Consumer complaint received 2024-04-20
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company: MOHELA (CO)

During the pandemic, all of my loans were placed in a deferment  status. In XX/XX/XXXX, I started a XXXXXXXX XXXX and took out two additional loans on top of my XXXX loans. Due to personal reasons, I chose to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX the following summer, in XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for my student loans within weeks after formally withdrawing. 


At this point, student loans still had not entered repayment from the pandemic. I periodically checked my Mohela account over the course of several months from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, but only logged in to check the status of any upcoming payments and did not view any specific loan details. In XXXX XXXX XXXX when it was announced that student loans would be resuming, I applied for the SAVE plan. I am working toward PSLF and it was my understanding that the SAVE plan was one of the best options for those working toward loan forgiveness. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a message to Mohela because I noticed that one of my loans was still labeled as " XXXX XXXX. '' All of my other loans, including one from my XXXXXXXX XXXX were still labeled as " deferment '' in my online portal view, which I assumed meant they were still processing things in preparation for repayment. However, my other XXXXXXXX XXXX being labeled as " XXXX XXXX '' was inaccurate and I wanted it updated so that it too went into repayment once Mohela got caught up. I sent a message on XX/XX/XXXX notifying them that this was an error and requested that it was updated to match my other loans because I wanted to ensure that all of my loans went into repayment under the SAVE plan. The SAVE plan had been approved and processed in XX/XX/XXXX. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I had not yet heard any response to my message, so I called Mohela. I explained that my loan was incorrectly labeled " XXXX XXXX '' and that this was an error. I had two loans from a XXXXXXXX XXXX, one of which correctly updated to match my other loans, but the other one remained labeled as " XXXX XXXX  '' and should have been updated, as well. The girl that I spoke to on the phone agreed and said it was an error on their end. She would submit a request to get this updated, but it could take several weeks for me to see the changes on my end. 


On XX/XX/XXXX my original message received a response, saying that their records show I called and spoke to someone about my concerns and to reach out with any additional questions. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another message to Mohela saying that I still have not seen that my loan had been updated from " XXXX XXXX '' status and I was writing to check on the progress of that request. Mohela wrote back on XX/XX/XXXX with a brief message apologizing for the inconvenience and requested that I submit something called an " In-School Deferment Waiver '' in order to permanently remove my in-school deferment status. 


I reviewed this form and had been planning to submit it back, but upon closer review felt that this was not how I wanted to move forward. Firstly, I was never told that this form would be needed when I originally called and they told me it was an error that could be fixed on their end. I also did not feel that I should have to submit a waiver to permanently remove this status when XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  and my other loans were updated accurately. I felt like it wasn't an accurate solution to what I was trying to request, as the form appeared to meant for those currently in school who wish to waive that status on their loans. 


I continued to check my account and cross reference information on the department of education website. I also work with XXXX through my employer to help with student loan repayment processing and documentation. All of the information I received during this time was that I was not yet due to resubmit my IDR plan, since had been previously approved in XX/XX/XXXX ( so less than a year had passed, and these are usually re-certified annually ). In addition, loan information received from Mohela showed my loans statuses labeled as " deferment '' for all of them, except the XXXX loan that remained labeled with " XXXX XXXX '' status. 


In early XXXX, I received a message in my Mohela account that my loans were entering repayment. I checked my account and showed that I would owe {$440.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Upon closer inspection, the balance amount was being calculated with two of my loans in the " standard '' or " level '' repayment plan. One of my XXXX loans was still showing " XXXX XXXX '' status. The rest of the loans still showed " deferment '' status. 


I called Mohela the first week of XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about these errors. My questions were regarding why my loan had still not been updated from " XXXX XXXX  '' status, and why XXXXwo of my loans were in the standard repayment plan when I had applied for all of my loans to be in the SAVE plan. The person I spoke to that day again suggested that I submit the deferment waiver form that had been sent to me previously, but that it could take up to the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX to process and show an update on my account. She also suggested that I reach out to my school program to ensure that they had sent accurate information, since this information is apparently communicated annually and may not have been sent correctly. This did not make sense to me, as my other loan from that school program had been updated to correctly reflect that I was no longer actively in school. I was also told during this call that two of my loans were under the SAVE plan, two were showing the standard repayment plan, 1 was " XXXX XXXX '' status, and the rest were showing " in school deferment. '' I have no way of seeing that any of them say " in school deferment '' on my end, so this was very confusing to me and I don't know why my loans are reflecting all of these different statuses. 


I decided to re-certify the income-driven repayment plan that day, even though it's technically not due yet, because I wanted to ensure that all of my loans were processed under the SAVE plan. I also emailed my XXXXXXXX XXXX, and they confirmed that they were showing that they had correctly sent my withdrawal date to the student loan servicers/government, but that they would work on resending the information again. 


I called Mohela again the second week of XX/XX/XXXX. They again confirmed that they could see that my new IDR form was submitted and being processed. The girl I spoke to on the phone said that she had started the process of submitting an updated request for me, but would cancel that since I had submitted a request the week prior. She suggested that I call back before XXXX. The people I speak to on the phone try to be helpful, but my issues never end up getting resolved. She couldn't explain to me why two of my loans fell out of the SAVE plan all of the sudden, and confirmed that from what she can see, all of my loans should qualify to be under the SAVE plan. But she really had no suggestions for me other than re-certifying my plan. Now, my account is showing that I submitted an IDR request on XXXX and it's labeled as " cancelled '' and an IDR request on XX/XX/XXXX which is labeled " duplicate form. '' So I truly still have no idea what is going on with my loans, and am guessing that the IDR request I tried to submit was somehow cancelled and is no longer being processed. 


When I call back this coming week, I'm going to have to try to demand to escalate my concerns until I ensure things get resolved properly. I have absolutely no confidence that I'll be able to get this fixed before the XXXX payment deadline. So in the meantime, I'll be charged close to $ XXXX because of an error on their end. I received no notification that any of my loans were in these statuses or falling under these different plans, and therefore no way to try to mitigate this on my end. 


I would also like to stress how painful it is to get in touch with anyone at Mohela. These calls that I've made this month have put me on the phone with them for over hours. The first call was over an hour and half between wait times and the call itself. For the second call, I eventually requested a call back because after waiting for an hour to get through to someone, she transferred me to a different department where the hold time was another 90 minutes. I attempted to request a call back at that time, which didn't register properly. So I hung up and started over, requesting a call back at the start of the call instead. During times when I can not step away from work for these long periods of time, I have tried to send messages instead, and that is also not helpful. 


I feel that my request is simple enough - update all of my loans to be under the same status : in repayment under the SAVE plan. This would include removing the " XXXX XXXX '' status from my 1 loan because I have not been in school since XXXX XXXX XXXX 


I have been ready and willing to repay my loans since the pause on repayments has been lifted. I have been doing my best to be patient and work with Mohela. At this point, I do not have faith that my issues will get handled appropriately and it makes me nervous that they hold all of my student loan debt.