Consumer complaint received 2017-04-24
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: AES/PHEAA (NJ)

Hi, this is in regards to claims :  XXXX ,  XXXX , and  XXXX . I could n't figure out how to dispute AES Success 's response to claim  XXXX , so I wanted to upload a few email chains that further proves their delinquency with responses and how they exhausted my options pushing me into default. Also, in claims  XXXX  and  XXXX  I discuss further not only did they push me into default but they continued to put my montly payments towards  the three ALPLN loans that headed into defaulted The company has bled me dry financially and has made it impossible to pay down loans with what I make, my other loan payments, and they do not take into consideration all the other expenses. I 'm uploading a few email examples to better show and prove my hardships and that they just ignored me for months and weeks upon weeks. Take a minute and imagine how un-responsive they are, and take that into consideration when I needed assistance and help. This was  always the same situation with them over the phone as well. It took a while to get someone on the phone and once you had someone on the phone they pitched repayment options that never worked with my current living situation. I 'm appalled and being driven deeper into debt because of this servicer and the way they have drained me financially. In just 9 years I 've only paid back aka knocked down approx {$7800.00} of loans. Where did all that money go!? Right now their site says I paid over {$62000.00} in payments ( between principle and interest ). Say that again out loud. Then go back and look at how much I 've paid down i n 9yrs.  Where did all that money go!? I took out in total of private loans {$53000.00}. By the time payments kicked in I owed {$64000.00}. They tagged on {$11000.00} right off the bat. I know it was the " fine print '' but what a way to savagely make me a slave! Every time I forbeared payments the interest that would accrue would bring me back to where I started. I thought forbearance was supposed to help me financially. Instead it pushed me deeper into debt or back to squar e one.  Again, it has been 9 years and I 've only paid back {$7800.00} of the total amount they hit me with. Also, when they sent my  XXXX  hree ALPLN loans into default they carried over {$6900.00} of interest they tagged onto the loans. The three loans that went into default that I borrowed was {$28000.00} however they sent {$34000.00} into default. Where do I stand now with that amount, and is it greater today? It has been 9 years later and I borrowed {$53000.00}. I 've made a monthly payment every single month, if not more each month, for almost 9 years and the true reality about AES an d how they are destroying financially is that I still owe {$57000.00} ( they me guessing the amount that went into default ( {$34000.00} ) stayed at that amount, but doubtfully ). How is this helping me as a post grad, as a person to our economy? How is this beneficial making me a slave and stopping me from creating business and work and starting a family. Impossible! Thank you  AES and f or keeping interest rates high, and for twisting my arm behind my back and draining my bank accounts!     I 'll continue researching the overall topic of student loans and how it is slowly wiping out the middle class  in America, and making the poor poorer. Student debt is arguably one of the greatest economic prob lems this country faces right now. Many argue that student debt will be the perpetrator of the next financial crisis. The government alone makes over an estimated of  XXXX  dollars on student loans a year. On average, more than  XXXX  borrowers default on their federal student loans every single day. Last year , 42.4 million Americans owed {$1. 00}  XXXX  in federal student loans. More than  4.2 million b orrowers were in default as of the end of  XXXX , up from  XXXX   XXXX  in  XXXX . In all,  1.1 million mor e borrowers went into or re-entered default last year. More and more older individuals are going into retirement with student loan debt as a post grad or cosigner. Although most student loan borrowers are young adults between the ages of  18 and 39, consumers age 60 a nd older are the fastest growing age-segment of the student loan market. The number of those in this age-group with outstanding student loan debt has increased from about  XXXX  to  XXXX   XXXX .   XXXX   XXXX   have called Millennials entitled for complaining about student loans, but those critics likely didnt have student loans themselves. In t he 60s , tuition was averaging just several  hundred  dollars a year. This changed in the  XXXX , when college attendance skyrocketed thanks to civil rights advancements and vanishing blue-collar careers. Instead of modifying the system to accommodate the influx of students, the government opted to privatize student loans. Privatized loans create profit incentive, driving the costs of college education up even higher. Tuition at private institutions is  three ti mes more expensive than it was in  XXXX  and public tuition is  XXXX  our times hig her. Overall, since  XXXX , college tuition increased by  439 percent, while income increased by 147 percent, according to Best Colleges Online. That 's a HUGE difference! Good bye   middle class! How can we look at most of todays students and expect them to meet the financial demands of college? As students leave home to attend college, they are getting a very mixed message. Teachers, counselors and parents tell them to go to college, to stay in school, to work toward a brighter future. However, when students take a look at the cost and resulting debt, they see numbers that have never been more disproportionate to their future paychecks and the cost of living. According to the  College Board, a nnual tuition at a public ( state ) college averaged {$420.00} in  XXXX . This year, its {$9600.00}. During that same span, private tuition rose from {$1800.00} to {$33000.00}. So it should be no surprise that a chart showing the total outstanding student loan debt looks like a picture of the steep side of   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX . In  XXXX , former students owed {$90.00}  XXXX . By  XXXX , that figure had grown to {$550.00}  XXXX , an astonishing 550 %. Since then, student loan debt has more than doubled again. Right now the government has a  6.8 pe rcent fixed interest rate for students in graduate programs and a fixed rate anywhere fr om 3.86 percent to 4.29 percent for undergraduate degrees. According to   XXXX   those interest rates   compound daily, which means a {$50000.00} loan would cost {$61000.00} over 10 years with an approximate $ 500 monthly payment. If a person wants an extended loan over 25 years, the payment would be about {$270.00} a month and {$81000.00} over the 25 years. Thats over {$31000.00} in student loan interest. Student loans are becoming people 's largest monthly bill. Think about that! And they are locked into these bills for up  to 30years or into r etirement. Our government is profiting off the people that are still paying taxes and stimulating the economy. All government loans should be interest-free in my opinion and interest rates should really be lowered so people can pay them back. Overall, the crisis is a rising problem that is only getting worse, and it will all end in a large collapse if something does n't happen or companies, people, organizations ignore the problem.  1 in 4 people are affected by student loans. If it is not affecting you immediately now or someone you know, it will. People that argue and say " why do n't students just pay their loans/bills back, '' do n't understand the struggle or do n't have anyone around them, yet, that are affected. The best solution right now is start talking about the issue of those already affected and those that will be affected, try and stagnant or decrease these mountainous costs of tuition and to find solutions that hold the universities accountable for driving students into debt without helping them with solutions. Also, the CFPB is being very proac tive in holding the lenders accountable ( check out  XXXX  's current legal battles for example ) for driving borrowers into default and not giving them the best direction to pay off debt or meet the minimal monthly bills. There is a lot that is broken right now, and those that are trying to give solutions are only helping the ri ch (    XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   ). What can we do as individuals, and how can we help shape reform in this sector? All of the above is what is causing me to continue in researching this topic and hopefully help give those that need the assistance the knowledge and area they can go to better their situations.