Consumer complaint received 2017-09-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (MN)

I have been working with Fed Loan to certify my income for an income based repayment plan since XXXX. After having to submit multiple applications with different supporting information to verify my income and employment, I was told that my monthly loan payment would go from {$200.00} per month to {$450.00} per month. I could n't afford the extra monthly payment, so I immediately contacted Fed Loan to request a lower payment amount, and I 've been dealing with that issue since XXXX. 

I uploaded my application to change payment plans to their online document server on XXXX XXXX. My previous repayment plan ended XXXX XXXX, and then starting in XXXX I was supposed to owe {$450.00}. Since I still had n't heard anything from Fed Loan about the status of my request, I called customer service on XXXX XXXX and asked what I was supposed to do about my payment. I was told to not make the {$450.00} payment that my account says I owed, but to instead wait until XXXX, pay a {$5.00} skip payment fee, and then my new payment plan would begin. Just to be safe, I requested that they put my loans in forbearance for the last 10 days of XXXX so my account would n't be marked delinquent. 

I waited through XXXX, but my account never showed the {$5.00} payment. I spoke with an employee via chat on XXXX XXXX, and was very clearly told that I should NOT make the XXXX payment, but wait until XXXX XXXX, then pay {$5.00} even though that was n't the amount I was told was due. She told me that {$5.00} would bring my account current, and then they would process my request to change payment plans.I submitted my initial request in XXXX, and they still had n't processed my paperwork 4 months later. 

I did as I was instructed, and early in XXXX my account was still showing the past due amount for XXXX. I called customer service on XXXX XXXX to ask about this. I was told that they were still processing my application, and to call back in another 2-3 weeks if I had n't heard anything. I was promised that my account would be returned to good standing once I was switched to a different repayment plan. 

I received notification my repayment plan change on XXXX XXXX and told that my new payment amount would begin for my payment due XXXX XXXX. My loans are currently in forbearance for XXXX, but my account still shows I owe the XXXX payment. I chatted with someone today, XXXX XXXX, and was told that I was given incorrect information about my XXXX payment during my chat conversation on XXXX XXXX. 

The person I chatted with today told me that he put in a request for an administrative forbearance to cover the XXXX payment, but that would take 15-20 days to process. He assured me that if I make my XXXX payment in full and on time it would still count toward my qualifying payments for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. In the meantime, I was instructed by a Fed Loan representative to continue to let my account remain delinquent. 

I tried to clarify some final details at the end of our conversation, but the representative I was speaking to stopped responding to my questions. After 15 minutes without a response from him to repeated chats I sent, I disconnected.