Consumer complaint received 2017-05-26
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (MD)

Hello, After reading   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  ,  I have found a few points that have been brought to my attention in regards to the paperwork issues and communication problemsI am having with  XXXX  and my Loan Servicing Agent ( AES ).  <P/> Background : I joined the  XXXX  i n  XX/XX/XXXX    re ceiving the SLRP incentive and completed paperwork as directed. I filled out   XXXX  sepa rate applications  (   XXXX  private,  XXXX  federal ) andcompleted the boxes specific to the  XXXX  on the paperwork andthen sentall  XXXX  applicationsto my loan servicing agency  (  AES ) for further processing. AES received paperwork and sent it the    XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   address  as per the instructions.  XXXX  received paperworkfrom AESand processed it for payment.Ireceived a payment in   XX/XX/XXXX   as expectedonmyschool loans.AESdispersed the payment toALL XXXX  loans on my account.  <P/> Later ( about  XXXX  months a go ) it w as brought to my attention that even though payments were dispersed the first year in  XX/XX/XXXX  to all  XXXX  of myloans, t hesecond and third y ear was only dispersed to my  XXXX  federal loans. This made me questions why theyears had differed and no one had mentioned it.  <P/> Aftervery thorough investigation andcountless hours onthe phone with both AESand  XXXX , I was finallytold thata " letter of denial '' was sent by  AES  to  XXXX explaining thatthe  XXXX  private loan applications haddate discrepancies and were halted AES fromany further processing for those private loans.  <P/> Without properly informing me of the mistake for the  XXXX  private loan applications, AES still processed the  XXXX  Federal loan applications and sent the paperwork to be processed. Those federal loan applications were processed and payments were made to AES.  <P/> That payment made in  XX/XX/XXXX was incorrectly dispersed to all  XXXX  of my federal AND private loans, which indicated to me that all paperwork through  XXXX  went through fine. AES was recently confronted on the matter, admitted fault, and corrected the mistake on my account ( 3 years later ) butbecause I did not catchAES 's mistake in  XX/XX/XXXX  andI  believedall XXXX   applications had been completed and processed.  <P/> When I called  XXXX   2  weeks ago, a customer service representative told me that they, indeed, did receive that letter in   XX/XX/XXXX . XXXX  w as aware of the private loan application paperwork issue in  XX/XX/XXXX .During that call, I requested written confirmation to be signed by the supervisor of my case file saying that they received the denial letter in   XX/XX/XXXX  i n order to have it in my records and to show that  XXXX  was aware of thepaperwork issue back in  XX/XX/XXXX . I have not received that letter from  XXXX  yet, and no one has returned any of my follow up emails on the issue.  <P/> 1. According to the regulationI am eligible for SLRP and have extensively done my part as the  XXXX  to ensure the timeliness of my SLRP paperwork. I am entitled a payment for " each year of initially contracted service that is honorably served ''. The issue occurred in  XX/XX/XXXX  and since I did not receive my correct payments each year, the interest has continually accrued on amuchhigher balanceunnecessarily adding roughly {$18000.00} in interestthat I, the  XXXX , have to pay out of pocket because of  XXXX  and AES 's the lack of attention to detailand timeliness of the issue in  XX/XX/XXXX .  <P/> 2. According to the regulation,  XXXX  " Sends a letter to the  XXXX  or  XXXX  stating that  DFAS  has been authorized to pay the loan in accordance with guidance in the  XXXX  original   XXXX   contract. '' and ''  (  c ) Ensures a record of  XXXX  processing is placed into the individuals   XXXX   file. '' I never received the record of  XXXX  processing in my iperms. If these documents were placed in my  XXXX , I may have been able to deduce that only  XXXX  of those  XXXX  loans had been processed. Where is the oversight on this program?  XXXX  should have access to their files at any point in their career.  <P/> I am honestly shocked and disappointed that  XXXX  knew of an issue in   XX/XX/XXXX   and did not handle at that time which costme, the XXXX , {$18000.00} in unnecessary accrued interest of  XXXX  years on the incorrect and much higher balance.   I am also appalled at AES 's lack of attention when dispersing funds to specific loans. I am also disappointed in their military customer service branch for not escalating myissue to their corporate supervisors whenrequested.  XXXX  admitted fault on the paymentdispersingONLYafterConsumer  Finance Protection Bureauprobed  them.  <P/>  XXXX  's lack of urgency and detail along withAES'sdispersing mistake directly impacted my understanding of what loans were or were not being paid and has now left me with roughly {$18000.00} in accrued interest to pay off on my own.  <P/> Solution :  XXXX  and AES make agreement to backdate the payments ofthe private loans to  XXXX ,  XXXX , and  XXXX .   Correct the amount of accrued interest on the account as if the correct payments had been made i n  XX/XX/XXXX ,  XX/XX/XXXX and  XX/XX/XXXX .   <P/>