Consumer complaint received 2017-09-24
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: TN
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:
I am eligible for an income-driven repayment plan and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program ( and was previously correctly enrolled in both of these things ). I completed my annual repayment plan recertification application in XX/XX/XXXX ( on time ) and requested the lowest possible monthly payment, which would be the Pay As You Earn plan ( instead of the Income-Based Repayment plan that I was previously on ). In order to make the switch from IBR to PAYE, I was placed on a temporary Standard Repayment plan inXX/XX/XXXX ( after a several-week long application " processing '' period ). Because my standard payment would be extremely expensive and unaffordable, I was placed on a temporary forbearance and told I would receive a bill for {$5.00}, the minimum amount possible, inXX/XX/XXXX. Instead, I received a bill for {$0.00} ( XXXX dollars ), which was due XX/XX/XXXX. On a call with my loan servicer on XX/XX/XXXX, I was told that this {$0.00} bill was a " processing error '' or a mistake made by my loan servicer. I was able to make a {$5.00} payment via phone that day ( XX/XX/XXXX), and was told that my original repayment plan application would then be able to be processed, and that I would be correctly placed into the correct PAYE plan. I called back onXX/XX/XXXX and was told that this process could take up to another month to " process '' so I was placed on an administrative forbearance period. When I called onXX/XX/XXXX, I was told " too much time lapsed '' from my last payment ( {$5.00} on XX/XX/XXXX ) and so my repayment application would need to go through " another review '' after I made an additional {$5.00} repayment ( which would be sent out in a bill in XX/XX/XXXX ). I had not received any information on my application, so I called again onXX/XX/XXXX. I was told again that my previous repayment plan application should have been processed months before, so I was told my information would be sent to a supervisor and rushed through the processing application by XX/XX/XXXX. Meanwhile, I received a letter from my loan servicer that my income-driven repayment plan was DENIED because my application version had expired. The application was expired because I completed it on time in XX/XX/XXXX, but my loan service failed to process it within their own 90-day window ( through no fault of my own ). I called my servicer again on XX/XX/XXXX and ( again! ) explained this entire story. I was told ( again! ) that my application would be put in for another " review '' and that the representative would ( again! ) note the extenuating circumstances ( and errors on the part of my loan servicer ) that had caused the delay. I was told this time my application would " definitely be approved '' within 7 to 10 business days. Now, more than this amount of time has passed and I have not yet received notification that my repayment plan request has been approved. Instead, my standard payment that was due XX/XX/XXXX is now past due, and my loan has been moved to " delinquent '' status. I was told onXX/XX/XXXX that I should disregard the standard payment due on XX/XX/XXXX because it would " go away '' when my income-driven repayment plan was finally appropriately processed.
In summary, I have made multiple ( 8+ ) calls to my loan servicer to try to resolve this issue. I have waited 6 months for my loan servicer to process my annual repayment plan application, and they have to this date failed to do so. During this 6 month period, I could have been making qualifying payments toward my Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but I have lost this time due to " processing errors '' and multiple failures on the part of my loan servicer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief