Consumer complaint received 2019-11-15
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
Fed Loan servicing assumed my student loan. In XXXX they contacted me stating that my loan was in default and no longer on deferment and I had a balance of {$10000.00}. They stated I could not make payment arrangements and had to pay it in full because it was in default. They suggested that I take out a personal loan or borrow from a family member to pay it. I couldnt do anything like that so I was at a loss. They submitted a garnishment order to my employer that I had just started working for and never provided a 30 day notice on XX/XX/XXXX. I got the notice from my employer a week before garnishments were to start. The order stated that I owed {$10000.00} and I was going to be garnished for {$16000.00} ( added fees ) until it was paid. I was then contacted in XXXX by fed loans stating that I could reduce my debt if I made additional monthly payments of {$5.00}. If I made these payments for 12 months then they would remove the collection fees and consolidate the 3 loans I had so that the debt would pay down faster. Additional payments started XX/XX/XXXX. I was not aware how much had been paid out in garnishments yet. XX/XX/XXXX my employer was sent a garnishment cancellation notice. I was contacted shortly after stating that my has been paid and that my employer was notified to discontinue garnishments.They stated they would forward the information to the department of education and they will contact and provide me with my release. The last payment was XX/XX/XXXX. They continued to automatically deduct the {$5.00} additional payments though until XX/XX/XXXX. I was contacted 2 months later stating they were calling in regard to my student to set up payment arrangement for the remaining {$3000.00} balance. I stated my loan was paid, they said this is what they got from the servicer, after a back and forth they told me to make {$50.00} payments to keep it out of default while they figured out what was going on. called every month to check the status and they said that I did a loan recovery agreement to get out of default. I told them no I didnt sign anything for that it was out default because it was paid off. The recovery agreement is where you pay 9 additional payments during the garnishment for 10 consecutive months. If that is successful your garnishments will stop and they will take your loan out of default and set up a payment plan. I made additional payments from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. Thats 16 months not 10. Also I payed through garnishment and additional payments a total of {$17000.00}. Thats {$1000.00} more than the garnishment order. They also never consolidated the 3 loans. I refused to keep paying and now the {$3000.00} is in default.  XXXX XXXX XXXX has now submitted garnishment. I just found out. I never got a 30 day notice. When I called to tell them I dont owe this they stated that I submitted a no contact order so they couldnt send me notice and cant talk to me about it. I never contacted them and thats not even legal for them to do. Im entitled to a hearing to stop the garnishment from happening thats why Im suppose to be given notice. Ive been trying to clear this up for years and they finally in XXXX fed loan servicing sent me my payment history after stating they didnt have that information.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation