Consumer complaint received 2021-06-21
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: AE
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms

Complaint:
FedLoan certified that I have made 120 or more qualifying payments on my student loans in a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX. It is 118 days later, as of today, and my balance of {$87000.00} has not yet been forgiven. 
I contacted FedLoan by chat on XX/XX/XXXX and was informed by XXXX, employee # XXXX, that A request has been submitted to have the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) and Temporary Expanded PSLF ( TEPSLF ) Certification and Application ( PSLF & TEPSLF Application ) reviewed. We will notify you once the review is complete. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, having received no updates, I filed a complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and requested an update from FedLoan directly. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a reply from the XXXX XXXX XXXX for my case # XXXX. The reply, signed by FedLoan, confirmed that I had made over 120 qualifying payments, and stated your account will undergo a rigorous review for accuracy and completeness and that there is no specific time frame for the completed review. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I also received a reply from FedLoan, Reference ID : XXXX, stating Please allow 2-3 months for this review to be completed due to the amount of extensive research involved with reviewing the qualifying payments and employment. 
I responded that same day that I had ALREADY waited 100  days ( more than the 2-3 months requested ) since the XX/XX/XXXX letter certifying that I had made over 120 qualifying payments and requested a more complete accounting of the status of my application. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a reply from FedLoan again confirming that you have earned at least 120 qualifying payments on your loans towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Furthermore, the letter stated the final determination review started on XX/XX/XXXX. The final determination review may take up to 180 days for complete processing. 
Based on this reply, the final review of my application did not even begin until 3 days AFTER I filed a complaint that 100 days had passed since the letter from FedLoan certifying my qualification for loan forgiveness on XX/XX/XXXX. 
To be asked to wait up to another 180 days for complete processing is simply unacceptable and amounts to a breach of the fiduciary duty of the Department of Education to honor the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of XXXX. 
I followed the rules of the PSLF program. My application for student loan forgiveness does not include any request for exception, expansion of eligibility, investigation on if my job qualifies, etc. There is no need to investigate the quality of the education I received. There is no reason for this delay. It is a straightforward application, cleanly within the parameters of the PSLF program set forth in XXXX which I have been following for 10 years. This review should take no more than 7-10 days.

I completed multiple certification forms over the duration of my 10-year repayment period to make sure I was on track for forgiveness. I have worked for one employer, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, during my repayment period. I consolidated my loans so that they would qualify for the PSLF program. My payments were in an income-based repayment program to ensure they would qualify. A rigorous review for accuracy and completeness to verify these basic facts should not take over 118 days. To require such time for a final determination is a willful failure, by intent, to honor the commitments set forth in the law. Delays of this magnitude are nothing less than intentional criminal negligence. 
In essence, the Department of Education is defrauding the very individuals who have dedicated their careers to public service. How can it be justified that the government treats its own employees, who earned a high-quality education, contributed to the public good, and followed the details of the PSLF program, with such ineptitude and disdain? I have always been an advocate for the power of government to serve the people and have personally striven in my career to be a steward of good governance. As a prior service member and as a federal employee, I have always taken great pride in my public service. 
However, this experience with the Department of Education has frustrated and angered me. How can it be that a program meant to entice highly educated people to serve in government became so poorly managed that it disenchants employees from federal service? 
Simply, the Department of Education, through their mismanagement of the PSLF program, has broken the trust and confidence public servants should have in their own government. 180 days to verify I paid my student loans according to PSLF requirements? That is nothing less than an insult and reflects poorly on the efficacy of the United States Government. Instead of looking for new pools of students to forgive debt, how about you start by honoring those that studied in an accredited program, served their nation, and followed the rules 120 times over the last 10 years.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief