Consumer complaint received 2022-09-27
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA (IL)

My federal direct student loans were consolidated and transferred to MOHELA in XX/XX/XXXX ( applied at the end of XXXX and received confirmation letter dated XX/XX/XXXX ), so that I could take advantage of the benefits of the limited PSLF waiver. I made a large number of payments under my last servicer postXXXX XXXX, XXXX ( over {$80000.00} ), but have not made any with MOHELA yet, as my job and financial situation have changed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called and requested a refund under the CARES Act of all payments I had made since XX/XX/XXXX ( again, I believe this is over {$80000.00} ). I spoke with a representative and explained the situation. I explained that I have consolidated and transferred my loans and that the payments were " pre-MOHELA ''. I was told this would " absolutely not '' be a problem. The representative was not able to see my previous payments, as they hadn't transferred over yet, but said that the Dept. of Treasury would provide that information when MOHELA sent them the request. I was told it would take about 5 days for MOHELA to process my request before sending it to Treasury and then 30-45 days for Treasury to process the request, perhaps longer for the actual refund to hit my account because it is a large amount. At this time I was told that the refund would be issued to me via the same method use to make the payment ( i.e. to my bank account ) On XX/XX/XXXX, I called MOHELA back to confirm that my refund had been received and was processing. The representative confirmed that my request had been received but was not processing yet. I was again given a 30-60 timeline to receive the refund and was again told that the refund would be sent back to my bank account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called MOHELA for an update. I was told that the refund would take up to 30 days ( from the date of initial request ) for the refund to process on MOHELA 's end, but that it hadn't started processing yet. The representative said that I should see my balance increase within a few weeks. I was again told that the refund would go to my bank account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called MOHELA for an update. I was told that the refund was processing and that it had been sent to the Dept. of Treasury. This representative then hung up on me. 

I called MOHELA back on XX/XX/XXXX. After initially being told that the representative could not help me, I spoke with a manager who told me that my refund request had been sent to the Department of Treasury on XX/XX/XXXX. I was given an estimate of 60-90 days from XX/XX/XXXX. This manager also said that all checks would come via mail, that there was no direct deposit option. I was also told that my MOHELA account balance may not update until " the checks are cut. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I called back for an update as it has now been over a month since my initial request. I was told that MOHELA actually had to make TWO refund requests for my account - one for my pre-MOHELA payments and one for any MOHELA payments. The MOHELA-payments request had been sent on XX/XX/XXXX. But, again, that's for {$0.00}, as I've made no payments through MOHELA. My actual refund request, for pre-MOHELA payments, had not been sent to Dept. of Treasury at all and was still " pending '' with MOHELA. Further, the representative would not give any timeline at all. She wouldn't even say whether I could expect a refund this calendar year or if it could take up to 12 months. 

Every time I have called MOHELA, I have received different information. It has been over a month since my original request and MOHELA has not even processed my pre-MOHELA refund request ( the MOHELA-payments request is nothing, so it isn't helpful ). I have not seen my account balance update, nor have I received any refunds. I was originally told that it would take around 5 days for MOHELA to process my request and send it to Treasury. It's now been over a month and my refund request is still " pending '' with MOHELA. No one can give me a straight answer. No one will tell me what is taking so long or why other requests are moving so quickly while mine stagnates. 

I ask MOHELA to finish processing my pre-MOHELA request, update my balance accordingly, and send the request to Treasury as soon as possible. If they can not process it and send the request out immediately, I ask MOHELA to tell me, in detail, why and what they are doing to remedy this delay.