Consumer complaint received 2019-06-09
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: AES/PHEAA (MN)

On XX/XX/XXXX, my application for Income Based Repayment of my loans and the associated documentation regarding my income was approved. I did this early to ensure that there were no issues as I am working towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness. I have been on repayment plans in the past, have always had my documentation in early, and have always made my payments on time or early. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made my first payment on my IBR plan of {$260.00}. XXXX. Then, one month later, my account balance was suddenly {$760.00}. XXXX. I emailed them on roughly XX/XX/XXXX, two weeks prior to the due date asking what was going on. I waited two weeks and never received a response. 

When I called them roughly around XX/XX/XXXX to clarify, they told me that I had a second IBR application for my graduate loans that needed income verification. Despite having income verification already on record, I immediately submitted additional income verification and asked for them to process it on the phone. They refused, claiming that I had to wait 20 days for it to be processed. After sitting on the phone for an hour waiting to speak to a supervisor, I had to leave. I was informed I could not leave the supervisor a message and would not receive a call back from a supervisor because my situation " wasn't serious enough. '' At no point prior to this was it made clear to me that there were two separate IBR applications going. I was approved on XX/XX/XXXX for IBR payments and my understanding was that I was completely finished with the process. It does not make sense that I would only want IBR for my undergraduate loans, which are half the cost of the graduate loans. I never filed two separate applications so I do not understand how my one application and proof of income that should have covered all of my loans was split into two separate applications or why I had to submit an additional proof of income to get the second processed when one was already on file with them. 

During this call, I explained that I could not afford that payment and was angry that this was even the situation. The customer service representative suggested a forbearance until the application was processed. I was not happy that this would be on my credit when I had done my part in supplying the application for IBR and the related income verification back in XXXX. However, I saw no choice and did the forbearance. My understanding of forbearance was that it was the same as a deferment and my income would be verified and I could resume making IBR payments with the {$500.00} removed from my account. I even made the {$260.00} payment for my already established IBR application so that I would not have to miss a month towards PSLF. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received verification that I was now on an income-based repayment plan of {$280.00}. I saw that the {$500.00} was still on my account and assumed they were in the process of removing it. When I went to make my payment, I was told that if it went on the {$500.00}, I would have to pay the full {$500.00}. My understanding was that as part of forbearance, I would be required to pay the full amount if I paid any amount on the forbearance. It was at no point clearly explained to me what forbearance meant or that I was still responsible for this {$500.00}. I even called back because I could not cancel the payment as it already went through and I requested that they put that payment on the next IBR payment instead as that was the amount I paid. My understanding upon talking to them was I was still under forbearance for the month of XXXX so I asked them to apply the payment to the month of XXXX. The woman I spoke to told me she would do this, but she did not do this. So, with the understanding that my payment for XXXX was under forbearance and my payment for XXXX was covered, I did not make an additional payment in XXXX. 

Then I received a phone call stating on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX that I had a message on my account and when I checked this my account says I owe {$780.00} and am 47 days behind on a payment and threatened me with collections. I immediately paid the {$500.00} that was supposed to go to car repairs to avoid having my credit destroyed and am now reporting this to you. 

I do not understand why this has happened. I applied for IBR back in XXXX and provided income documentation that should have been good for a full year. At no point in all the times I have spoken to FedLoan Servicing and reached out to their staff was anything explained to me in detail. Now my account is a mess, my credit is damaged, and I have made a total of {$1300.00} worth of payments -- none of which I can apply to PSLF. I now have to start my PSLF process from scratch and will be required to make an additional 4 months worth of payments in my life time which will add up to far more that {$1300.00} when all is said and done.