Consumer complaint received 2019-05-13
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: VA
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:
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, XXXX provided limited, additional conditions under which you may become eligible for loan forgiveness if some or all of the payments you made on your XXXX XXXX XXXX Federal Direct Loan ( Direct Loan ) Program loans were under a nonqualifying repayment plan for Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ). The U.S. Department of Education ( ED ) is referring to this reconsideration as the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( TEPSLF )  opportunity. 

I am appealing my denial. I have several outstanding loans and the data I received from the Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education, has me in repayment for most of them  starting XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. ( see attached ) I have applied to change my repayment plan and was told that my loans are not eligible. ( see attached ) I have applied for the TEPSLF under the following guidelines : To qualify for loan forgiveness under the TEPSLF opportunity, you must have submitted the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) : Application for Forgiveness ( PSLF application ) and had that application denied only because some or all of your payments were not made under a qualifying repayment plan for PSLF ; had at least 10 years of full-time employment certified by a qualifying employer and approved by FedLoan Servicing, XXXX federal loan servicer for the PSLF Program ; met the TEPSLF requirement for the amount you paid 12 months prior to applying for TEPSLF and the last payment you made before applying for TEPSLF to be at least as much as you would have paid under an income-driven repayment plan ; and made 120 qualifying payments under the new requirements for TEPSLF while working full-time for your qualifying employer or employers. 

Note : At a minimum, a qualifying monthly payment is a payment that you made after XXXX XXXX, XXXX ; for the full amount due as shown on your bill ; no later than 15 days after your due date ; and while employed full-time by a qualifying employer. 

I have met those guidelines, along with being asked to submit income and family size information to be considered for the TEPSLF opportunity. We need this information to determine what your monthly payment amount would be under an income-driven repayment plan. Once we determine that monthly income-driven payment amount, well review your most recent payment made and the payment made 12 months prior to applying for TEPSLF. To quality for TEPSLF, each of those amounts must be at least as much as the monthly income-driven repayment amount we  calculate for you, among other requirements. This is a plan that my application has been denied several times. Why does my income and family size matter for this program? It is not included in the guidelines for the opportunity, but I provided the information anyway. 

I am asking that my payments be recalculated and an advocate be assigned to my case. I am seeing that the goal post is constantly moving when it comes to applicants seeking relief/satisfaction. I am a United States XXXX Veteran and have been a XXXX XXXX for 23 years. I pay my taxes and my student loan payments on time, in full. The system is broken and Congress is working on a fix ( see attached articles ). How long do I and other applicants have to wait until our pleas are answered let alone considered for a process that is broken and in no rush to be fixed by the Dept. of Education that continues to put up roadblocks?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation