Consumer complaint received 2024-01-31
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Maximus Federal Services, Inc. (MA)

I am student federal loan borrower who is currently signed up for the SAVE plan under the Biden Administration. I have been enrolled as a SAVE borrower since XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to that, I consolidated my federal loans. When repayments began in XXXXXXXX XXXX, I was well prepared, and I had received a notice ( attached ) alerting me to the fact that my income qualifies me to pay {$0.00} in monthly payments, and also, I accrue 0 % interest on my loans. In XXXX, {$13000.00} ( two loans ) were serviced by AidVantage, and {$55000.00} ( three loans ) were serviced by XXXX. The sum of all my loans combined was locked at an unwavering {$69.00}, XXXX. 
Each month, I audit my accounts- federal loan accounts, investment portfolios, car note, credit cards, etc. I balance assets against liabilities. XXXX, my AidVantage and XXXX accounts have remained at {$13000.00} and {$55000.00}, respectively. 
Come XXXX, there was a change. Upon logging into my XXXX account, my loans are deemed " paid in full. '' I did not receive any email correspondence in my XXXX  inbox account ( or any linked email inbox ). After much digging, I found a notice ( also attached ) from XXXX alerting me that my loans will be transferred to AidVantage, so that AidVantage can oversee ALL of my loans. In this notice, XXXX stated that " This transfer will not impact the existing terms, conditions, interest rate, or available repayment plans of your federal student loans. '' I then logged into my AidVantage, and soon discovered that my loans did not appear to transfer as smoothly as promised. All 5 of my federal loans were listed, but only the original two that AidVantage had been overseeing were consolidated, and receiving the benefits of the SAVE plan. The three loans incoming from XXXX were unconsolidated, no longer enrolled in the SAVE plan, and gaining interest quickly. On account of this, I had a payment due for XXXX -- I was alarmed, to say the least. Here, too, I dug around in my account until I was able to find a link to an account inbox that held my statements and other notices. There was no notice pertaining to loan transfer. There was a statement for the current bill, in the amount of XXXX -- That statement was dated XX/XX/XXXX. It was XX/XX/XXXX. The bill corresponding to this statement was due XX/XX/XXXX - the very next day. I went to FSA.gov and speedily reconsolidated all my loans, and re-enrolled for the SAVE plan ( even though I was not due for renewal until XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX  I thought by taking matters into my own hands to reduce bills and stop interest would be the best option. XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX was a Saturday and Sunday, and I could not place a call to AidVantage, XXXX, or FSA.gov. 
Come Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I had a balance of XXXX -- due with AidVantage : a late XXXX -- and XXXX 's XXXX -- compiled on top. I called AidVantage and spoke to an agent who claimed that upon loan transfers, the terms and conditions set by a previous loan service company are not transferrable, and doing what I did ( without being told ) to reconsolidate and re-enroll in SAVE was " exactly what I should have done. '' I mentioned that under the SAVE plan, my loans never grew interest ( 0 % ) and I never had a payment, and she said that is false, because all loans gain interest. I can assure you, this is not the case, as I was looking at the grand sum of {$69000.00} for months prior to now. I was able to request that she place my account in forebearance, and she unwillingly obliged. This then reduced my payments back to $ 0 monthly dues. But - the interest still grew, even with all five loans in forbearance.

In the interim, I called AidVantage to again ask for loan interest to be halted and refunded ( I am waiting 30-45 days for my loan reconsolidation/SAVE re-enrollment efforts to be approved ), and was told that is not something they can do, as they do not control interest rates ( of course, not, but again, this answer did not satisfy the question I was asking. They are businesspeople through and through who twist scripts and confuse you purposely ). Unhappy with that answer, I called XXXX and spoke to an agent who was able to look into my account and she told me that AidVantage certainly " messed things up '' and she has only ever heard of smooth transfers, where loans should never come out of consolidation or be stripped of their payment plan benefits. 
Over the weekend of XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, I also submitted a complaint to FSA.gov after selecting the " dealing with my loan servicer '' description to submit my feedback. My complaint is dated XX/XX/XXXX. I received a reply today, XX/XX/XXXX, stating that FSA.gov is unable to answer questions or hear complaints akin to mine, and that I should deal with AidVantage. There is no complaint forum on AidVantage 's website. After speaking with two of their agents, I am confident that my experience will be manipulated and spun in a different direction, further away from a fair resolution.