Consumer complaint received 2017-04-20
Company: MOHELA
State: MI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are handled

Complaint:
I received a form notifying me that my IDR recertification was due on, or before,  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  . My payments are due on the  XXXX  of each month and the payments are auto-debited from my checking account. My  XXXX  payment was withdrawn and applied on the  XXXX  as scheduled. Contemporaneously thereto, I submitted my recertification request, which was incorrectly processed by MOHELA ( i.e., the processor failed to see that the  XXXX  were included at the end of the application and improperly denied me  ).  I called to discuss after receiving the rejection notice. The customer service representative, "  XXXX  '', reviewed my application and assured me that it was complete. He indicated that he would resubmit it for processing, that the payment would be recalculated, and that I would be receiving notice of the new payment, which would begin on  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  .   Today, I received an email indicating that my payment was past due. I logged onto my account and realized that MOHELA must have recalculated my payment and retroactively applied it to  XXXX  without providing a bill or any notice.   This evening, I again resubmitted my complete application with the following message : You raised my payment without sending me a bill or any notice. My last bill showed that  XXXX  was going to be automatically withdrawn on  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  . It was withdrawn as scheduled. Shortly thereafter, I submitted my recertification application for the  XXXX  plan with signed tax returns for my wife and I. This was due on, or before,  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  . Nonetheless, it was wrongly denied as incomplete. I called MOHELA to discuss. I was escalated to a  manager  and spoke with "  XXXX . ''  XXXX  reviewed my application over the phone and assured me that my application was complete, but processed incorrectly. He advised me that it would be resubmitted for processing, my payment would be recalculated and that my new payment would be withdrawn on, or about,  XXXX   XXXX ,   XXXX  . However, today I received an email message that my payment was past due. It appears that my payment was recalculated and applied retroactively without providing me any notice. Tonight, I again uploaded my recertification for IDR, which was not due until  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  . Please correct this error immediately and ensure that I will be billed the appropriate amount of {$160.00} through  XXXX / XXXX /  XXXX  . Also, please confirm that my  XXXX    XXXX   payment will count toward forgiveness despite your servicing and billing errors.     For your convenience, I have again attached my recertification to this email. I will be contemporaneously filing a complaint with the CFPB as what you have done is an illegal billing practice ( i.e., changed my payment and applied it retroactively without notice ). Again, please call me to confirm that this is being resolved.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation