Consumer complaint received 2023-08-23
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: MOHELA (NY)

On XX/XX/XXXX, after receiving an email from the Department of Education about applying for the XXXXXXXX XXXX, I took a look at the application, clicking through to see what it entailed. Of course, I had to put in information to advance within the application. Unfortunately, I mistakenly submitted it, which resulted in my student loan payments going from {$230.00} to {$1000.00} per month. I work for an environmental nonprofit ( and am enrolled in the XXXXXXXX XXXX  ), a job I got during the pandemic, which increased my salary that. 

Had I not made this mistake, my payments would have remained at {$230.00} until XX/XX/XXXX when I would have been required to recertify my income ( when payments resume this XXXX, it would ha used my adjust gross income from the last time I certified, which was before I got this new job ). 

I called Mohela immediately after I made this mistake on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX ( ID XXXX XXXX ), who confirmed that I should not have switched to XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX because my payments would go up now and told me to call Federal Student Aid to have them cancel the application. 

I then called Federal Student Aid on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX ( ID number XXXX ), who said that XXXX can not cancel XXXX applications once theyve been submitted, only Mohela can. 

So then I called Mohela for the second time on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX ( ID XXXX XXXX ), who said my XXXX application would be automatically denied because my new monthly payment would be higher than my current payment and their system would think something is wrong or that I made a mistake. She said I would receive documentation in 5-7 business days stating the application had been denied and I would be put back on my previous XXXX plan with XXXX XXXX  monthly payments. She said to call Mohela back if I hadnt heard anything by then and recommended reapplying for the XXXXXXXX XXXX when I recertify my income in XX/XX/XXXX. 

After not receiving a letter or hearing anything after that, I called Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX per XXXX XXXXecommendation and spoke with XXXX ( ID number XXXX ). XXXX said that I had been given wrong information by XXXX and that once my XXXX application was submitted, they could not revert it. This is exactly the opposite of what XXXX said. XXXX also told me that she would have canceled it but it wasnt showing up in their system yet since I had just submitted it an hour or so prior. 

XXXX was shocked that my payments had tripled because of a mistakenly-submitted application, but reiterated that there was nothing Mohela could do. 

As you can imagine, going from paying less than {$250.00} to over {$1000.00} per month will have a significant impact on my financial and mental well-being. This equates to quite literally thousands of dollars that I will be paying unnecessarily at a time when I, along with many other borrowers, are already struggling financially. The XXXX plan was supposed to save us money, and my payments have now tripled. And that Mohela wouldnt ameliorate this and make an exception because it was merely a mistake is heartbreaking and cruel.