicitly told me over the phone and in several letters that you reversed the default status in order to prevent a charge off, even though it was already charged off and closed. What was your intention in doing that? Also, Im curious, is this MPN subject to state usury laws? If so, which state ( s ) apply? If were basing it on California usury laws, which is where the contract was signed, the original interest rates of 15.357 % and 15.742 % as indicated in the disclosure statements, is well above the cap of 10 %, which voids the contract. See Attachment 7.
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Below youll find my previous requests, the ones that you continue to avoid answering, along with new questions that need answering. Answer all in full detail and DO NOT evade in responding to any of the questions/requests. Respond directly, accurately, and truthfully. Failure to accurately and truthfully respond to my requests/questions is a violation of federal law and the appropriate authorities will be notified. You are obligated to deliver truthful information and a full disclosure regarding any debt you claim I owe.
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DISCLAIMER : I WILL NEVER AGREE TO PAY ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT YOU CLAIM I OWE DUE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OUTLINED IN MY PREVIOUS DISPUTE LETTERS. ANY ATTMEPT TO COLLECT THIS DEBT WILL BE A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE FCRA AND FDCPA. THIS DEBT WILL BE FOREVER IN DISPUTE UNTIL ALL TRADELINES ARE COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM MY CREDIT HISTORY SO AS NOT TO IMPACT MY CREDIT REPORT OR SCORE IN ANY WAY. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO TRANSFER THIS ALLEGED DEBT TO COLLECTIONS, THEY WILL BE NOTIFIED IMMEDIATELY THAT THIS DEBT IS IN DISPUTE AND PURSUANCE IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation