Consumer complaint received 2024-09-29
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Issue with income share agreement — Marketing or disclosure issues
Company: MOHELA (MD)

I am a first time XXXX XXXX in my family. When attending I wasnt educated enough o know about loans. XXXX XXXX issued my initial loan. When it came time for repayment I couldnt afford the {$500.00} a month they were requiring and asked for a income based repayment plan given I work in education and hadnt at the time been able to secure a full time teaching position. They refused and for months threatened to take my family and I to court. When speaking to reps on the phone they would even acknowledge being a daily substitute wasnt full time employment but would provide no relief. 

Finally, we said take us to court as I didnt have any other option. They then said we displayed a need and put me in a repayment program. A few years later I learned from a colleague about the loan forgiveness program for educators. At the time I had direct loans and private separately. I was denied entry into the program because they stated my loans werent in the correct plan. I re-applied 3x and was denied each time. I should add I was put into variable interest loans that had risen to between 11-13 % for the various loans I held. I wasnt able to pay more but the loan forgiveness told me Id have to pay {$600.00} just for the federal loans and I couldnt afford to pay more for the private loans on top of that. 

My loans then became serviced through Navient. During the pandemic I continued paying even and again tried but was denied entry to the program saying Id need to start over none of my payments would count. At this time I was trying to get my finances in order to purchase a home and saw no other way than to consolidate my loans into one payment plan with a fixed interest rate. When the forgiveness program was overthrown I reached out again and was told I still didnt qualify because at this time Id consolidated despite the fact I told them Id been previously denied and that my consolidation company is Mohela . 

I hope you can help me. I feel very robbed because I didnt know enough and despite having worked in the education field full time now for XXXX I am not receiving the support I should have. I have paid faithfully for about XXXX now and should have had my loans paid off at this point if not for the variable interest loans and horrible tactics of those companies. I currently owe $ XXXX and pay {$640.00} a month, which is really high. At this point anything that can remedy the prior actions of those companies I would greatly appreciate. I see these articles about XXXX XXXX and XXXX  but Ive not received anything from these settlements. 

When I took out the consolidation loan in 2020, I still owed around $ XXXX despite the fact Id been paying hundreds for years prior. My payments were only going to interest. When I finished college I owed $ XXXX initially so years later I hadnt getting anywhere. Prior to consolidating I was paying about {$600.00} a month. Since consolidation Ive been able to make an impact but I should be paid off at this point. Id it werent for fraudulent activity Id have been able to make more of a dent and have qualified for the education forgiveness program given that is my profession. 

Please help!