Consumer complaint received 2018-10-10
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: NH
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:
Hello, I hope this email finds you all well. 

I have been attempting to get some help since XXXX of XXXX after doing some research online to see if anyone else has been experiencing unfair practices via XXXX. 

My experience is with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( PHEAA ) directly. 

As you can see from the following class action lawsuit filed in XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which does business as XXXX XXXX and American Education Services ( AES ), attempted to delay debtors ' loan forgiveness in order to continue collecting interest and fees. I have had my loans serviced by both AES and now XXXX in the last decade ( since completing XXXX XXXX in XXXX ). 

The suit poses that helping these borrowers get out of debt sooner directly conflicts with PHEAAs financial interest in collecting interest and servicing fees on active loans. The lawsuit argues ( and what my exact experience has been ) is that PHEAA has orchestrated a scheme to extend the length of debtors loans, and therefore earn more revenue, by improperly delaying or failing to process  their applications to forgiveness programs and incorrectly placing their loans into forbearance or deferment status. 

Debtors are told NOT TO PAY while their account is being processed ( which happens annually as XXXX mandates that borrowers complete annual recertification for their Income Driven Repayment plans ). This includes lengthy processing times and insufficient information from their servicers to meet recertification deadlines ; overpayments being misapplied such that, instead of reducing the principal balance of the loan, the payment was applied to future balances and placed the loan in paid ahead status. 

Why does my current statement need to say : Your account is current {$0.00} due You will be alerted when your next payment is ready? This is sooo tricky! They hope I wont pay so that I NEVER GET TO 120 QUALIFIED PAYMENTS. 

My current balance and outstanding interest continues to grow, they arent telling me what my minimum payment should be, and all I can do is pay what my last amount was. 

A note on paying ahead from their website : Paying on an Income-Driven Repayment ( IDR ) Plan You can not pay ahead past your IDR anniversary or recertification date. Any extra funds remaining at the time of your IDR anniversary or recertification deadline will be immediately applied to your loans ( not to a future bill ), and your paid ahead status will end. However, you still have the option of paying extra, and you can enter paid ahead status again, through your next IDR anniversary or recertification. 

So, basically I have to just wait for them to process my recertification before I can make payments that count towards my 120 qualified payments. And ofcourse I just noticed this webpage about paying ahead when writing this email to you ( it must be a new one they recently added ), and it says : Considering Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) Paying ahead while seeking PSLF can adversely affect your qualifying payment count. If you pay extra and enter a paid ahead status while seeking PSLF, any future bills that you satisfy may not  immediately count as qualifying payments. If you want to pay more than your required monthly payment, please contact us and request to have paid ahead status permanently removed. 

Ive had a terrible ordeal with AES and then XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX, have sent them emails and called them to try to get my miscalculated payments resolved since XX/XX/XXXX, and have still not heard back. 

I finally got someone on the phone to tell me in a whisper, just keep making the same payment amount every month, even if it says you are all paid up and it doesnt tell you what your payment is, that way you stay on track towards your 120 payments. ( Now I see that I have to request to have the paid ahead status permanently removed. ) I had no idea if he was even being honest or correct, but it seemed like the better alternative to not paying, and being put on automatic Forbearance while I took additional XXXX classes for professional development, or while my account was being recertified. It seems like for the last 10 years, every time Ive called, I would get a different answer from whoever I talked to and whenever anything has changed, they have not notified their debtors. 

Below are the emails I sent to XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. I think what is most important to note and what seems the craziest to me is that from what I could see every few years, my account was put in forebarence and my loan increased by thousands of dollars. In XX/XX/XXXX interest capitalized by {$3800.00}. In XX/XX/XXXX interest again capitalized by {$8000.00} because I was under the impression that I was on Auto Payment., but was actually just removed from it by XXXX ( unknowingly ) and when they werent receiving payments from me, they capitalized my interest. 

XX/XX/XXXX Hello, I have been having lots of issues with my student loans and was hoping to speak with a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Specialist as soon as possible to help clarify these issues. My number is XXXX. The issues that I would like to talk about are below : In general my employment certification says that Ive made 81 qualifying payments since my Loan Disbursement Date of XX/XX/XXXX ( calculated until XX/XX/XXXX ), though I am calculating a total of 88 qualifying payments. That is a miscalculation of 7 qualifying payments. 
During my first employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) there is a total of 1 issue that needs to be remedied. 
( 1 ) 39 payments were calculated. I payed a total of 40 payments during that time. Therefore, there is a discrepancy of 1 total payment. I paid every month from XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and also paid on XX/XX/XXXX, for a total of 40 payments. The only payment I did not make was XX/XX/XXXX payment because I was told not to pay anything while my IBR was being recalculated ( no bill was due ). I have no record of whether or not my interest itemized at this time as my loan was transferred after this time and I have no access to the records from the former financial institution. 
Date Payment Made Amount of Payment Made XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX was told no payment due during IBR recertification XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$16.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$16.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$16.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$16.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$17.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$330.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$250.00} During my second employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) there is a total of 1 issue that needs to be clarified for me.

( 1 ) 23 payments were calculated and this is correct, as I paid a total of 23 payments during that time. Though I just noticed when looking back at all of it after asking for all the paperwork, that when I was put on forbearance, while my IBR was being recalculated ( for instance in XX/XX/XXXX while I was told to not pay anything toward my loan, and my was not sent a bill ) my interest capitalized by {$3800.00}!!! Why would this have happened, and why would no one have told me that this would happen? Had I known that this would happen, I would have continued to pay Ive always been incredibly responsible and loyal to my payments, and totally feel like Ive been completely sideswiped. 
Date Payment Made Amount of Payment Made XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CAPITALIZED {$3800.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$63.00} During my third employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) there were no issues. 
14 payments were calculated and this is correct, as I paid a total of 14 payments during that time. 
During my fourth employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) there were 4 total issue that need to be remedied and/or clarified.

( 1 ) 5 payments were calculated by XXXX  XXXX and this is incorrect, as I paid a total of 11 payments during that time. Therefore, there is a discrepancy of 6 total payments.

( 2 ) I was on Auto Payment from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX, and while I was on Auto Pay, there was an extra payment taken out in XX/XX/XXXX. That payment should have also counted toward my qualifying payments ( and should be part of the total 11 payments ).

( 3 ) This is just a note about how unfair I think this whole thing is : The ONLY reason I was not paying my loans from XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX was because I was under the impression that I was on Auto Payment. I had just recently had twins ( in XXXX ) and was under lots of stress and was concerned that I would miss my payments, so I did the RESPONSIBLE thing and put myself on Auto Pay. After a few months, I realized that payments were not coming out of my bank account ( Auto Pay just STOPPED ), because I needed to complete paperwork to calculate my IBR. I wasnt paying attention to the XXXX XXXX emails because I was so overloaded that I couldnt get through everything in my inbox ( and when I saw emails from XXXX XXXX  I assumed they were emails confirming Auto Pay as before, so I didnt pay much attention ). Again, this hit me like a TON OF BRICKS. As soon as I realized what was happening, I rectified the situation, but it was too late again I was hit with over {$8000.00} in interest capitalization! 
( 4 ) How is anyone supposed to get out of student debt in this process? Ive been paying for a decade and my loan amount has INCREASED by {$12000.00} and thats only in the last 5 years! As I mentioned before, I cant get records from the former institution that held my loans right now, so I have no idea what happened before they got moved to XXXX XXXX. 
( 5 ) Date Payment Made Amount of Payment Made XX/XX/XXXX {$290.00} XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CAPITALIZED {$8000.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$120.00} I would really appreciate speaking with someone who could ( 1 ) help me get my qualified payments up to 88 ( 7 additional ) ( 2 ) help me lower my monthly payments as part of the reason the payments are so high is because I keep getting hit with the interest capitalization because I keep being told not to pay. This past time when I called XXXX XXXX ( yesterday ), after being put on forbearance because I am taking classes again, and I asked to be taken off forbearance, I asked if I could keep paying even though my bill said {$0.00} was due, and this was the FIRST time someone told me that I could do that and have my payments qualify. In the past, when Ive asked, no one seemed sure, so I didnt make payments, because I wasnt sure they would qualify, and I didnt know how much to make. 

On XX/XX/XXXX resent email Hello. I sent the following email on XX/XX/XXXX and then followed up by phone asking for a listing of all of my payments to date. I've received nothing. Can someone please help me? 
XX/XX/XXXX Hello, I have been having lots of issues with my student loans and was hoping to speak with a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Specialist as soon as possible to help clarify these issues. The issues that I would like to talk about are below : My last employment certification says that Ive made 81 qualifying payments since my Loan Disbursement Date of XX/XX/XXXX ( calculated until XX/XX/XXXX ), though I am calculating a total of 88 qualifying payments. That is a total miscalculation of 7 qualifying payments. 
During my first employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) 39 payments were calculated. I payed a total of 40 payments during that time. During my fourth employment certification ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) 5 payments were calculated by XXXX   XXXX and this is incorrect, as I paid a total of 11 payments during that time. Also, I was on Auto Payment from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX, and while I was on Auto Pay, there was an extra payment taken out in XX/XX/XXXX. That payment should have also counted toward my qualifying payments ( and should be part of the total 11 payments ). 
I would really appreciate speaking with as soon as possible.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation