Consumer complaint received 2016-10-03
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: FL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Having problems with customer service

Complaint:
I experienced some health issues XX/XX/XXXX and was hospitalized in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. At the time, my student loans were still within the grace period, with the exception of XXXX consolidated loans. As soon as I was made aware that my loans were coming due, I spoke with a customer representative and explained my recent health complications and my inability to make the large student loan payments. I was told that I could apply for the income-based repayment plan and to complete the application online. My first attempt to complete the online application was in XX/XX/XXXX. I was later contacted by FedLoan about my payment status. I informed the representative that I completed the online income-based repayment application. The representative was unable to locate the application. I made several more attempts in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. I contacted FedLoan and StudentLoan.gov regarding the issues with the online application. There are online-accessible records reflecting XXXX of my XXXX, XXXX attempts. It was not until XX/XX/XXXX that the application was able to be processed and this was only after an hour or more conversation with a representative that assisted with the application and technical issues. The representative kindly stayed on the phone with me until she was able to see confirmation of the completed application since I had previously submitted several applications. At no time during any one of the numerous conversations with the representatives from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, was I ever told to request a forbearance to resolve the late/outstanding payment. Rather, due to the technical issues we were advised that the issue would be resolved upon the approval of the repayment application. It was not until I received a subsequent call regarding the late payments, which were not the income-based repayment amounts, was I told that the late/outstanding payments issue had not been resolved but that I could now request a forbearance since I was unable to pay the delinquent amount. I completed the forbearance request and was later approved. It was not until recent that I discovered the late payments reported to the credit bureaus. I submitted a dispute based on the forbearance and was information that retroactive forbearance do not relate to any credit reporting, which I think is unacceptable but nonetheless. However, my XXXX consolidated loans began reflecting late payments when I was experiencing health issues. More importantly, the late payments reported for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX do not accurately reflect the circumstances and inability of processing my numerous repayment applications through no fault of my own and due to technical and/or communication issues with StudentLoan.gov and Fed Loan. Additionally, I should have been made aware that the application issues would not resolve any outstanding payments and advised of my option to request a forbearance.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation