Consumer complaint received 2022-07-29
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: TX
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( PHEAA ) aka FedLoan : This federal student loan servicer is one that was one of numerous companies whose egregious acts in servicing student loans has now come to light very publically. I am one of the fanthomable number of borrowers who was victimized by servicers like and especially PHEAA in not properly servicing student loans. Some forbearances, deferments, public servant forgiveness, and/or Income Based Repayment plans were erroneously not properly implemented and/or delayed causing error in repayment history and as such reported to the credit bureaus. FedLoan is responsible for determining borrowers progress towards forgiveness and borrowers reasonably rely on its ability to do so, but FedLoan lacks incentives to carry out this obligation accurately or in some instances at all. PHEAA fails to timely and accurately process income-driven repayment plan paperwork filed during relative periods. PHEAAs errors in calculating payment amounts or verifying recertification or not processing my IDR forced me into costly forbearances. PHEAA even removed me from XXXX plans in which they have successfully enrolled in placing me on forbearances instead. PHEAA steered me to less favorable options rather than income-driven repayment plans and ultimately consolidation, which deprive me of the opportunity to progress towards loan forgiveness, and what I am to understand incentivizing for them. There are numerous other fed student loans that were not delinquent, public reporting, governmental lawsuits, US government actions, and the efforts of the Biden Administration should stand as substantive proof of this. 

The state of New York sued PHEAA in federal court in XXXX and settled in XX/XX/XXXX. Although this settlement is applicable to NY residents ; the elements of the complaints are universal nationwide. 

The federal lawsuit starts its intro with : XXXX. In XXXX, Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) program, which encourages individuals to work in public service by offering federal student loan forgiveness to borrowers who complete a period of public service. 34 C.F.R. 685.219. PSLF enables graduates to take low-paying jobs in government and at nonprofits serving veterans, the elderly, low-income children, people with XXXX, victims of XXXX XXXXXXXX, and other vulnerable groups. Many teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters, and members of the armed forces are eligible for PSLF. 

XXXX. Our society needs more teachers, more emergency management and law enforcement professionals, more public health doctors and nurses, more social workers, more librarians, more public interest lawyers, and more early childhood teachers, XXXX XXXX XXXX, one of the sponsors of the program, explained. Under our bill, we will produce more of them because theyand all the groups I have just mentionedwill be eligible for loan forgiveness. 
XXXX. PHEAAs failures as the PSLF servicer, however, have undermined the goals of the PSLF program and created financial hardship for many of these dedicated public servants. 
XXXX. PHEAA, operating under the name FedLoan Servicing ( FedLoan ), services loans held by the U.S. Department of Education originated under the federal Direct Loan program, including those of New Yorkers, and those Federal Family Education Loan Program ( FFEL ) loans owned by the federal government. PHEAA also services privately-owned FFEL loans and private student loans for tens of thousands of borrowers in New York and nationwide. 
XXXX. FedLoan also has an exclusive contract with the U.S. Department of Education to service the accounts of borrowers seeking PSLF. 

As new and corrective actions by the Biden Admin. are taking place, it has come to light that I qualified for forgiveness under PSLF years ago or at least prior to PHEAA suspending its servicing of my loan ( XXXX ) in XX/XX/XXXX ; transferring it to XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation