Consumer complaint received 2023-12-02
Company: MOHELA
State: NY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
Loan sequence XXXX / XXXX. 

Last scheduled payment was XX/XX/XXXX for {$220.00} taken from auto-debit ( XXXX : " Pending Payment ... '' ) A ) On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a payment that included all loans in the XXXX sequence for which I am liable ( XXXX : " Auto Debit Screen as of XXXX '' ). The total is {$220.00} and the payment was due XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX XXXX ' section confirms that all loans ( loan sequence XXXX - XXXX ) are billed to bank account ending XXXX. The payment was queued to process at the time of the screenshot. 

B ) On XX/XX/XXXX I received a message from MOHELA backdated to XX/XX/XXXX informing me that XXXX loans were now in LEVEL status. These loans ( generally listed as Loan Sequence XXXX and XXXX in MOHELA 's website documentation ) will hereafter be called the XXXX loans '. 
- See ( XXXX : " Confirming Backdated Messsage '' ) - See ( PDF : " Informing of Change to LEVEL '' ) - See ( XXXX : " Loan Overview Screen as of XXXX '' ) C ) As per this message, these XXXX loans placed in LEVEL are : - Owner : DEPT OF EDUCATION ; Loan Program : DLUNST ; Disbursement Date : XX/XX/XXXX ; Original Balance : {$9800.00} ; Current Balance : {$11000.00} - Owner : DEPT OF EDUCAITON ; Loan Program : DLUNST ; Disbursement Date : XX/XX/XXXX ; Original Balance : {$7.00} ; Current Balance : {$8900.00} D ) Significantly, in the change to LEVEL, the payment amount for these XXXX loans rises to {$410.00} + {$310.00} = or {$730.00}, which is more than the payment dated XX/XX/XXXX ( see A ). This further confirms an increase in amount due. 

XXXX ) I never asked for or authorized a change to LEVEL for XXXX -- and only XXXX -- of my loans. Over the course of XXXX, I was repeatedly informed via email and special bulletins on MOHELA 's front page that those fulfilling loan obligations through REPAYE would be automatically transferred to SAVE. 
- XXXX ( XXXX : " Save Confirmation '' ), taken XXXX. 

F ) My loans were all previously associated with REPAYE. 

XXXX ) On XX/XX/XXXX I received a message from MOHELA backdated to XX/XX/XXXX informing me that XXXX of my loans were previously repaying by XXXX, and had been transferred to SAVE. 
- See ( XXXX : " PDF Informing of Change to SAVE '' ) H ) It is clear that these XXXX loans were simply 'forgotten about " in the move from XXXX XXXX SAVE, and defaulted to LEVEL. I challenge MOHELA to provide evidence that I requested, or by policy was required, to revert to LEVEL on these XXXX loans. 

I ) MOHELA should properly place these XXXX loans into the XXXX plan as they had stated they would do in ( H ). 
J ) On XXXX  using self-certification of income, I applied through the Federal Student Aid website to be placed on an income driven plan for all of my loans. The FSA system did not recognize that XXXX of my loans were placed on LEVEL. Rather, after putting all of my information in, it indicated that I was on the XXXX plan. I was given the choice to keep the same plan or move to a new one. As I wanted the plan indicated that the FSA website associated with me ( XXXX ), I selected the option to keep the same plan. The request was listed as " In Progress '' and Request Type " Recalculating Plan '' - and then indicating " Servicer will choose plan ; user provided documentation of income. '' Of course, the FSA generated application does not seem to include the supplemental verification of income in its .PDF, or my wife 's signature, so who knows what delays might take place. 
- See ( XXXX : " FSA website XXXX '' ) - See ( PDF : " IncomeDrivenRepaymentApplication '' J ) I then recertified my income through MOHELA 's XXXX XXXX, which at that point linked to the fed XXXX website. The recertification was rejected because I allegedly did not include the necessary self certification. I did so. I received the rejection after weeks of processing and almost immediately prior to my payment due date under the LEVEL plan for these loans on XXXX. At that point I opted to file a comlplaint and seek external resolution.. 

XXXX ) Now, I attempted to re-apply for XXXX for all loans through MOHELA.com. MOHELA 's system took my information but would not accept my spouse 's information. I was unable to see this until the item was submitted. I put the information in correctly, but the website could not generate the form without creating a dead link and disconnecting me. So

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