Consumer complaint received 2016-12-13
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan — Can't get flexible payment options
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (GA)

I just recently graduated from professional school and I am currently unemployed at the moment receiving XXXX income and actively seeking employment. When I was in XXXX, I took out XXXX separate Chase loans. Going into professional school, I was told that there were really no repayment options like deferment or forbearance because I waited too long to return to school. Upon submitting a complaint via the CFPB, was I allowed to enter deferment/forbearance for XXXX of the loans, but for the third loan, Chase required me to continue to make payments of {$100.00} per month. Immediately upon graduation from my XXXX school, my loan payments increased from {$100.00} per month to {$750.00} per month. I would call XXXX ( now the company in control of my Chase loans ) monthly to see if there were any other repayment options to lower my monthly payments as I was currently unemployed. It was not until my call on XXXX/XXXX/16 that an option of the " Long Term Payment Modification '' plan was available. The representative ensured me that my current bill due on XXXX/XXXX/16 ( if I qualified for the Long Term Payment Modification ) would be immediately affected by this repayment plan. The application required information not only from me, but my cosigner as well. Once I gathered the information, I overnighted the information to XXXX. XXXX took FIVE days to " receive '' the information and another SIX days to process, only to provide a very minimally detailed explanation for denying the application. I then called immediately to find out what information was lacking or missing from the application. After talking to a representative for over an hour, the information that was missing was a recent tax return and XXXX from my cosigner as well as explicit indication that certain questions did not pertain to me, the borrower. For instance the question stated " if this is a reason for the request, then how much. '' Instead of leaving the question blank if it did not pertain ( although the words " if '' indicate that " if it does not '' pertain then do not answer it ). My application was denied because I did not say " not applicable '' on certain questions with tricky language. After finding out what information was missing, I then gathered all of the information and emailed the missing information to XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/16. It then took XXXX XXXX days just to " receive '' the email and another SEVEN to TEN days to accept or deny the application. My payment of {$750.00} was due on XXXX/XXXX/16. This process has now taken more than ONE MONTH. Now that the bill is due, I have called and spoken to XXXX different representatives that tell me Chase/XXXX can not help me with this bill because the bill already has become due. I am unemployed with XXXX income and I do not have {$750.00}. But, I am supposed to come up with the money. My application still has not been accepted/denied and even if accepted would not apply to this current bill. Chase/XXXX has been the worst at working with student borrowers when a financial hardship arises. The government bailed out the banks when they were in a crisis, but the banks especially CHASE have no regard for the financial hardships of its borrowers. Chase expects me to pay them, when I legit do n't have any money. Furthermore, my cosigner who at the time he cosigned could help make payments has also fallen on financial hardship making XXXX-XXXX % less than what he made when he cosigned on the loan. I have NEVER missed a payment/been late with Chase/XXXX. For a loyal borrower, consistently making payments you would think that Chase/XXXX would accommodate borrowers that fall on financial hardship. When I called XXXX ( XXXX/XXXX/16 ), I also called/applied for unemployment deferment and alternative payment options for my Federal loans. My payments were not only deferred until I gained employment, I was also given repayment options and my payments were lowered to reflect my income.