Consumer complaint received 2017-09-26
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
All of my student loans are with Fed XXXX XXXX. I am on an income-driven repayment plan. I submitted my XXXX XXXX XXXX application for XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I called and spoke with XXXX # XXXX who informed me that the IDR application was received and that they are 'finishing the review '. He told me that my payment would be {$54.00} through the next year because my income had n't changed much. He told me that my payment would basically stay the same even if I increased my income by $ XXXX. 

My XXXX XXXX payment was due around the XXXX. I received no determination from Fed XXXX on my IDR application by this payment due date. I called a Fed XXXX representative in mid XXXX and it was suggested I take a forbearance to cover the amount of time it would take for them to complete the 'review ' of my application. I think this is completely insane ... why should I have to use forbearance time? 

Fed XXXX then approved my XXXX XXXX XXXX application and adjusts my payment from {$54.00} to {$100.00}. I was shocked! My income did n't increase by 100 %, how could they increase my payment by 100 %? On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I called Fed XXXX to complain and request my IDR application be reviewed again given my income had n't increased that much. I received no response on that request until a call today to Fed XXXX supervisor. 

So, in the time it took Fed XXXX to determine if I qualified for an Income Driven Repayment program, I had to use forbearance time which, in turn, is now affecting my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX program. We made a payment of {$54.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX based on the information that XXXX # XXXX had given us in our XXXX/XXXX/XXXX phone call. 

Then, I received approval from Fed XXXX for the IDR and my installment payment was now at {$100.00}. I called on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX to request a recalculation of this amount since my income had n't increased and based on my conversation with XXXX who said my payments would n't change. I received no follow up from Fed XXXX on this request. 

So, my installment payment for XXXX was due XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX we made a payment of around {$53.00}, the remaining amount given we had already paid the {$54.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I called Fed XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX and requested the XXXX/XXXX/XXXX payment while in forbearance be applied to the XXXX/XXXX/XXXX due date. 

Now today, I receive an email from Fed XXXX saying my account is delinquent and they are reporting me to the credit agencies. What is going on? I paid and called several times, but it still was n't taken care of. 

So, today, XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, I called Fed Loan and spoke with XXXX # XXXX, then supervisor XXXX XXXX XXXX, then his supervisor XXXX # XXXX. I informed them all that the situation is unacceptable that I am being threatened with reporting to credit agencies yet Fed XXXX was clearly negligent in processing my request and payments in a timely manner. While on the phone, my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX payment magically was processed toward my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX due date. If I had n't called and spent over an hour on the phone with Fed XXXX, nothing would have been done. I was told by XXXX that nothing was done on my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX request to have my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX payment applied to the XXXX/XXXX/XXXX due date because 'we have a lot of other requests. ' I find this completely wrong. It 's not ok to just say 'we are busy ' so the consumer must suffer. This is people 's money, my family, my life. The system is broken and needs to change so consumers do n't keep getting screwed!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation