Consumer complaint received 2022-03-18
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: VA
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:
Good afternoon, I am writing to seek assistance having the loan payments I have made during my active-duty military service count towards the TPSLF program that went into effect on XX/XX/XXXX. My lender is FedLoan Servicing. The payments I have made during my XXXX time ( which was continuous from XX/XX/XXXX until XXXX XXXX ) continue to be rejected for qualifying payments. This is very disappointing, frustrating, and unfair considering, according to the updated program requirements established in XX/XX/XXXX, my payments during the period from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX should qualify. 
According to the current publicly available program information, employment with the following types of organizations qualifies for PSLF : - Government organizations at any level ( U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal ) this includes the U.S. military. 
As previously stated, I served continuously on XXXX XXXX in the U.S. military from XX/XX/XXXX, until XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. It is my understanding based on the information that has been made public that my payments and deferred payments on my federal student loans from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX should qualify under the TPSLF program because : - I was employed full time for a qualifying employer ( XXXX U.S. military XXXX during the period of XX/XX/XXXX, through XX/XX/XXXX. 
- I should receive forgiveness even if not employed or not employed by a qualifying employer at the time of application and forgiveness. So, while I have retired from the military and no longer serve on XXXX XXXX, I am still eligible to receive forgiveness for the period from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 
- I should receive credit for periods of repayment on Direct, FFEL, or XXXX XXXX. 
- Periods of repayment under any plan count. 
- Periods of repayment on loans before consolidation count, even if on the wrong repayment plan. 
- Periods of repayment where your payments were made late or for less than the amount due count. 
- Periods of repayment on loans before consolidation count, even if paid late, or for less than the amount due. 
- I should ALSO receive qualifying payment credit for loans that were in specific military-related deferment and forbearance during this period. 
There seems to be a few other issues that I would like addressed. 

The TPSLF waiver announcement mentioned providing automatic credit to borrowers who were in a military or military-related forbearance. Since payments and deferred payments during my military service periods continue to be denied as qualifying for the TPSLF program, this clearly is not happening. 

Additionally, there seems to be an issue with what will be accepted as a certifying office 's ' signature for qualifying employment periods, specifically when it comes to people like myself who are veterans and no longer on XXXX XXXX. The simple fact of the matter is I AM UNABLE TO GET A WET SIGNATURE to certify my military service. I CAN NOT provide a name, title, telephone number and wet signature. It's quite literally NOT an option. There is no HR person to certify this ; I have been out of the military for close to a decade. For FedLoan Servicing to assert otherwise is absurd. 

The situation for veterans is very different than for someone who is applying while they are still on XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  service members can walk into their military unit 's personnel office and have an official sign their application form to certify their qualifying employment period. Veterans do NOT have this option. Its also unlike a civilian company where I can just call up the HR office and ask someone to verify my employment time. A veteran cant just call up the military and say, hey, please sign this form that says I served. IT DOES NOT work that way. Upon separation from the military, you receive a Certificate of Release or Discharge from XXXX XXXX, commonly know by its form number : XXXX. 

This document is proof of military service in all other circumstances. My XXXX has been the required proof of service for every instance in which I have ever had to prove that I served in the military, from applying for Veterans Administration benefits , to veterans employment qualifications, home loan applications, and even qualifying for military discounts at retail stores. But for some strange reason FedLoan Servicing maintains that a XXXX is not acceptable for a veteran to use to certify their military service as qualifying employment for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness or Temporary PSLF programs. This is ridiculous.

The fact that the people in FedLoan Servicing reviewing the application forms do not understand this is unacceptable, just like it's unacceptable that providing my certificate of discharge ( XXXX ) is not sufficient proof of military service when it is the standard of proof for literally every other entity out there. 

Veterans like myself are being unjustly denied qualification for this program, which is supposed to be designed for people just like us and provide us some economic relief in recognition of our public service, but we cant qualify because a wet signature is unobtainable, and no one will provide us with a feasible, realistic solution! In my case Im being denied close to 7 years of payment periods which would more than help me meet the remaining qualifying periods I need to eliminate my student loan debt. Why? Not because I didnt serve, but because I dont have a wet signature on a form and for some reason my XXXX isnt good enough to prove my service to FedLoan Servicing. Thats just wrong.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief