Consumer complaint received 2018-11-10
Company: GREAT LAKES
State: AL
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:
In XX/XX/XXXX, my loan was transferred to XXXX XXXX as part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.  When my loan was transferred, I was sent a letter indicating that qualifying payments from XX/XX/XXXX to the present would be applied to my account. Between XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I made numerous calls asking when this would be updated. Each time I contacted the servicer, I was informed that my account was still under review. A few weeks ago, I sent an email to the vendor showing them the exact dates that my consolidation loan was paid and asked that they apply these payments as agreed to my account. 

Recently I was informed by the vendor that the payments could not be applied because my account was allegedly in forbearance from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately disagreed with this information and asked XXXX to contact the servicer on three way so that we can discuss this together and possibly provide a resolution. The vendor refused to do this and told me that it was my responsibility to have Great Lakes to update the information and provide updated status. 

I then called Great Lakes and thought I had this information resolved as agreed. The representative I spoke with told me that she would send me an updated status history that reflected that my consolidation loan was not in forbearance during this time. However, when I received the document, it read the contrary. I called Great Lakes again, spending hours on the phone and a representative asked me to send an email to the company and request a review. Instead of comparing my payment history and billing invoicing, the company sent me a messaging indicating that the information was accurate and no change would be made. 

I then called back and spoke with another representative who then explained that since I waited for a year to contact the servicer, that they would not make any corrections to my account. I made numerous attempts to explain to the vendor that I had no knowledge that the error was made until XX/XX/XXXX. I also explained to the vendor that they if my account was indeed in forbearance, than I should not have received invoices stating that I had payments due. My payment history reflects that I made regular payments as agreed. 

After making three years of qualifying payments, to find out that my consolidation loan was placed in forbearance without my knowledge or permission is very disheartening. I encourage all student loan holder to review your account yearly to ensure information is accurate. I asked Great Lakes to provide the recorded conversation or evidence that I made the request and nothing has been provided. 

For clarity, I have two loans that were serviced by Great Lakes. I placed my Stafford loan into forbearance, but I was very clear that I did NOT want my consolidation loan placed in forbearance and I continued making payments as agreed. I believe the vendor placed both loans in forbearance without telling me. The vendor indicated they mailed me a letter, but I explained to them that I was in the process of moving so I may have missed the correspondence. I further explained to them that they emailed me everything else, but I had no record in my email where such a correspondence was sent to me. 

I am asking that this information is researched thoroughly and either an update to my account is made or written proof is provided indicating the date and time that I called to request the forbearance on my consolidation loan, including the telephone number called from. I will be able to pull my telephone records with my cellphone provider to match this information.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation