Consumer complaint received 2019-10-05
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (NJ)

XX/XX/XXXX To Whom It May Concern : Please refer to complaint ID # XXXX-XXXX for previous information about this current complaint. 

I wanted to write to you to follow up on the response that Fed Loan Servicing has recently provided. I have already called them directly many times throughout the summer, talked to several Ombudsman representatives, and tried to resolve this issue through Congressman XXXX office only to be told the same unfair information, which I really find preposterous. I have recently contacted Senator XXXX office as well. The fact that they can raise rates and extend payment time is totally unfair and unjust. Especially, when the only action I performed was to fill out an application to ask for loan forgiveness to help with the financial hardships I am currently experiencing. If my application did not meet the criteria for loan forgiveness I can not comprehend why my payments and term could not remain the same as before, as opposed to now being set at a higher amount or a longer term, creating more of financial burden for myself and my family. I will be turning XXXX years old this year, and I have worked very hard in obtaining my degrees, working full-time and raising a family. By completing the PSLF application for Loan forgiveness, I was looking for help. Unfortunately, to my dismay due to unclear terms and conditions in the fine print on this application, I feel unjust practices have been put in place and take advantage of those individuals like myself who struggle to make a better life for themselves. Instead of relief, they have increased the cost to pay off the education that I worked so hard to complete. 

In response to Fed Loans communication, I would like to say at XXXX I have XXXX XXXX XXXX  for small print even with glasses. The application was filled with small print and language that was not only difficult to see/read, but language and terms that were hard to understand. I did not see or read anything that said my loan would be in forbearance, or that servicer or payment would change. Otherwise, I would have never applied. I did not understand the terms of what I was signing. The response about TEPSLF was incorrect. One representative had suggested that I send an email to have them review my application making me think this is what I was supposed to do, but after learning that this would not benefit me, I sent a follow up email that said my previous email was sent in error, and I was not interested in TEPSLF. The terms are income based and my payments would end around the same time as my original loan payments, so I am not sure why TEPSLF was offered as a suggestion in the first place. They continue to say they are waiting for my income, even after I have made it clear that I am not interested in an income based repayment plan. 
In addition, during this whole ordeal the best part is that at the end of the ten years, roughly only {$120.00} would be forgiven if I was even approved for the program. I have been paying my student loan since XXXX, {$120.00} does not even cover a payment for one month. Although they continue to say, we understand and sympathize with her concerns they are continuing to extend my loan ten years or pay {$1000.00} more a year. The response also says they had to increase the amount, or extend the loan so that it is paid off in time. In XXXX my loans were consolidated. A payment of {$200.00} until XXXX were the original terms set by XXXX, so how could Fed Loan Servicing determine different terms using the same information XXXX had. It should be the same. Also, the response eluded to a short time the loan was in a bankruptcy stay. It did accumulate interest, but not {$10000.00} worth which is what they are asking me to pay until XXXX. No company can punish a person for seeking financial relief through bankruptcy or use that as an excuse to raise rates especially since they are unaware of the reasons that prompted the action in the first place. 

Since I was denied loan forgiveness due to not having 120 consecutive payments, my loan should be returned to XXXX, or continue at the same repayment terms. I am a law-abiding citizen. I work hard as a XXXX XXXX XXXX in a poor underprivileged community, and I pay my bills. I am raising XXXX small children and am the primary caregiver of my mother in law who is XXXX years old and is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX My income is the main financial resource for my household. I can not afford almost a {$100.00} more a month, or agree to pay ten more years of this loan with the increasing cost of living each year, raising children. I have not made any payments to this company and will not until this situation is rectified especially that the response states that any payment over the money due will go to interest first. I have not received correct information from any representative that I spoke to thus far. I dont want any payments to be understood as in agreement with anything they have said or set forth since they have taken over my loan. At the end of one of their supervisors response ( Mr. XXXX ), he suggests to contact The Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, which I did two weeks ago only to be told by the representative, It is what it is. Clearly, an unkind response in that he does not have to come up with the funds to meet Fed Loans 50 % increase. I want my loan returned to XXXX under the same repayment terms. The stress and anxiety that this situation has caused is unbearable and unnecessary. The Public Loan Forgiveness program is a ruse, and should be replaced with a program that will really help hard working American people not take advantage of them because of lengthy hard to read fine print or terms that are hard to understand.