Consumer complaint received 2023-02-03
Company: MOHELA
State: GA
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:
Hello, I applied for PSLF in XX/XX/XXXX with my servicer XXXX XXXX. At the time my loan information was denied although all documentation was accurate and signed by previous employers. I eventually submitted 3rd party verification of employment in the form of W-2 for the years XXXX through XXXX to verify that I had met employment requirements for the PSLF. The information was accepted and received by XXXX and my payment count was updated once the payment tool was created. Once the payment count was complete months later into XXXX, I contacted XXXX as the payment counts were incorrect they showed 96 of 120. I was informed to wait longer as the payment count process is tedious and to be patient and wait for an update. I eventually spoke with a representative in XX/XX/XXXX that informed me that my payment count was not updated because all of my loan periods were not counted due to me being in school or requesting an " in-school deferment ''. I informed the representative that I had never requested any in-school deferments as I would have no reason to, as I receive XXXX XXXX  and I had always been in an income-based repayment plan ( IBR ) with my payment amounts set at {$0.00} per month for the last 10 years. After some review, the representative reviewed their documentation and reported to me that the deferments were " automatic ''. I was unaware of any automatic referrals and I explained to the representative that those payment periods should be counted as I did not request them at any time. The representative reviewed the information and requested that I receive a call-back from a supervisor. When I did receive a call from the supervisor, I was advised to go online, print, and fax the " in-school deferment waiver request '' form. I subsequently submitted the form in XX/XX/XXXX and my payment counts were still not updated. When I contacted the agency I was informed that I would need to consolidate all of my loans for the periods in question to be counted. I applied for a consolidation and all of my loans were consolidated successfully. This process took several months to update. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that I would need to resubmit the documentation to cover all dates in question. On the form input the dates XXXX to cover all dates in question as the representative informed me to do so and resubmitted as requested. In XX/XX/XXXX that information was still not updated, however I was notified via the XXXX website the information was received. 

My loans were consolidated and transferred to MOHELA without applying the " in-school deferment waiver '' as requested 1 year prior. I have contacted MOHELA several times to request an update on payment periods. They have asked me to provide a copy of the form submitted to XXXX which has been provided, but have failed to update my payment counts. I am missing 41 payments because of this. When I spoke to XXXX a supervisor from MOHELA last week, she informed me that MOHELA can not modify payment counts because XXXX should have updated the count prior to consolidation and transfer to MOHELA. She states she can not apply the form because MOHELA does not accept these forms and they do not have a waiver policy as XXXX did. On XX/XX/XXXX she left me a voicemail saying that she was sorry and there was nothing else she could do for me to update my payment count correctly. 
I have been distressed about this process for almost 2 years. I have been met with representatives that provide various policy guidelines based on their own interpretation and I have been at the mercy of who ever I speak to that day. I have done everything that I have been told and I have called multiple times in a day to cross-reference information, only to be met with terminated calls after waiting hours and/or no resolution to my issue. I have applied for any available application such as the XXXX as the representatives have instructed me to, even when it was not required because I had met all of the requirements for the basic PSLF.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation