Consumer complaint received 2018-12-27
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: AES/PHEAA (TX)

InXX/XX/XXXX, it was time for me to reapply for income-based repayment of my {$95000.00} of student loans. I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX, and my previous income-based repayment was $ XXXX/mo, which was a reasonable amount, considering I also have $ XXXX/mo I pay to XXXX. When my income-based repayment results came back in XX/XX/XXXX, for some reason the payment went from $ XXXX/mo to $ XXXX/mo, more than doubling though my income had not doubled. I contacted XXXX and was advised that my best course of action was to apply for a Revised Pay as you Earn plan and indicate I was looking for the lowest monthly payment possible. I did so in XX/XX/XXXX, and as a result, my payments were put into forbearance for the purpose of XXXX reviewing the paperwork and coming up with a new payment. I was told as long as I made my {$5.00} forbearance payments during that time they would get back to me with a revised monthly amount and my account wouldn't be considered delinquent or in default. While I was waiting to hear back the status of my income-based repayment request, I got a message saying that my $ XXXX monthly payment would be directly debited from my account on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately called XXXX who canceled the direct debit but did not deal with the root of the issue which was that my income-based repayment hadn't yet been reviewed, revised, or decided, and the {$1000.00} payment should be canceled. It turns out that between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, my application for Revised Pay as you Earn had not been reviewed or processed, which is why my full payment was being due XX/XX/XXXX. I was unaware that the review process was not taking place during this span of months. When I called and informed XXXX that I was still waiting to get my new income-based repayment amount and that I needed them to cancel the due date, that the due date was coming up because they had failed to finish their review in time, it was indicated I had made my {$5.00} forbearance payment and the person on the phone was not sure why the payment due date had been issued since I had made my forbearance payment and, essentially, it was their mistake, but that she could not fix it. I was also told at this time to just not make the XX/XX/XXXX payment and let the account go delinquent, that it would only be delinquent for up to 60 days but it wouldn't be considered in default until after 90 days. I don't accept my account that has always been in good standing being considered delinquent and default based on a mistake that XXXX made and that they should fix. I have been calling them every week and the issue hasn't been resolved. The payment is still showing as due on XX/XX/XXXX. That payment is more than 20 % of my gross monthly income, not taking into consideration housing and childcare costs, so there is no way I can make that payment. I qualify for forbearance based on the math, so I applied for the forbearance of the XX/XX/XXXX payment, since XXXX won't stop the payment being due although it was a result of their mistake. That process hasn't gone through yet either. I just checked my account and though I uploaded the required income paperwork to that application when I applied for it on XX/XX/XXXX, the online account said I still needed to upload the paperwork, so I did, again, today, XX/XX/XXXX. In the interim between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX of this year, my family situation changed and I went from married to separated from my spouse, so I reapplied for an income-based repayment based on the new circumstances on XX/XX/XXXX, but that application is on hold due to a canceled consolidation application. I understand my case is complicated, but the first complication came when XXXX did not review and resolve the original Revised Pay as you Earn application completed in XX/XX/XXXX, and it is for this reason the {$1000.00} payment is due XX/XX/XXXX that I can not make. Now that I am a single parent I am looking for housing for myself and my child, and it is simply not an option that my account should be considered delinquent or in default because of a mistake that XXXX made, potentially destroying my credit and making an already strained situation more impossible.