Consumer complaint received 2019-02-24
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: AES/PHEAA (OH)

I am on an IDR plan for my federal loans for my two XXXX  degrees from 2 different universities. I have never missed or been late on a payment since establishing this payment plan 5 years ago. I am also on a Forgiveness Program due to my employment with a XXXX. XXXX is the servicer for my loans and I have had nothing but problems with them since they took over my loan. The most recent and most damaging issue is with reducing my payments after a loss of income. I received notification in XX/XX/XXXX that my recertification of my IDR was coming due by XX/XX/XXXX. I completed my recertification and sent it in electronically by XX/XX/XXXX. I am employed by 2 different organizations. As of XX/XX/XXXX my position at one of those organizations was eliminated and my employment there was reduced to 4 hours per week, thereby reducing my income by {$17000.00} per year. As required by XXXX for the recertification process, to indicate my reduction of income, I included my recent paystubs from both employers. The paystub from my employer that eliminated my position did reflect my reduction in pay. I also included a letter from that employer stating that my position had been eliminated and my salary greatly reduced. When I received my updated required monthly payment from XXXX, based on my recertification paperwork, my payment had gone up by {$1.00} even though I am now receiving {$17000.00} less per year. Thinking maybe I missed something in the process of completing the recertification paperwork I then went through the recertification process again and found in fine print that if your income is reduced suddenly you are required to mail in your paperwork to XXXX instead of uploading it electronically. So, I mailed to XXXX the exact same paperwork with the same information that I had uploaded electronically. When I received my updated payment it had gone up again and this time by {$160.00}. When I called XXXX to resolve this issue not only did I have to wait on hold for 20 minutes to actually speak to a representative I was then told by that representative that the payment was higher because I am making more money. When I challenged the XXXX representative about the paperwork I had sent in that clearly shows that I am making less money she proceeded to tell my that is not what it says on my tax return. I told her of course it does not say that on my XX/XX/XXXX tax return because that was last year and this sudden loss of income happened to me in XX/XX/XXXX. She said the only way she could help was to put me on Forbearance or postpone a month of my payment. I told her I do not want either of those options. I am more than happy to make payments on my loans I just need lower payments because based on my loss of income I can not afford a monthly payment of {$460.00}. I am a XXXX for a XXXX school and recently had a serious XXXX for which I now have medical bills to repay. Shockingly, I do not make an incredibly high income. I am thankful for my education and the opportunity it has given me to make a positive influence on my world. I am in no way trying to get out of paying my loans. I only want a monthly payment I can afford. XXXX touts itself as an organization willing to work with you on your payments, but in my experience they are only out to rake as much money out of you as they can no matter how it hurts your financial standing. I have worked very hard to maintain a good credit rating and am now in danger of losing that due to XXXX 's unwillingness to help its clients who actually want to do the right thing.