Consumer complaint received 2018-03-29
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: TN
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
I have been dealing with XXXX XXXX for several months now trying to get any reduced payment plan. They have mostly ignored my main questions and when I have called they were partially helpful but something always happens every single time and I'm back to where I started. It is insane to resend the same form and proof of wages over and over, paid {$260.00} to get an extension just to get denied again after we worked things out yet again, and they wouldn't tell me why til I got angry and demanded as I'm running low on time before they start taking my wages. This is far from acceptable. I have faxed and uploaded my idr form and proof of taxable wages. Why do they keep telling me to do the same thing when it always gets denied? I need any lower payment and I can do it, I've been trying since XXXX. By XXXX I was shaking with terror as my loans defaulted and it's literally the only thing I've tried to prevent. I've borrowed money to get an extension on my defaulted loans but they are just wasting my money by not helping me get it resolved, as usual. I should have known not to believe I could prevent default on my loans by working with them. I work enough to pay something, just be honest and let me know what's really going on. I have sent dozens of emails literally begging for help, for clarity, and when I asked questions, they have avoided the main questions and choose a single easier question to answer, and then say they helped me .... no they havent, or I would have some form of lower payment by now. They have had me send in my proof of wages repeatedly and then said they lost or couldn't find them. So I uploaded them online and got confirmation. Later, I uploaded a copy of a recent check from my work too. The next day I got denied for reasons they are mailing me ... .I don't have time to wait for that and am out of state right now for my grandpa 's funeral. I have been with him last week too before he passed, and had to get a ride back to tn, 8hrs away, for one day so I could resend, again, XXXX XXXX idr form online, signed section 6 page, proof of wages, and copy of my recent check, and it never gets farther than a day or two before I'm rejected, threatening messages about how they're going to charge me much more, garnish my wages, fine me, prevent me from going back and graduating as I have 18hr left, and now am having a nervous breakdown. I am going to blow my brains out if I can not get a reduced payment. I seriously will be homeless next month because of this, as my monthly bill will be much too much. I am XXXX scared. I am not able to get section 8 housing because they only take people for 1 single week in XXXX. The homeless shelter is too far of a walk. I am losing my mind dealing with them and want to take them to court because nothing seems to be correcting their abuse. I've read endless horror stories online from students and teachers dealing with XXXX. I can not do this anymore and I need help desperately before I am stripped of any eligibility for any form of a lower payment. The amount of neglect is unreal, and should not be tolerated by anyone who will have to suffer a defaulted student loan. It is a near XXXX XXXX for me, and I know that, and that has been my main motivation to sign up for a plan I can afford and to start direct deposit payments. I need someone to please press them, help me take them to court, or expose them publicly, anything to get them to actually help. I am running out of options and do not want to be homeless more than anything.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation