Consumer complaint received 2024-10-08
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge
Company: MOHELA (MD)

I attended XXXX XXXX, which has since been shut down after deceiving XXXX  of students. I have evidence that XXXX representatives mislead the cost of attendance. The XXXX XXXX from XXXX, my enrollment year, clearly shows that the entire XXXX  should cost {$100000.00}, including program and student fees. However, at the time of my XXXX  in XXXX, my loan totaled {$190000.00}. This is nearly double, suggesting that XXXX XXXX  was deceptive in their nature of financial charges ( XXXX ) which has also led to financial harm by definition of the Borrowers Defense Application Rules and Regulations Document from XXXX. Additionally, this is an example of omission of fact. Unfortunately, I am not able to access the record of my stipend checks, because that company, XXXX XXXX, has also shut down their website following another lawsuit in XXXX where they owed students XXXX  of dollars for deceptive practices. 

In addition to financial deception, XXXX XXXX shut down impacts the ability to take and receive local, state, and federal licensing as required for employment in other states, which impacts the employability of XXXX  ( XXXX ). Transcripts are elusive and have arrived damaged and there is no designated school staff to verify practicum, internship and post-doc hours as required by states and board certification. As a result of this inadequate record keeping, my employment opportunities are extremely limited as a result of not being able to leave my current state. 

The allegations I am outlining are not new and XXXX XXXX  has a long history of misrepresenting their job placement and testing rates as well as their cost of attendance. There have been multiple lawsuits including XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and Washington and XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX which outline their malicious and predatory practice. 

When the Borrowers Defense Application was first released, it issued threatening statements, including I understand that in the event that I receive a XXXX percent discharge of my loan balance for which the defense to repayment application has been submitted, the school may, if not prohibited by other applicable law, refuse to verify or to provide an official transcript that verifies my completion of credits or a credential associated with the XXXX loan. This statement, along with a statement about XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, stopped me from applying earlier and therefore costing thousands of dollars in student loan payments that may otherwise have been forgiven. All students who believe they have a case should have been able to apply without fear. 

On XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX XXXX  borrowers sent the Department of Education XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX Lies : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX Defrauded a Generation of Students and the Federal Government that detailed copious evidence collected by XXXX borrowers themselves. The evidence comes from lawsuits, settlements, congressional testimony, and federal investigations. Furthermore, our letter to the Secretary of Education cosigned by XXXX organizations including the XXXX XXXX XXXX, Project on Predatory Lending, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Debt Collective, and XXXX XXXX students, faculty and staff collectively recommends the broad cancellation of all XXXX XXXX  loans. 
I am filing a complaint for the Department of Education to take notice that the borrowers deserve to be made whole from a governmental system of oversight that has failed them.