Consumer complaint received 2017-04-10
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are handled
Company: AES/PHEAA (HI)

First, some background. I have an olde r Stafford student loan that has a low principal, as well as a consolidate  d Stafford st udent loan with a much, much higher principal. Both are serviced through FedLoan.org. In   XXXX   and prior years, I had been on an income-based repayment plan. This payment plan takes into account my annual income, and makes the monthly loan payments manageable. For the past couple of years, it 's actually made my monthly payment amount {$0.00}. In order to continue on this repayment plan each year, an annual recertification of income is needed. This requires submitting a form along with a copy of my  XXXX . I initiated the process but neglected to email/fax the form back this time. Then, as of   XXXX   XXXX   the recertification expired and I was notified that I would be making a single payment of {$50.00} in  XXXX . I did n't think this was a huge problem, chipping {$50.00} away from the loan each month until recertifying for income-based repayment was n't going to be the end of the world for me.       XXXX   XXXX   rolled around and I assumed the next payment would be for {$50.00}. I happened to log in to my checking account online a few days after the start of the month, and saw the {$50.00} I expected to be taken, but I was completely dumbfounded upon seeing a separate payment of {$1500.00} taken from my account. This nearly wiped out my checking account and sent me into a mild panic until I cooled my head and was thankful enough that this happened only a few days after I had paid my rent and utilities and would at least have some time during the month to sort out the problem.     I logged into my loan account and saw that the {$50.00} in  XXXX  went toward the loan with the lower principal. For some reason, the loan with the much higher principal did not have a payment due in  XXXX . Then,  XXXX  comes around and both loans have a payment due. Of course, had I logged in and checked, I probably would have seen that, all of a sudden, the loan with the higher principal has some ridiculous payment due. At that point, I would have gotten that recertification taken care of immediately.     This whole situation just feels slightly dishonest and sneaky to me. I feel as though I was lulled into thinking I 'd have a low monthly payment after my income-based repayment plan had lapsed into a regular payment plan. Why did n't the loan with the higher principal show a payment due in  XXXX , when I would have more readily noticed it?     I 've already taken some actions on my own. I called  FedLoan ab out it, and was directed to take it up with my financial institution to have the payment reversed. I then called my bank, and they said that they can not simply reverse the payment, and that they would need to have me initiate a payment dispute. I 've taken that step now, but this could take longer than the end of this month  (   XXXX   XXXX   )  to settle, and I have received no guarantee that the {$1500.00} payment will be refunded to my checking account in the end.     I have attached  two documents to this complaint. One show s my payments to date. It shows the single {$50.00} payment in   XXXX   XXXX  , and then the {$50.00} + {$1500.00} payment that happened in   XXXX   XXXX  . I 'm also attaching another document that states that my first payment on my " new '' repayment plan would be in the amount of {$1500.00} and debited on  X/X/XX . I 'm definitely curious to know why the first payment in this new payment plan was debited in  XXXX  rather than in  XXXX .