Consumer complaint received 2017-07-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company: AES/PHEAA (VA)

I took out my first loan in XX/XX/XXXX. In total I have 4 loans ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX). They originally amounted to about {$24000.00}. Over the years, I have had the advantage of being able to place a forbearance on the loan when I had financial need. When I came back to the loan, the monthly payment has been the same although additional interest has been added to the loan ( and theoretically additional time to go along with the months missed ). I took a forbearance in XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX when I was diagnosed with XXXX and had some additional medical bills to handle. My payment after that was {$99.00} - the same as it had been for several years prior. In late XX/XX/XXXX I was forced to take one again when my fiance was out of a job and I was trying to partially support him. This time however, things were different. The forbearance ended in XX/XX/XXXX. In that time, I was able to make 1 payment of {$50.00} in an effort to hold off some of the additional interest that was accruing. The first bill I received for XX/XX/XXXX showed a payment of {$100.00}, slightly higher than the {$99.00} I had been paying. I assumed it was due to the interest over the time I had not been paying and that this would be the new norm. Later that month, a statement of new loan terms was sent - but I did n't see it. It stated that my new monthly payment would be {$54.00} and the loan would extend an additional 265 months. Only 3 of my loans were listed however. ( XX/XX/XXXX New Terms Statement - attached ). I did n't see this paperwork - my fault for not looking at it. When I went to pay my bill for XX/XX/XXXX, the bill was for {$36.00}. It struck me as odd, but I thought maybe I had paid ahead the previous month ( I pay every 2 weeks generally and I thought it was possible I had made an extra payment ). I went ahead and made a payment of {$50.00} as I normally try to do. In XX/XX/XXXX, my bill was for {$87.00}. Again, while odd, I thought this was the system resetting after asking for such a low amount the month before and me " over '' paying it. Then yesterday, I saw a notice saying there was new paperwork for me on the site. Assuming it was the bill, I went to look. There was a new Disclosure of Loan Repayment Terms dated XX/XX/XXXX ( attached as XX/XX/XXXX New Terms Statement ). This one stated that my new payment would be {$73.00} and the payment terms were extended 261 months. So essentially, a loan I have had for 20 years would be extended an additional 21.75 years. I will have been paying that loan for over 40 years. And no explanation was given as to why. It seems like a scam - I had a higher payment and was making progress and they wanted more interest from me so they lowered my payments to make the loan last longer. The paperwork states that " Your previous monthly payment amount was not sufficient to pay off your loans within the time period allotted. '' But the payment is lower than I had been paying in years. I called XXXX, and first I was told that my payment had never been {$99.00} but in the attached billing statements you can see that it was. When I pressed him on it, he finally " could see '' that that had been my payment although he disputed for how long. Then he told me that they had changed my loan - but no reason was given as to why or what prompted it. He then told me I could consolidate my loan through studentloan.gov. When I looked it up ( and called ),  I would have a higher interest rate, a payment of just over {$99.00} ( so close to where I was ) for 15 years. But the payment would be the same and the interest rate was locked in. This also seems like a ploy to get more interest out of me in the long run. Per the back of the forbearance form, there is a description of the types of repayment options that are available. The standard option says : Standard ( FFELP and Direct ) : The Standard plan allows you to make a monthly payment that generally remains the same ( fixed ) throughout the repayment term which can not exceed 10 years. Consolidation Loans may have up to 30 years. However, circumstances or events during repayment may result in changes to the monthly installment amount. Generally, this option is the fastest and most economical method of repayment. This is the plan I have been on as I had not qualified for any of the other income based ones. There is an " 25 year extended '' option however I did n't have enough in loans to qualify for it. Based on this information, what they have done by extending the loan to an additional 21 years is not allowed and they were not supposed to raise my payments. At this rate, it would be impossible to pay this loan off. I ca n't believe this is right. I have paid off just about half of the loan. I am fully prepared to keep paying it. But I feel like I am being ripped off and that at any moment they could do this again. It seems that when I start to make progress, they pull the rug out from you. I have no confidence that this will not continue to happen. I have included billing statements back to XX/XX/XXXX, both repayment term notices as well as a transaction history of my payments for as far back as they would allow me to pull.