Consumer complaint received 2024-07-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Maximus Federal Services, Inc. (CA)

I have two federal Direct Loans consolidation loans, 1 subsidized and 1 unsubsidized. Both are currently serviced by Aidvantage as of XX/XX/XXXX. My previous servicer was XXXX. I am on the XXXX plan. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sent me a letter requiring me to recertify for my Income Drive Repayment ( IDR ) plan by XX/XX/XXXX. I am unaware why XXXX would have required me to recertify by XXXX, since my previous recertification annual due date was XXXX. However, because I was concerned that XXXX stated in its letter that I had to recertify or else my payment would increase, I completed the recertification form on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On approximately XX/XX/XXXX, the Department of Education Federal Student Aid announced that the XXXX recertification deadline was being extended until XX/XX/XXXX. The announcement ( found here : https : //studentaid.govXXXX  ) states that if you already had to recertify and your payment went up, the payment would be returned to the previous amount. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sent me a letter stating my IDR recertification application was approved and my new monthly payment would be {$930.00} per month with the first payment due XX/XX/XXXX. The previous payment was {$460.00}. 

I contacted XXXX via telephone on several occasions about this issue requesting that my payment be returned to the previous amount per the guidance from the XXXX XXXX XXXX. However, XXXX never fixed the issue. Instead, XXXX put me on a " processing forbearance '' from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX. Every time I called XXXX for status, they stated that the matter is still pending. I was also told by XXXX that the forbearance would count towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ), yet I have been unable to receive written confirmation of this. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX XXXX, XXXX 's Consumer Advocacy Team Specialist. I never received a response. 

I called XXXX again on XX/XX/XXXX, for approximately the fourth time, and was again told the matter is still pending with no anticipated resolution date. I was told that this would most likely not be resolved before my loan is transferred to the new servicer ( Aidvantage ). I was told by XXXX that all the notes reflecting this issue would be transferred to Aidvantage ( the new servicer ), and it would be up to them to fix the issue. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from XXXX stating XXXX placed me on an administrative forbearance from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. It appears this was an extension of the existing administrative forbearance XXXX already placed me on starting XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Aidvantage since my loans transferred to them without XXXX resolving the issue. The Aidvantage representative told me there were no notes about this issue on my account, despite XXXX informing me that information would transfer. Further, the representative had no knowledge of the XXXX XXXX XXXX 's recertification extension announced in XX/XX/XXXX. I provided the representative the website link showing XXXX XXXX XXXX 's guidance about the extension. I was told that a ticket was submitted to XXXX XXXX processing team requesting my payment be returned to the previous amount based on the XXXX XXXX XXXX guidance. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Aidvantage again. I was told the matter is still pending resolution. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Aidvantage stating that my auto payment amount has changed to {$930.00} with a debit date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Aidvantage again. I was again told there was no resolution on this. The representative stated that he put in another ticket for resolution and that I should see the matter resolved by the end of day. The representative also told me that his system showed I was in forbearance until XXXX, despite the fact that I have received letters stating my forbearance was ending in XXXX with payment due XX/XX/XXXX. I never received any communications from Aidvantage about a forbearance extension through XXXX, and such information is not reflected on my account. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, my account still shows my payment due on XX/XX/XXXX for {$930.00}.