Consumer complaint received 2018-01-31
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CT
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:
My student loan servicer, XXXX XXXX ( 1 ) does not have any payment history and other important servicing data for my loan prior to approximately XX/XX/XXXX, when servicing transferred to it, and has been servicing my loan based on incomplete and inaccurate information for more than a year without following up with the transferor servicer to obtain this information ; ( 2 ) disqualified me for my direct loan rebate on all my loans based on a payment that was 7 calendar days late in XX/XX/XXXX, more than 6 years after I began repayment of my loans and based on incomplete servicing information, even though only the first 12 payments after repayment may result in rebate disqualification ; ( 3 ) states that I have only made 2 qualifying repayments towards public service loan forgiveness, even though there are approximately 48 qualifying payments based on the employer certification form in its possession. 

I have federal student loans, graduated from XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, and have been in repayment since approximately early XX/XX/XXXX on an Income Based Repayment Plan. I have worked in qualifying public service since XX/XX/XXXX, although I have only submitted an employer certification for XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. My recollection is that I have had at least four student loan servicers since I graduated. My loan transferred from XXXX to XXXX XXXX in approximately XX/XX/XXXX. I am current on my payments. 

I received a letter from XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that I was disqualified from my Direct Loan Rebate on all of my loans based on a payment that was due on XX/XX/XXXX and paid on XX/XX/XXXX. See attached. The letter clearly states that loans may only be disqualified from the rebate program if one of the first 12 payments for the first 12 months the loans are in repayment are more than 6 calendar days late, which is consistent with the terms of my Direct Loans. 

The first 12 months of my repayment on my direct loans was in approximately XXXX. Therefore, a payment that was 7 calendar days late in XXXX should not disqualify me for the rebate program, and XXXX XXXX rescinded my rebate in error. 

When I called XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX to inform it that its rebate disqualification was in error, I was informed that XXXX XXXX  did not have any payment information for my loan prior to approximately XX/XX/XXXX, when it began servicing them. XXXX XXXX  claimed that it requested servicing data at the time of servicing transfer from the transferor servicer but never received it. It was clear from my conversation that XXXX XXXX had taken no additional steps to obtain the servicing data for my loan when it was not received or during the last year. XXXX XXXX  further implied that it was my responsibility to ask it to re-request the servicing history for my loan, which suggests that it is XXXX XXXX XXXX policy not to take additional measures to obtain servicing data from transferor servicers when it is not initially received upon a servicing transfer. 

I represent borrowers in mortgage servicing cases, and I am frankly shocked that any type of loan servicer, particularly one that services federal student loans, would service a loan for more than a year without past payment data and without taking measures to obtain this data. XXXX XXXX XXXX inaction is particularly alarming because it is the exclusive servicer for loans that potentially qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, in which past payment history is critical for determining eligibility. 

I believe that XXXX XXXX XXXX  failure to obtain past servicing data for my loan has led it to make errors in my account and to communicate inaccurate information to me about my loans. My suspicion is that XXXX XXXX likely disqualified me for the rebate based on its mistaken assumption due to its obviously incomplete records that my loans began repayment in late XX/XX/XXXX rather than approx. XX/XX/XXXX. Moreover, XXXX XXXX  has only credited two of my payments towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness, even though there are approximately 48 payments that correspond with the employer certification form it acknowledges it has in its possession. Again, XXXX XXXX XXXX response was that it was incumbent upon me, the borrower, to look for and inform it of its obvious servicing errors and ask it to request servicing data from the transferor servicer. XXXX XXXX seemed to take no responsibility for its failure to accurately service my loans based on complete information. 

Given the number of student loans servicers I've had, I'm concerned about the lack of records regarding payments I've made since XX/XX/XXXX that should ultimately be credited towards student loan forgiveness, which I estimate I will be eligible for in XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief