Consumer complaint received 2019-02-18
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (FL)

I would like to lodge a complaint based on the repeated instances of false information provided by XXXX XXXX XXXX in regards to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which have made it extremely difficult and time consuming to manage my account. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I was wrongly forced into forbearance by XXXX XXXX XXXX  because of a delay of over four months in calculating an income based payment for that month. Once XXXX XXXX  calculated the new payment, I immediately paid the corrected amount in full on XX/XX/XXXX, well within the fifteen day time frame for an on-time payment ( payment was due XX/XX/XXXX ). I was told by the agent when I made the payment that an override was being requested at that time so that this payment would be correctly processed as a qualifying PSLF payment. 

I have called and sent in written requests numerous times requesting an update on this override, to no avail. Every time I speak to a XXXX XXXX  representative, they seem to not know that an override had been requested, and tell me they will request one, apparently for the first time. I have consistently asked for emails or letters documenting that the override has been requested, but I have never received any documentation to this effect. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to agent XXXX XXXX who told me that my request for an override had not actually been requested in XXXX. She told me that she was inputting it that day. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to agent XXXX XXXX who told me that an override could not be processed until my Employer Certification Form was reviewed and certified. I later found out that this form was certified in XX/XX/XXXX, but an override was not requested at that time, either. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX XXXX who told me that she was sending an email to request that the override be reviewed by higher ups. I later found out that there was no record of this override ever being requested. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX XXXX who told me again that the override was being submitted for review to supervisors. She could not tell me if it had been reviewed, or even actually requested, since my call on XX/XX/XXXX. She told me I should have a written response in 7-10 days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to two agents, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I again inquired as to the override of the XX/XX/XXXX payment and was told that it met all the qualifications for a PSLF payment and should qualify. 

When I received my most recent bill for XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that although I have made 30 qualifying PSLF payments, I am only being credited with 20. I immediately called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to agent XXXX XXXX, who told me that nine of these payments were not recognized because they were made on direct debit and credited as early instead of on time. She told me she was inputting a request to review these nine payments, from late XXXX through XXXX, and putting a note on my account so that this would not occur again. I asked for proof in writing that this request was being placed, but I was told this was not possible. 

The tenth payment that is not counting towards PSLF is the XX/XX/XXXX forbearance payment. I have detailed above the steps I have taken to rectify this situation over the past 18 months. XXXX XXXX XXXX also told me that as far as she could see, the XX/XX/XXXX payment met all the requirements to count towards PSLF, and should therefore qualify. I was then transferred to another agent, XXXX XXXX. I was told by XXXX XXXX that an override was being requested for this payment and that it would take approximately one year to process. I asked how I could be sure that an override was really being requested this time when I had been told multiple times previously that it had been requested, and he told me that I would receive an email in the next few weeks. I asked if there was any way to expedite this since the initial request for an override was made more than eighteen months ago, in XX/XX/XXXX, and has been made again several times since. I was told that this was not possible. 

I am completely at a loss as to how to proceed. As far as I know and as far as I have been told over the last two years by multiple XXXX XXXX  representatives, I have done everything correctly. I have submitted every payment on time since my loans were first issued. I have submitted all income paperwork and employer certification paperwork in a timely manner, on the schedule suggested by XXXX XXXX. The only reason my account was placed in forbearance in XX/XX/XXXX to begin with was because XXXX XXXX took four months to process my income verification and calculate a new income-based payment, even though there was no significant change in income from the previous year. I must also note that there is no clear or simple way to view ones qualifying payments online. On the monthly bill, only the total number of qualifying payments is shown, not a detailed breakdown of which payments qualify and which do not. One must call in to get this information. Because of this, and because of the misinformation and contradictory information provided by XXXX XXXX representatives, it is very difficult to decipher where one stands with PSLF. 

I am begging for any assistance in resolving this issue permanently and making sure it does not happen to anyone else.