Consumer complaint received 2024-04-01
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA (MO)

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX declared a national emergency due to the XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX announced that part of the CARES ACT would include a nation-wide pause ( Administrative Forbearance ) on all federal student loans. This was made retroactive to XX/XX/XXXX. 

During the XXXX Emergency Relief Act federal student loans were paused and payments were not required, interest rates were set at 0 %, income re-certifications to calculate income-driven payment ( XXXX ) plans were not required, and these administrative forbearance months all counted towards XXXX and XXXX forgiveness XXXX If student loan borrowers had made payments accidentally during this pause, they could request refunds from their student loan borrowers several years after the fact. 
In XXXX of XXXX my student loans were being serviced by XXXX and I was in an Income Driven Repayment Plan ( XXXX ) known as Income-Based Repayment ( IBR ). I had been on the XXXX plan since XXXX of XXXX. Part of being in an IDR requires that you recertify your income annually to recalculate your monthly payment based upon your income. While on XXXX if your income increases to a point where you no longer meet partial financial hardship or if you fail to recertify your income before the annual plan anniversary, your payment increases to the standard payment plan amount based on the amount owed by the borrower when they first entered XXXX ( XXXX for me ). Student loan servicers take anywhere between XXXX to XXXX weeks to process an income recertification application and so they instruct their student loan borrowers to send in their income recertifications well before the annual plan anniversary. My annual payment plan anniversary is on XX/XX/XXXX. And XX/XX/XXXX would be the first new monthly payment calculated upon my most recent income tax return. I have attached a letter from XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating that my payment plan would be $ XXXX and would be active from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. This indicates that I still had partial financial hardship when the pause began on XX/XX/XXXX and that I had XXXX remaining payments of {$590.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. This is important, because ultimately XXXX would instruct student loan borrowers and companies that when payments resumed that the student loan borrowers monthly payment would be what it was before XXXX began and my payment was $ XXXX. 

In order to successfully comply and honor the XXXX week timeline, XXXX informed XXXX that my deadline to recertify in XXXX was XX/XX/XXXX. In order to meet the deadline, I filled out a paper-based income recertification application signed on XX/XX/XXXX and mailed it to XXXX. 

However, on XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX XXXX was announced ( same day as my XXXX recertification deadline ) and made retroactive to XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX day before my signed re-certication application ). I emphasize again that income recertifications were not required during the pause and that this income recertification would result in my payment increasing from $ XXXX to the XXXX standard-payment amount of $ XXXX starting XX/XX/XXXX. So XXXX should not have processed my IDR application, given it wasnt required and it was no longer in my best interest as a student loan borrower and because XXXX had clearly stated that the payments would resume at the amount they were before the XXXX pause began. I remind you that during this pause, borrowers were able to request refunds of payments made if it was in their best interest. All of the COIVD measures were made to act in the borrowers best interest. Indeed, I received correspondence from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX stating that they were unable to process my application request. The XXXX pandemic was an ongoing, evolving situation and, as a consequence, the XXXX pause was set to end multiple times and then extended multiple times. Each time the payment pause was set to end, student loan servicers, without any guidance from XXXX, sent out notification to their borrowers months in advance instructing them to recertify their income for XXXX plans. I did so, incorrectly, as instructed by XXXX and recertified again XX/XX/XXXX, which would have resulted in my payment increasing to {$2800.00}. However, again the pause was extended along with all the benefits associated with it, to include no requirement for income recertification. 

My student loans were transferred to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX after XXXX lost their contract with the federal government. Again my loans were transferred a third time to Mohela after I submitted a PSLF form on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, well before the XX/XX/XXXX deadline. My federal student loans were transferred to Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Much to my consternation Mohela had my projected payment on their website listed as being {$2800.00}. I was supposed to have XXXX more payments of $ XXXX left on my payment plan. However, with constantly changing information from XXXX, I decided to wait until more information came in about loans restarting and the requirement for income recertification. The new projected date to restart payments was XX/XX/XXXX. At this time multiple individuals on the internet were stating they too had been burdened with a higher monthly payment amount due to incorrectly recertifying during the covid pause at their student loan companys request. Many of these individuals were able to undo those recertifications and have their payments put back to their pre-covid levels. In a XXXX XXXX, I learned of an individual whose loans were serviced by Mohela who had recertified with XXXX in XXXX of XXXX causing his payment to increase by thousands of dollars. He transferred his loans to Mohela and then requested his income re-certication be reversed. They refused and he filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Mohela granted his request ( XXXX years after he recertified ) and he posted the letter Mohela had written him on the XXXX XXXX. With this proof in hand, I called Mohela in XX/XX/XXXX and made this request for myself. I was denied. 

In XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I sent Mohela an in-box message asking for them to restore my payment to what it was pre-covid. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Mohela replied they submitted a request to put my payment back to what it was pre-covid. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they told me they received an IDR from me and that my application was incomplete. This is incorrect. I did not submit an IDR. I asked for them to restore my previous payment. 

The payment pause finally ended on XX/XX/XXXX and the guidance from XXXX was that income recertifications were STILL NOT required until XX/XX/XXXX. Effectively, this meant millions of student loan borrowers were making monthly payment amounts based on their XXXX income tax returns. Despite this instruction from XXXX, student loan companies STILL incorrectly bullied and harassed their borrowers under threat to recertify their income starting in XXXX of XXXX. Millions did, resulting in higher monthly payments. XXXX then took action and pushed the requirement for income recertification out AGAIN to XXXX of XXXX. I repeat, federal student loan borrowers are NOT required to recertify their income from the dates of XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. Both of my recertifications happened within this time frame, causing me harm. Furthermore, XXXX took more aggressive action with these student loan companies who incorrectly threatened their borrowers into recertifying in early and instructed the companies to restore the monthly payment amounts to the previous lower payment amount. This is currently being enacted right now and I wish to be treated the same, even though I recertified much earlier than XX/XX/XXXX. The same XXXX happened to me as these individuals. I was told to recertify when I didnt have to and my payment went up. This has happened to millions since XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX has given clear instructions to the loan companies to restore the borrowers lower monthly payment. This is what I am asking for. It doesnt matter if I had recertified in XXXX of XXXX, XXXX of XXXX, or XX/XX/XXXX, the instruction from congress XXXX clear. Student loan borrowers werent required to recertify, so the companies are being instructed to restore borrowers lower monthly payments. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explaining my situation. I told them that I wanted Mohela to deactivate my voluntary income disclosures made on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX during the COVID payment pause, because income recertifications were not required during this pause and this ultimately hurt me as a student loan borrower. I wanted them to restore my income disclosure I made on XX/XX/XXXX, which used my XXXX income tax return to calculate my monthly payment of {$590.00} and this was the payment amount active on XX/XX/XXXX when the covid pause began. I would never have recertified if I knew that income recertification wasnt going to be required until XXXX of XXXX, because it resulted in my payment increasing by thousands of dollars. And this is unfair because millions of student loan borrowers are still making monthly payment amounts from XXXX because they did not recertify as incorrectly instructed by their student loan servicers, like I unfortunately have. I have been harmed by following the instructions of my student loan servicers. 

Mohela responded on XX/XX/XXXX via the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint that they would request additional information from ( my ) prior servicer for evaluation of ( my ) past repayment schedules eligibility for extension under the XXXX payment pause. This was excellent news to me, because I still had XXXX more months left on my plan when the pause began so I was definitely eligible for extension of my plan. I did not hear from Mohela again and called for an update in early XXXX. Mohela told me they had no record of my complaint to CFPB but they would submit my request again to revert my payment back to pre-covid levels. On XX/XX/XXXX, this is the response I received. Please note them telling me I need to recertify before XX/XX/XXXX AGAINST official federal guidance AND that they sent me this response on XX/XX/XXXX telling me I need to perform an action before XX/XX/XXXX ( clearly several months in the past. ) Thank you for contacting MOHELA, We apologize for any inconvenience this XXXX have caused. Your monthly payment has recently increased because the certification period for your reduced payment on your XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) plan has ended. You will need to recertify your IDR plan prior to the XXXX XXXX forbearance ending XX/XX/XXXX. 

In the interim I have sent multiple complaints, letters, correspondence to Mohela. Ive made many phone calls. On XX/XX/XXXX they sent me correspondence stating they denied my IDR application and that I needed to provide proof of income. I submitted my XXXX income tax return which was the tax return that was used to calculate my payment that I was making when the COVID pause began and I sent them a letter from XXXX stating that my XXXX plan was active from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX at a monthly payment of {$590.00} and I sent them a letter from XXXX explaining that I was in XXXX and what my monthly payment amounts have been each year since XXXX to XXXX. They responded back telling me that my tax return was old and I needed more recent income in order to recertify my income. Again I told them, I am not recertifying my income. I am asking to deactivate my XXXX prior income disclosures because they harmed me and werent required. After such exasperation, I finally resorted to sending them a screen shot and the Mohela letter I found online where they granted another individual my same request. When I asked them why they granted this individual my request, but not me, they told me they cant talk to me about other peoples accounts. I asked them to read the letter they sent to that individual out loud to me and tell me how I can achieve that same outcome and the person on the phone hung up on me. 
This is XXXX of the many messages I have sent to Mohela : My federal student loans were being serviced by XXXX at the start of XXXX. I am on the Income-Based Repayment plan ( IBR ) which is a type of Income-Driven Payment plan that requires yearly income recertification or the payment increases to the what the borrower would have paid had they been on a standard payment plan when first entering IBR. On XX/XX/XXXX I received notification that my XXXX payment would soon increase and that I needed to recertify my income by XX/XX/XXXX or my current payment rate ( {$590.00} ) would expire on XX/XX/XXXX and subsequent payments and would increase to {$2800.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted my XXXX recertification to XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX Emergency Relief and Federal Student Aid ( COVID forbearance ) went into effect was announced with starting retroactively to XX/XX/XXXX. All federal student loan borrowers, including myself, were notified by XXXX that payments were automatically paused, interest was set at % XXXX, and income recertifications were not required while the forbearance was in effect. On XX/XX/XXXX I received the following email from XXXX XXXX could take up to XXXX business days for us to review and process this request for you. We understand that you want a response as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience.~~ However, the XXXX forbearance went into effect starting retroactively on XX/XX/XXXX. Thus, on XX/XX/XXXX my certification had NOT been officially processed and therefore my XXXX plan for XXXX, based on my XXXX tax return, was still active and in effect on XX/XX/XXXX when COVID forbearance began. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX sent me a correspondence date XX/XX/XXXX that I no longer met partial financial hardship and that my payment would increase to {$2800.00}. Thus, my recertification was processed on XX/XX/XXXX when recertifications were NOT required during the covid forbearance. I recertified again on XX/XX/XXXX after being inappropriately told by XXXX that I needed to recertify in time for student loan repayments to restart. This was not required since the XXXX relief act was extended. XX/XX/XXXX I received the following correspondence from XXXX XXXX XXXX Repayment ( XXXX ) plan request could not be processed.~~ On XX/XX/XXXX my loans were transferred to Aidvantage automatically after XXXX lost their federal student loan servicing XXXX. My loans were transferred to Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX after I submitted an XXXX XXXX XXXX for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Upon resumption of payments XX/XX/XXXX, The XXXX XXXX aid states that the earliest anyone would be required to submit income recertification is XX/XX/XXXX. Because I followed my student loan servicer~~s instructions and submitted my recertification 2 days before my deadline on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX and because XXXX recertified again on XX/XX/XXXX due to incorrect instructions from XXXX, my XXXX has now significantly increased since the pause ended on XX/XX/XXXX. It has been increased to {$2800.00} after resumption of payments instead of remaining {$590.00} because I submitted these unrequired, voluntary recertifications. It is unfair for me to be punished for trying to do the right thing and I should be entitled to the same benefit afforded to everyone else as no one else as been required to recertify their income during the COVID forbearance starting XX/XX/XXXX Because my recertification deadline was XX/XX/XXXX, which is the exact date the COVID XXXX relief act was announced, and my payment due on XX/XX/XXXX was still scheduled to be {$590.00} from my XXXX XXXX recertification, and because recertifications were not REQUIRED I feel that my XXXX recertifications in XXXX and XXXX should be rescinded and that my XXXX XXXX recertification ( based on my XXXX income ) should be correctly honored and my payment should continue to remain at {$590.00} until I am actually official required to recertify. I contacted MOHELA representatives via telephone and my request was escalated to a supervisor. They both told me that these unrequired recertifications from XXXX and XXXX could not be undone, which I know to be untrue from research online, where others have been able to get their recertifications submitted during the forbearance undone. I submitted a complaint to the CFPB and Mohela stated they were " requesting additional information from your prior servicer for evaluation of your past repayment schedule~~s eligibility for extension under the XXXX payment pause. '' I called today XX/XX/XXXX for an update and was told mohela had no knowledge of this complaint but escalated my request for rescinding my XXXX recertifications form XX/XX/XXXX onward. My case number for this encounter is XXXX. I expect my payment to be reverted to {$590.00} and to receive a refund for overpayments from XXXX, XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and any further months spent in overpayment. I do NOT consent to be placed in any forbearance related to processing my request. 


I am attaching some PDFS including my letter from XXXX stating my active XXXX plan of $ XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, a letter to Mohela explaining XXXX what I wanted accomplished, the screenshot of the letter Mohela wrote XXXX a third individual whose request was granted, as well as the screenshot from a XXXX group XXXX XXXX third individual explained his situation. All of these correspondences have been ignored my Mohela and they flat out refuse to discuss the fact that they are discriminating against me by granting another individual my request and not me.