Consumer complaint received 2019-12-18
Company: HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS INC
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
XX/XX/19 - After initiating contact with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX student loan department, I was informed that my Federal Perkins loan in default status, which " accelerates the loan, which requires for the borrower to pay the loan in full ''. The XXXX loan representative directed me to the servicer, Heartland ECSI, so that I could inquire about the loan balance & reverse loan acceleration. 

XX/XX/19 - Heartland ECSI informed me that because the account was past due, it would not be able to reverse acceleration. XXXX XXXX representative confirmed the same and then directed me to set up payments with a separate collection agency, XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/19 - I received a 'Federal Perkins Loan Rehabilitation Agreement ' letter from XXXX XXXX which outlined the loan rehabilitation process & indicated a total due amount of {$3100.00}, with {$2400.00} in principal. This agreement also had several errors, including invalid payment due dates ( due dates were set on the XXXX of each month ) and the incorrect number of total payments ( 8, as opposed to 9 ). 

XX/XX/19 - I sent an email asking for clarification on the invalid figures above. 

XX/XX/19 - XXXX loan representative confirmed that the XXXX XXXX entered the invalid information and would send me a revised agreement. The XXXX representative also directed me to inquire about postponing the start of the rehabilitation process, since the XX/XX/19 rehabilitation agreement indicated the first payment was due on XX/XX/19. 

XX/XX/19 - I received a second letter itemizing this account. This letter showed a total due amount of {$2400.00}, with {$1900.00} in principal, which conflicted with the itemization I received on XX/XX/19. XXXX sent me a revised Loan Rehabilitation Agreement, but the first payment due date was still set to XX/XX/19. Due to the 20-day grace period for payments, I signed the revised Loan Rehabilitation Agreement and emailed it to XXXX. 

XX/XX/19 - I sent emails to both XXXX & XXXX XXXX regarding the discrepancies for the loan 's balance, which went unanswered. 

XX/XX/19 - I made my first payment and emailed both XXXX and XXXX requesting a signed copy of the Loan Rehabilitation Agreement, but both entities declined my request for a signed Loan Rehabilitation Agreement. 

XX/XX/19 - By this date, 7 of 9 rehabilitation payments were made. I requested a payment history from XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/19 - XXXX XXXX sent me two payment history reports. Both reports seemed to pertain to this account, but there were major discrepancies between the two reports. For example, the dates of all payments differed between the two. Additionally, the amount of each payment allocated towards accumulated interest differed as well. 

XX/XX/19 - I received a letter from Heartland ECSI, RE : Tax Offset for Student Loan Debts Owed to the University of XXXX. This mail informed me to make a payment online at Heartland ECSI 's website, which I was previously informed was not an option. 

Until I received this letter, my understanding was that I had been making regular payments on the account - I had already made 7 on-time monthly payments to XXXX XXXX. I realized I had no real grasp on the state of this loan. 

This Heartland ECSI letter reports a Payoff amount of {$2100.00}. The original loan principal was {$2400.00}, and I have made {$1100.00} in payments to date. I am devastated that this payment amount only reduced the remaining payoff amount by less than {$300.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation