Consumer complaint received 2024-09-14
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company: MOHELA (MA)

Please let this letter serve as my formal complaint about multiple problems and discrepancies with the way in which the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, also known as the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority ( MOHELA ), has ( mis ) managed my Federal Direct Consolidation Loan since it was transferred from a previous servicer XXXX in XXXX. Since the transfer of my student loan to MOHELA took place, it has been incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for me to contact and effectively resolve any of the outstanding issues outlined below, which have only compounded since my student loan entered repayment in XX/XX/XXXX. Thus, I am respectfully requesting your assistance in reaching a resolution to each of these problems, including a comprehensive loan analysis and any corrections to credit agencies on my behalf, which I have requested from MOHELA on multiple occasions and have never received. 

Ongoing Loan Balance Errors, Inaccurate Interest Accrual , Faulty Reporting, & Incompetence From XX/XX/XXXX, until XX/XX/XXXX, the U.S. Department of Education placed my Direct Consolidation Loan into an Administrative Forbearance, also known as the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Federal Payment Pause , with a 0 % interest rate. 

In or around XXXX of XXXX, my loan was transferred from XXXX to MOHELA. At the time of this transfer, the total balance of the loan was {$160000.00}, as reported by MOHELA : this included two loan consolidation components in the amounts of {$25000.00} [ subsidized ] and {$130000.00} [ unsubsidized ], respectively. 

Even though my loan was in Administrative Forbearance with no interest accruing, MOHELA began showing that my loan balance was {$170000.00} and reporting this when the Federal Payment Pause ended in XX/XX/XXXX. 

The discrepancy between my actual student loan balance at the time that loan repayment restarted in XX/XX/XXXX after no interest had accrued during the three and a half-year Federal Payment Pause, and what MOHELA showed/reported XXXX amounts to a {$11000.00} difference. This discrepancy has never been resolved nor explained by MOHELA, despite my repeated attempts to request assistance. 

Since I noted this discrepancy in XX/XX/XXXX, I have tried reaching MOHELA for assistance many times, only to often be kept on hold for hours with no resolution, to be disconnected by their phone system with no call-back, and/or to be told inaccurate information when I do manage to succeed in reaching someone and explaining the situation. 

During a recent attempt on Friday XX/XX/XXXX, to request a loan analysis and get this matter resolved, I waited on hold for over an hour and finally spoke to a supervisor XXXX, who offered to investigate and return my call during a scheduled call-back time the following Monday XX/XX/XXXX. She never called me back. 

To date, no further follow up on MOHELAs part has been made despite my repeated requests for a loan analysis and my complaints to MOHELA/other parties including the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office , Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX except to mail me paper copies of student loan history excerpts with no intelligible information nor explanation. When I attempted to reach MOHELA to inquire about these documents received in the mail, no one seemed to have any idea what I was talking about/what they sent. 

Currently, the student loan balance showing on my account is $ {$170000.00}, which is still incorrect. It is my understanding that due to MOHELAs error and their miscalculation of my loan balance at the time that repayment on my loan started in XX/XX/XXXX, the loan has incorrectly accrued/compounded more interest over the past year than what is actually owed. 

In addition, MOHELA continues to report my loan balance incorrectly to the credit bureaus. When I have requested that they correct the reporting, their customer service representatives deny any problem and simply state that MOHELA is reporting a payoff amount to the credit agencies, instead of the actual outstanding balance, as if this is a legitimate response to the problems that I have been trying to get them to correct over the last year. 

Denied Potential Right to a Refund On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the following message from MOHELA via email : As your federal loan servicer, we are contacting you to notify you about important information regarding your student loan account. Our records indicate that your XXXX billing statement was sent beyond the normal 21 days prior to the due date... .If you feel as through the amount you owed for the month of XXXX was incorrect or that no payment was due on your account, you may contact us within XXXX calendar days of the date of this notice to request a refund and forbearance will be applied for that month.We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. 

I followed up on this message as instructed to request a refund and ask that the refund amount be applied to an upcoming loan payment. During my call with customer service on XX/XX/XXXX, I was told this message did not apply to me so I could not receive a refund, but I was not given a full explanation as to why it did not apply. 

Predatory Interest Charges On XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified by MOHELA via email that they would be transitioning my account to a new loan servicing platform. They stated that this internal transition was expected to be finished by XX/XX/XXXX. 

Following the completion of the internal transition, I noted that interest had been charged on my account during the transition period. I called MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX, to ask for an explanation as to why interest was accruing when my loan was essentially on hold so that they could complete this internal change. A customer service representative confirmed that MOHELA placed the loan on Administrative Forbearance during the internal transition and that given my concerns, she would refer my complaint to MOHELA for further review. I again have received no response. 

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter, which has become a constant burden due to hundreds of lost hours working on this and a source of chronic stress for myself and my family. Please contact me with any questions. 

Most sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX