Consumer complaint received 2017-11-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: AES/PHEAA (CA)

In XX/XX/XXXX, I was asked to recertify my student loan as part of the proof of income requirement on my loan. I was under an Income Based Repayment Plan for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program with XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

My husband had been laid off and did not work the first four months of the calendar year. While my income had rose, I asked that my monthly payment not be increased, due to my husbands loss of income ( I am the only student loan holder but we file our taxes married filing jointly ). I provided the documentation as requested, including our last tax return for XX/XX/XXXX ( it was my understanding they were using our XX/XX/XXXX tax return 's adjusted gross income amount and also took into consideration my husband 's reduction in income based on his submitted pay check copies ). The monthly loan payment at that time was {$950.00}. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX approved this request in XX/XX/XXXX and did not raise my monthly payment amount. However in XX/XX/XXXX, due to a job reassignment and our family situation, I chose to go back to my formeXXXX XXXX XXXX, resulting in a 30 % pay deduction. I requested a lower monthly loan payment evaluation in XX/XX/XXXX, due to the reduction in income, under the Income Based Repayment Plan. I filled out the IDR request forms as required, and included my XXXX XXXX contract and the up to date paycheck copies for my husband. 

The first problem I had was XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me an e-mail and letter that my payment was going UP, not down to {$1400.00}. I called customer service and they explained my contract from my district was not enough I needed a letter from my employer stating my current gross income. The representative said I did not need to resubmit my husbands paystub copies. 

I faxed in the letter stating my salary as requested. The next week I received an email stating this and my loan type had been changed : We recalculated your monthly payment for the Revised Pay As You Earn ( REPAYE ) plan. 
Your total monthly payment amount is {$1900.00}. 

Upon receiving this e-mail I once again called customer service. For the past month and a half, I get no resolution the representative can not help me. What kind of loan company raises a rate when someone asked for a decrease due to loss of income? The e-mail also mentions I am in a Revised Pay As You Earn plan which I have not been nor did I request to be switched to. It has always been the Income Based Repayment Plan. When I estimate our gross income for XX/XX/XXXX, it is about {$65000.00} less than our XX/XX/XXXX AGI and I have provided the documentation to support this. This is not even including the itemized deductions we will be taking on our XX/XX/XXXX return. My payment should not be increasing. The documentation I supplied, as per their IDR forms, states they are supposed to take the paystubs and letter into consideration. They keep insisting they are using the payment amount based on our XX/XX/XXXX AGI on our XX/XX/XXXX federal tax return, but yet the IDR request forms required that I submit documentation, which was the paystubs, which show the reduction in income. Everytime I talk to them, no one explains why these are n't being used to determine my payment. 

My biggest concern besides not being able to afford {$1900.00} a month. I had to put my loan into forebearance, which will delay the 120 payment terms of the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program requirements. I am currently in year 3 and have 7 years left in my payment plan.