Consumer complaint received 2023-07-11
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA (CA)

I have been contacting student loan servicer MOHELA for months ( XXXX through XXXX ). I have also contacted Federal Student Aid numerous times. I have been on hold for hours with MOHELA as well and was transferred to an elevated department several times to have questions answered, but could not remain on hold ( after 1 hour+ waits ). I was a public school teacher for 26 years. I am eligible for the PSLF. I had been denied PSLF in XXXX, under the previous administration and was not provided with any detail about why I was not eligible or what I could do to meet the PSLF guidelines. During the summer of XXXX when outreach was being made to PSLF employees and the PSLF program was re-structured, I was initially told to download the Direct Loan consolidation form and the PSLF form from MOHELA 'S website. I worked with " XXXX '', a student loan support non-profit recommended by the AFT to assist teachers in obtaining PSLF. XXXX faxed my PSLF form and the loan consolidation form ( found on MOHELA 's website ) to MOHELA after I completed both. I had a current loan with XXXX, which was not an eligible servicer for the PSLF. XXXX has proof of FAX and has shared it with me. I also submitted an additional PSLF form as my employer asked to submit it directly. I waited from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, for my forms to be processed. I was told I needed to wait 30, then 60, then 90 days. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that my Direct Loan Consolidation form was never received or processed by MOHELA. I was informed that the only way to consolidate an existing loan into a Direct Student loan was through the Fed. Student Aid website, despite a loan consolidation form being on MOHELA 's website with instructions to fax it in. In XX/XX/XXXX, I resubmitted a Loan Consolidation form to FED Stu AId. It has been processed and is now viewable on my MOHELA account site. I have now been advised that I am waiting for prior payment counts from my prior servicer ( XXXX ) to be updated in the National Student Loan Data system. I have been informed that this is done manually and may take until XXXX. The false promises of 30, 60 or 90 day processing for the PSLF is not relevant if my prior payment counts can not be calculated until XXXX Who performs this count manually? How many people are employed in this function? With so many pending PSLF forms, how is this critical function expedited? Where can I complain? I have filed complaints with Fed. Stu Aid, MOHELA and will now escalate to legislators. My PSLF form was submitted in XX/XX/XXXX and it is XX/XX/XXXX and I am now waiting for manual counts of payments to be made to prove my PSLF eligibility. I made on-time payments monthly since XXXX, and have far exceeded the 10 year PSLF requirement XXXX Additionally, my StudentAID.gov account shows two loans on my account ( the old loan and the newly consolidated loan ) in essence doubling my debt. I have been told this will be corrected in 90 days. Please advise on my recourse for expediting payment counts in the NSL Data System.I do not understand why so many public service workers are waiting for discharge and why each step of the process is not clearly outlined so it can be tracked. We have a loan forgiveness program riddled with delays and lengthy processes that are not fully explained.