Consumer complaint received 2017-07-21
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: MD
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
In XXXX I attempted to submit my Income Driven Repayment ( " IDR '' ) recertification application through Studentloans.gov. At that time, the IRS or Studentloans.gov was not allowing the transfer of financial information from the IRS website, so I could not submit the form online. I obtained a paper IDR form online ( OMB No. XXXX ), manually filled out the form, and submitted it to Fed Loan Servicing, and XXXX ( my two loan servicers ) at the end of XXXX, XXXX, with the appropriate and complete tax documentation. Please note, the form I submitted had an expiration date of XX/XX/XXXX. I received an email from Fed Loan Servicing onXX/XX/XXXX, indicating it had received my request, and I would have a decision " within the next 10 days ( if not sooner! ) '' and that I would receive an email for any follow-up. I called on XX/XX/XXXX to check on the progress of my request, and was told it was still under review. Because a decision was not made, my payments were switched out of the income based repayment plans I have been in for quite sometime, and my payments were set at the higher standard repayment plan amount. On XXXX XXXX, I called and requested a status update on the loans. I was told that it had denied my request on XXXX XXXX. I asked why, and explained I never got a letter. I was told my request was denied because I had submitted the " wrong form '' because it had expired. I was told my denial letter should be in my online inbox. I confirmed it was not, and later was told that they " had never generated a denial letter '' and that they did not know why. I further explained I downloaded the " expired form '' online, explained my other loan servicer ( XXXX ) received the same form and was able to process it, and that the form I submitted was not set to expire untilXX/XX/XXXX. I was told the form I used was no longer in use as of XX/XX/XXXX despite having an expiration date of XX/XX/XXXX. When I explained I had downloaded the form in XX/XX/XXXX, I was told " maybe it was out somewhere on the internet. '' In comparing the two forms, the differences are as follows : 1 ) the " expired form '' has an informational box under section 2, which provides instructions on how to complete the form. This informational box is not aesthetically the same on the " new form, '' and some information is missing. 2 ) Section 4A on the " expired form '' asks if you are single or married. The " new form '' asks if you are single, married, married but separated, or married but can not access your spouse 's financial information with ease. It is important to note that if an individual indicates s/he is " married or separated '' or " married but can not access spousal information, '' the individual would be treated as single. These 2 things are the only differences between the forms. I explained in painstaking detail that the changes between the two forms do not apply to me. My form indicates I am married, filing jointly, and the tax information I submitted with my form included the financial information of my spouse. I was not seeking any exception to being considered a married person. The change in the form had no substantive impact on my information. Fed Loan Servicing confirmed that it had all of my necessary information, and it would only need me to fill out the " new form '' to make a determination. I requested that they review the form they already had, and the corresponding tax information to make a determination. I explained that I hade obtained the form in XXXX when I had submitted it, and did not understand that within a month 's time, how the form had " expired, '' especially considering the form 's expiration date was XX/XX/XXXX. I was told this did n't matter and the government would not allow a review. I asked the customer service representative for the federal guideline ( s ) or authority that permitted them to deny the use of the form I had previously submitted, given it 's expiration date. No one could quote any regulation or law, and I was told " internally '' they were told this form could no longer be reviewed. I proceeded to speak with five people " up the chain '' regarding their decision. I asked if they could waive their internal " policy '' to deny based on an " expired form '' because they were in receipt of the requisite information, and the changes to the forms were not applicable to my situation. I was denied the opportunity for them to review based on the information they had, and was told that I would have to submit duplicate information. I requested several items from Fed Loan Servicing at that time. I requested a letter explaining the denial determination made on XX/XX/XXXX. I also requested the statutory authority granted to Fed Loan Servicing that permitted it to deny my application, based on it being the " incorrect form. '' I also asked for documentation showing that it had been properly applying the .25 % interest deduction on my accounts for being enrolled in a direct debit plan. I was told I would have these documents within 7-10 business days. To date, I have only received 2 paper copies of the " correct '' IDR form. I have not received any of my other document requests. Given that I had no other options, I resubmitted my information on StudentLoans.gov to request a review. ( The IRS was now authorizing the transfer of tax information ). I received an email from Fed Loan Servicing on XX/XX/XXXX, indicating the request was received, and again that a decision would be made in " 10 business days ( if not sooner! ) '' with regards to my request. I called onXX/XX/XXXX to inquire as to the status of the request, and was told it was under review and to call back, because it takes 7-10 business days for a decision. I called back today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and was told my review was " on hold '' and that it had been pulled for manual review. I was told typically the requests are reviewed electronically. I asked for the reason my application was pulled for manual review, and told they could not tell me why it was pulled for manual review, and a decision should be made in 7-10 business days. I explained today was the 7th business day. I called back to get additional information regarding my current application, and to see why it was pulled for manual review. I was subsequently told it was not " on-hold '' and that the form is just under review. I am not able to make the payments at the rate they currently are. I am concerned now that my loans are considered delinquent. I was told that while a decision should be made in 7-10 business days, it will not go into effect for 2-3 billing cycles. This is absurd. The notion that it is acceptable for Fed Loan Servicing to not only refuse to review a significantly similar, unexpired IDR form submission with proper enclosures, but to also fail to issue a denial letter explaining the reason for the adverse determination defies all logic. I can not imagine that this is in line with any contract for services it has with the federal government, and I believe this is a gross dereliction of duty. The financial consequences of Fed Loan Servicing 's repeated failures have a very real impact on me and my family. I am inevitably forced to choose between providing for my family 's immediate needs, or negatively harming my credit for a delinquency, due to the incompetence and illogical decisions of Fed Loan Servicing. I also can not imagine I am the only person who is subjected to this gross mismanagement, and shudder to think of the consequences other individuals may suffer due to Fed Loan Servicing 's negligence.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief