Consumer complaint received 2021-10-10
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I have made a total of 89 regular payments to my FedLoans, each of which the FedLoan agents told me would count towards the Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan for teachers. I have been a public school educator since the beginning of my career in XXXX and I communicated directly and intentionally with the FedLoan agents that I needed to be on the PSLF program from the outset, only to later find out that I was lied to and misguided by FedLoan and their agents. In addition, since the COVID-19 pandemic ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  ), 21 additional payments have been applied to PSLF. Therefore under TEPSLF, 110 payments should be tracking for expected forgiveness.

FedLoan is only counting 61 payments for forgiveness under TEPSLF because they will not count any payments I made between XXXX because they say a. ) I was on the wrong plan ( a plan they put me on knowing I was/am a public educator ) and b. ) I consolidated my loans ( the consolidation occurred because they pressured me to do so with daily calls in which they said if I wanted all of my payments to count towards PSLF then I must consolidate ) Dishonest guidance and aggressive, predatory tactics from FedLoan agents have ruined my ability to stabilize my life and build a foundation with which to support my family, and I am still a public educator with an enormous amount of debt.

I have always been a public school educator and fully anticipated and communicated to the FedLoan agents from the outset and on several occasions that this was the case. FedLoan agents assured me that I was on the right plan and never told me that I was on the wrong plan. From the outset, I paid large amounts ( in the beginning I paid approximately {$450.00}, then {$850.00}, and now {$1300.00} per month ) toward my student loan debt and believed that every single one of my payments counted towards loan forgiveness. As late as XXXX, with three full years of loan payments completed, FedLoan agents directed me to consolidate loans that did not need to be consolidated and did not direct me to consolidate loans that required consolidation to be eligible for PSLF throughout the beginning years of loan repayment. 

In addition, in XXXX, I received daily calls from FedLoan agents, pressuring me to consolidate all of my loans. I was confused and said that I just wanted to stay on my current PSLF plan ( that I had been erroneously told by FedLoan agents that I was on ). Every single time we discussed PSLF I explained that I needed each payment to count towards forgiveness. I was assured repeatedly that consolidation would not harm my current PSLF pathway and that all of my previous and future payments would continue to count for PSLF. The FedLoan agents never told me that my payments from XXXX were not counting for PSLF forgiveness on the pathway that they had directed me to take. The FedLoan agents instead stated that all payments before and after loan consolidation would continue to count.

The interest rate and compound interest are so high on these loans that I have literally paid {$110000.00} which is approximately {$50000.00} more than I initially borrowed and I still owe {$50000.00} to complete the loan payments.

By remaining with FedLoan and believing all of my payments were qualifying for PLSF due to the directives, misinformation, and lies provided by the FedLoan agents and their ongoing reassurance that the payments were counting, I have been unnecessarily harmed in the following ways : 1. For five years, XXXX, I made 34 full loan payments that are not being counted towards PSLF forgiveness, even though I followed the directives from FedLoan agents.

I have paid a large amount of interest and continue to do so, rather than switching to a less expensive loan with a reasonable interest rate because I believed I was on a qualifying PSLF plan, as directed and issued by PSLF loan agents, and I believed the loans would be forgiven after the 10 years of payments.

2. I have been unable to stabilize my own life due to misinformation from FedLoan agents, excessive interest, and extended payments on these loans- thus blocking my ability to buy a house, pay for my children 's college, contribute to retirement, etc.

3. These loans have literally ruined my life and I wish I had never taken them. Currently, I have approximately {$50000.00} left to pay ; I've already paid {$110000.00}, and I initially got a loan for around {$70000.00} for the entirety of my degree. I have paid more than my share, I have worked for more than 10 years as a public educator, and I am furious at FedLoan for misguiding me throughout this whole process and thereby disrupting and severely limiting my quality of life. My family has paid dearly for this unfair practice for years.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief