Consumer complaint received 2024-11-30
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: MOHELA (OH)

NOTE THIS IS NOT A DUPLICATE COMPLAINT, THIS IS A NEW COMPLAINT On XX/XX/XXXX, I discovered that MOHELA applied an Administrative Forbearance to my account, without any communication to me about this and after I had requested permanent removal of this forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX and had been in repayment since then. They applied this forbearance to be retroactive to XX/XX/XXXX, rendering my XX/XX/XXXX, payment ineligible for XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX I made my regular monthly payment XX/XX/XXXX I receive a billing statement reflecting a payment due on XX/XX/XXXX and shows that I am in repayment XX/XX/XXXX I receive a billing statement reflecting a payment due on XX/XX/XXXX and shows that I am in repayment On XX/XX/XXXX I called MOHELA and spoke with XXXX to request permanent removal of this forbearance. 
She stated the following : It would take XXXX days to be removed. 
Forbearance was applied due to the account transition from the old MOHELA platform to the new one. 
I can do a buy-back for XXXX once I reach XXXX  months of employment. 
Payment for XXXX was applied toward the next payment - Neither will qualify for XXXX, so will need to apply for " reconsideration '' for XXXX and XXXX due to this forbearance being applied. 
Forbearance was applied on XX/XX/XXXX and backdated to XX/XX/XXXX. 
On the same date, I spoke with XXXX about the XXXX XXXX group discharge and attached the letter I have from the Department of Education, dated XX/XX/XXXX She said she would research it and call me back. 
To date, I have not received that phone call. 

XX/XX/XXXX I receive a billing statement reflecting a payment due on XX/XX/XXXX and shows that I am in repayment XX/XX/XXXX I submitted a CFPB complaint about this issue that was closed by MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Their response to my complaint made it abundantly clear that they didn't even bother to read my complaint. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I log into MOHELA to make a payment and note that I have no payment due. 
My loan status states " Awaiting Form Administrative Forbearance '' I called and spoke with XXXX who XXXX the following : Sees the request to opt-out of the forbearance but it was only for XXXX  day Told me I need to reach out to XXXX to request permanent removal of the forbearance XXXX  hotline phone number is XXXX This forbearance is being initiated by XXXX. 
I asked XXXX about the status of the XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX and was told that as of XX/XX/XXXX there is a " write off for loan sequence XXXX of {$9700.00} & loan sequence XXXX of {$12000.00} dated XX/XX/XXXX '' and I should be receiving a letter very soon regarding this. 
o I called the XXXX XXXX immediately after speaking with XXXX Spoke XXXX XXXX She states that the servicer is responsible for, and the only XXXX  capable of, placing and removing forbearance XX/XX/XXXX I receive a billing statement reflecting a PAST DUE payment and shows that I am in repayment I called and spoke with XXXX She stated the following : Showing XXXX  days delinquent XXXX  forbearance was lifted on XX/XX/XXXX Repayment as of XX/XX/XXXX ( posted on XX/XX/XXXX ) May  be able to buy back these months and apply for reconsideration. 
Can remove the past due amount through an admin forbearance for this month only. 
XX/XX/XXXX log into MOHELA to make a payment, notice that account is once again in forbearance Spoke with XXXX She states XXXX applies the forbearance. 
I stated that is not true, that the servicer applies and removes the forbearance and ask her to please remove it. 
She states she is transferring me to the " advanced '' department for more assistance. 
I get transferred to a line with a XXXX minute wait. 
I finally speak with someone named XXXX. 
XXXX is rude. 
States she is opting me out of the XXXX forbearance. 
States she is entering the request and that it goes to the MOHELA loan servicing department. 
I asked how to prevent this from happening again. 
She said this is XXXX fault. That XXXX is causing this to happen. 
I said this is not true, that XXXX is not causing this to happen and that I successfully had the forbearance lifted from XX/XX/XXXX- XX/XX/XXXX without a problem and that all the sudden it is being reapplied by MOHELA without any communication to me and that this is interfering with my ability to make payments toward PSLF. I also said that this is quite upsetting because it keeps happening. She said that she can see where I've called before to ask for it to be lifted but that I have not asked for it to be " permanently '' lifted, so that's what she's asking to happen. ( XXXX??? ) She also asked if I wanted her to cancel my XXXX request or just the forbearance. I stated, 'do not cancel my XXXX  request, I only want the forbearance removed so that I can make payments toward PSLF ', then she said 'I can't cancel the XXXX request ma'am '.

I asked again, how do I prevent this from happening again. I just want to be able to make my payments. 
She said, " we're not going to think like that, we're just going to hope it doesn't happen again '' Then I asked her about the XXXX XXXX XXXX discharge and she basically blew me off with 'nothing has changed since the last time you asked '. 
I do not operate on " hopes and wishes '', especially when money and time are involved. 
I want this STOPPED. I want the forbearance permanently removed and I want this fixed with FSA to reflect accurately. 
It is 100 % MOHELA 's fault that I now have XXXX ineligible months of employment for XXXX. This is completely inexcusable. 
I want to know the status of the XXXX XXXX XXXX discharge for my account. 
MOHELA 's reps keep telling me that it has been completed, but this is patently untrue. The dates they've given me correlate to my most recent consolidation, pre-date the group discharge letter, and do not add up to the total amount borrowed and disbursed for XXXX XXXX ( which is easy enough to identify via the loan data ). 
Furthermore, the group discharge is not a " write off '', it is a discharge. This should come off my balance and I should be refunded any payments made toward those loans ( per FSA ).