Consumer complaint received 2017-09-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: AES/PHEAA (CA)

To whom it may concern : As of today, my student loan account is 5 days past due, but I have been attempting to get an explanation of why my monthly payments have increased from {$190.00} in XX/XX/XXXX to {$870.00} in XX/XX/XXXX. In shock, I initially contacted XXXX for an explanation, and spoke to several agents over the past few months. I was told that the change was a result of me getting married in XX/XX/XXXX, where consequently my wife and I filed a joint tax return in XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX explanations maintained that our combined gross household income was taken into consideration for recalculating my student loan payments when I submitted the forms to recertify for the Income Based Repayment ( IBR ) Plan and for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) Program. I want to point out that my wife makes 45 % more than I do annually, and our household income has increased by that much if you look at our latest tax records. Moreover, my wife XXXX XXXX to our XXXX boys this past XXXX, and according to XXXX, because my family size has now increased, that also may explain why my monthly payments I have significantly increased. This is perplexing to me because my disposable/discretionary income has dramatically decreased because due to my family having other significant financial burdens, such as a mortgage payments, daycare costs for our XXXX boys, hospital bills, monthly insurance payments, car payments ( we had to buy a bigger car for our bigger family ), and so forth. Moreover, I understand the IBR Plan generally charges 10 percent of discretionary income. The newly calculated monthly payment is beyond that 10 percent for my family. As such, I fail to understand how XXXX can ask me to go from paying {$190.00} a month to {$870.00} simply because I got married and had kids. 

Earlier this month, while speaking again with another XXXX agent over the phone and her supervisor in hopes of having my monthly payment lowered to something more manageable, I was instead encouraged to complete a form and make a Mandatory Forbearance Request based on Student Loan Debt Burden, as well as resubmit another application for Income Driven Repayment Plan. This would mean that in the meantime I would defer my payments while the interest on my student loans continues to climb and lead to the principal balance I owe growing ever more astronomically. This also does not make sense to me. I want to meet my obligations and pay the debt I owe. I do not want to jump through hoops every year to ensure that I meet those obligations. However, I find the rationale behind how my latest monthly payments have been calculated to be extremely short-sighted and simply unfair. My wife and family should not be penalized for my student loan obligations. After failing to come to any resolution over the phone with XXXX, I wrote a formal letter politely requesting XXXX lower my monthly payment to something we can afford, and I offered a figure that I felt was fair and reflective of how much our income increased -- $ XXXX/month, which is an 84 % increase from the last payment I submitted. My letter yielded no response from XXXX. Instead, they processed the Mandatory Forbearance Request form and as of today my monthly payment figure stands at {$870.00}. Under the PSLF program I qualify for, if I were to make these payments over the next 20 years, I would pay off my principal balance, which is currently {$100000.00}, before any of it can even be forgiven. How does this make sense? Where is the forgiveness? 

Additionally, XXXX records do not correctly account for all the payments I have made since I was enrolled in the PSLF program in XX/XX/XXXX. In fact, they have asked me to go through my own records and account for all the payments I have made in order to rectify the discrepancies. This is yet another unnecessary burden to put borrowers through, and I personally feel it is a deceptive tactic on the part of the U.S. Department of Education and XXXX to inaccurately account for borrowers payments and therefore, force us to pay more in the end. What is worse, borrowers who can not afford their payments are not allowed to negotiate or settle on fairer terms, but instead given the option to put their loans in deferment and forbearance, and that only continues to hurt them in the long term. 

In summary, because XXXX refuses to work in kind with me and has threatened to report my delinquent status to credit agencies I am filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ), and writing formal complaint letters to my congressman/congresswoman, attorney general, senators including Senator XXXX XXXX who has openly and repeatedly called for a total overhaul of the student loan system. 

I am a public servant, and I work diligently on a daily basis to protect the public and environmental health, my community, my family. Compared to others who work in my position in other jurisdictions, I do not get paid very much. In fact, my wife and I are barely getting by on what we make. The PSLF program is meant to help people like me, but instead I feel like I am being punished, and my reasonable concerns are not being adequately considered. And based on my research of people in similar positions, there are a multitude of us who are beyond frustrated. Nevertheless, I remain open to negotiating a manageable monthly payment with XXXX, and do not ever want my account to be in Delinquent status. I find it interesting that it openly states on the XXXX website for borrowers who have trouble paying, We are here to help ease that stress and find a solution that works for you and your budget. Based on my experience, however, they have not been there to help and find a solution. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX