Consumer complaint received 2024-05-02
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA (AK)

I have federal direct loans. I am in an IDR and was placed on a month-long forbearance by MOHELA so they could process my annual income verification the issue I need help with is outlined below. 

I submitted my annual income verification in XXXX of XXXX as prompted by MOHELA and the Department of Education. This application was accepted. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified by MOHELA that my loans had been placed in forbearance to allow for processing of " my application to an income driven repayment plan ''. 

I called MOHELA three times with the following outcomes : XXXX Call XXXX : informed that even though I had submitted an income verification, not IDR application, and that I had not requested a forbearance, that the forbearance was set to end XX/XX/XXXX and due to the length of time MOHELA takes to review challenges to these, I would not be able to remove the forbearance prior to my scheduled XX/XX/XXXX payment. I was told that I could not make this payment, and therefore, my PSLF would last 1 month longer. I was denied a representative name, contact, written confirmation of this advise or a case number. 

XXXX Call 2 : Called and informed representative of this situation and information. The representative again asserted that due to MOHELA 's review timelines, the forbearance would not be lifted prior to my payment date. With more discussion, the representative agreed to " escalate '' my case for review in 5-7 business days, and that I would have to call back regarding my status. The representative also stated that I could make a payment regardless of the forbearance status on XX/XX/XXXX and that this payment would count toward PSLF. The representative again denied providing a representative name, contact, written confirmation of this advise or a case number. 

XXXX Call : Called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a representative that would neither confirm nor deny that an escalated forbearance review had been completed and on my account and confirmed that payments were set to resume XX/XX/XXXX. Representative stated that, per Federal policy, a loan holder must be given 21 days notice of a payment and that is why I had been placed in forbearance. The representative stated that due to XXXX, MOHELA was unable to process information in a manner that would not have delayed my application when I challenged this assertion with my multi-year experience of not having missed a payment with any of the 8 other income verifications I have previously filed. The representative stated that the payment missed due to the XXXX forbearance would not count to PSLF, but that if a new Federal policy was allowed, I may receive credit even though I was in forbearance. The representative denied providing a representative name, contact, written confirmation of this advise or a case number. 

This is exceptionally disappointing because : a ) I did not request this forbearance, MOHELA placed it of their own accord for a normal process for a person in IDR ; b ) at each time point contacting MOHELA different advise and information was shared, often contradictory leading to inability for myself to take action ; c ) at each time point contacting MOHELA I was denied basic information to be able reference my issue, the advise offered, or even check on the status of supposed actions by MOHELA ; d ) income verification has neither resulted in my account being placed in forbearance or a delay in my ability to make payments with previous loan servicers, and due to MOHELA 's inability to administer my required annual loan documentation in a timely manner, my estimated PSLF forgiveness date has now been delayed 1 month. 

The missed PSLF payment for XX/XX/XXXX due to MOHELA placed forbearance should count toward my PSLF payment count or I should be allowed to make a payment for the XX/XX/XXXX forbearance related missed payment to count toward my PSLF total. I have filed a complaint with the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman, have emailed the MOHELA ombudsman to file a complete, filed a complaint with CFPB and am also contacting TISLA for help and sought assistance from federal student aid.