Consumer complaint received 2024-01-12
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA (AZ)

Hello, I am writing to you in regards to filing a complaint against Mohela. My communication correspondence with Mohela has caused me extreme stress and XXXX  because of the continuous misinformation I get when I call and speak with them. After many phone calls and speaking to countless managers and supervisors, I do not know how to move forward. In XXXX, I requested my XXXX Loan Forgiveness application be canceled and nothing has been done. I requested this be done because it would possibly interfere with my Public Loan Forgiveness Program that states after 120 consecutive payments, a borrower 's loans will be forgiven entirely. In the past, an educator could not combine the years of service for both programs. However, recently there was a one time waiver opportunity that allowed borrowers to do so, but the waiver has now expired. However, I did complete it and have it on file with Mohela. Also, the Department of Education recently announced they are doing a new One time IDR Account Adjustment. I have had many questions about the programs, the special waivers, account adjustments and canceling my application but Mohela has continued to give me different information each time I call asking questions and requesting action be taken on my account. Below, I explained every communication correspondence I have had with them as I have kept a record of everything. I hope you can look into my situation. I am extremely worried and this has caused me so much stress and XXXX. 

-On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted my XXXX Loan Forgiveness application. As of today, I have been an XXXX XXXX XXXX  for 5 consecutive years for the same XXXX XXXX XXXX. The XXXX Loan Forgiveness program would forgive up to {$5000.00} of my loans because of my years of service in a qualifying XXXX. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX Loan Forgiveness application was put in APPROVED status. I spoke to a representative at XXXX XXXX XXXX on this day letting her know I did further research and would like to cancel my XXXX Loan Forgiveness application due to it possibly interfering with my Public Service Loan Forgiveness application. I do not want to interfere with my current Public Service Loan Forgiveness application as the benefits of that program will help me more than the XXXX Loan Forgiveness program. The representative ( she ) let me know she submitted the request to another department for cancellation and it would take 2 business days to hear back an update. She did confirm it was not too late to do so since it was just put in APPROVED status. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX ( the same day ) I called back to ask the question regarding me having the Public Service Loan Forgiveness special waiver ; I had completed further research. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness special waiver allowed XXXX to essentially double dip and use their years of service for both Public Service Loan Forgiveness and XXXX Loan Forgiveness. Last year, I completed the special waiver form and they confirmed they had it on file. I explained that after doing research, I saw that an XXXX may no longer be able to combine the time of service for the XXXX Loan Forgiveness and the Public Loan Forgiveness. However, I did complete the Limited PSLF Waiver form before the XX/XX/XXXX deadline and it was processed as well as approved and my Public Service Loan Forgiveness payments are reflecting during that time. For my particular situation, the credit of payments would be for the same time of service I would be using to fulfill my XXXX  loan forgiveness requirement ( XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ). I explained that from my understanding, my XXXX loan forgiveness being approved will not interfere with credit I am receiving for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program because I applied for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness during the limited waiver period. The representative confirmed that this is correct information. However, I told her I still wanted to cancel the XXXX  Loan Forgiveness application because I do not want to risk anything happening to my Public Service Loan Forgiveness payments. 
-I followed up and spoke to a representative XX/XX/XXXX and they confirmed seeing the request that was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX but they had no updates. 
-I followed up and spoke to a representative on XX/XX/XXXX and they confirmed seeing the request was submitted but they had no updates. 
-I followed up and spoke to a representative on XX/XX/XXXX and they confirmed seeing the request was submitted but they had no updates. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to a representative and they confirmed the request was put in an assignment to an agent to review and could take 10 business days. This was new information regarding the time frame of the request being fulfilled. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX, I received email communication from Mohela stating, MOHELA has reviewed your request for loan discharge and your application has been forwarded to the U.S. Department of Education ( ED ). ED will review your application and make a determination of your eligibility for discharge of the loan ( s ). You will be notified once ED determines whether you are eligible for discharge of the loan ( s ). This email was received after I submitted the request for cancellation for my XXXX Loan Forgiveness application and got confirmation from Mohela representatives that my request for cancellation had been submitted on XX/XX/XXXX. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX, I followed up with Mohela once again and spoke to a representative. The representative stated that she sees on her end, XXXXLF completed pending FSA ( Federal Student Aid ) Review. She then explained that the application was submitted and processed on XX/XX/XXXX. I let them know that is not true, my application was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX but it was not in APPROVED status till XX/XX/XXXX. This was the same day I requested it to be canceled. I brought up my question regarding the special waiver and having it on file. Mohela 's representative response was under the IDR one time account adjustment, if it counts towards the IDR account adjustment or forgiveness, it will count towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Further, they stated that different expectations of the rule- not special waiver. The representative further explained that it used to be difficult for people to qualify for forgiveness and the Department of Education is trying to correct this. The Department of Education is now doing a one time account adjustment by reviewing everyone 's student loans. Under IDR one account adjustment, they will count my time of service for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and XXXX Loan Forgiveness. I requested to speak with someone else to confirm this information. After being on hold for quite some time the representative responded and stated that they got feedback that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness would not count towards XXXX Loan Forgiveness. I explained that I have received mixed information regarding my unique situation and needed to speak to a manager. After being on hold, a manager stated that under the IDR one time account adjustment the time of service will allow me to potentially qualify for both programs. I told this manager all the steps I have taken thus far and the feedback I received. They stated this was now an escalation case and they would transfer me to someone else to look into this. They stated I will not lose time due to IDR one time account adjustment. The representative confirmed seeing on their end that I requested to cancel my XXXXLF application t on XX/XX/XXXX. However, they can not cancel it because it has already been sent to the FSA. They further explained that I will still be eligible under IDR one time account adjustment because if it counts towards IDR forgiveness, it will count towards it. Still have qualifying payment under IDR one time account adjustments, XXXXLF will not cancel out. The representative also confirmed not seeing a resolution on their end regarding the XXXXLF application request being canceled on XX/XX/XXXX. However, the supervisor stated that it is too late to cancel but should be fine due to IDR account adjustment. 
XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke to a representative know I was following up because after doing further research I discovered that the IDR one time account adjustment is very similar to Public Service Loan Forgiveness limited time waiver, however, what is not included is the XXXX Loan Forgiveness and eligibility so I wanted to follow up on my request to cancel my XXXX  Loan Forgiveness application. I explained speaking to a manager a few days ago and them telling me I would be fine because of the IDR one time account adjustment. I explained that no money has been removed from my account, and my request to cancel was the same day it was APPROVED. The first representative stated that he does see the qualifying payments from XX/XX/XXXX- XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX Qualifying payments ) will not be interfered with due to IDR one time account adjustment. He then went to the studentaid.gov website and read that *The only exception to this is if you applied for PSLF during the limited PSLF waiver period* He stated, I believe you will be fine. He further stated seeing the request to cancel but the application was already sent to FSA to be approved. He sent a message to the supervisor stating borrower would like for the XXXX Loan Forgiveness application to be suspended or withdrawn and it could take 3-5 business days to get done. He then said he had permission to send me to a customer service supervisor. This customer service supervisor stated that we can get that canceled for you and placed me on hold. She came back and said that she saw the request that was submitted XX/XX/XXXX and it was done. I asked for documentation because even though I requested for it to be submitted, I continuously keep calling because I never got confirmation it was fully done and completed. She confirmed it has been done and the letter will be sent out and FSA will need some time to update my account. 

It is now XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received any letter or email that states that my XXXX Loan Forgiveness application was canceled. My Mohela account says the XXXX Loan Forgiveness application was " APPROVED '' and no money has been forgiven - my student loan balance is still the same.The last Mohela representative I spoke to let me know I would receive documentation that my request had been done. I have taken all the necessary steps to do so and my account has not had any updates. 
My frustration and concern comes from Mohela 's mixed responses on my ability as a borrower to use my years of service for both the XXXX Loan Forgiveness program and the Public Loan Forgiveness program. Every single supervisor/manager/representative gave me different feedback on my situation. Nevertheless, I requested for my application to be canceled. If the application goes through because Mohela did not cancel the application like I requested many times, I will potentially lose XXXX Public Service Loan Forgiveness payments and I will be absolutely devastated. The {$5000.00} XXXX Loan Forgiveness amount does not help me like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, I rather just work towards this program. All my service as an XXXX has been dedicated to working in a XXXX XXXX XXXX  to ensure I can receive forgiveness on my student loans. I feel I have done my due diligence and Mohela continues to not provide me accurate information and correctly submit my request.