Consumer complaint received 2016-08-23
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Received bad information about my loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (IL)

I thought I had signed up for a repayment program in 2009 that would allow me to claim student loan forgiveness after 10 years. However, my lender, Fed Loan Servicing, has told me that I 'm not on the correct plan, so I do not qualify, and neither do any of my past payments. I have made approximately XXXX on-time payments. In fact, I have been paying much more per month on my minimum monthly payment than if I was on an income-based repayment plan, and I still do not qualify for forgiveness. I do n't have a paper trail to prove this was my intention all along but I have taken jobs in the public sector since graduating in 2009 so that I would qualify for the program. I have never had a late payment, and in fact, have paid off more than $ XXXX in my student loan debt over the last 2 years alone. 

I graduated from XXXX XXXX University XXXX in XXXX 2009. When I graduated I had approximately {$55000.00} in student loan debt. As of today, I have {$20000.00} left ( {$12000.00} which is a public student loan ). I have never been late on a public student loan payment and in fact, have been the ideal customer. I have paid off more than {$10000.00} on my public student loan and more than {$7000.00} on my private student loans in the last two years alone. 

I have taken low-paying, public service jobs over the last 7 years to ensure that I would be entitled to receiving public student loan forgiveness after 10 years of public service. I only recently found out that I do not qualify. I worked for XXXX XXXX years XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and most recently moved XXXX XXXX and now work at the XXXX. 

I am very discouraged that I was misled during this process and that I will not qualify under the terms of my loan as it stands today. I am especially discouraged because I have been paying significantly more per month over this time than if I was on an income-based repayment plan. My first job out of college was making only {$28000.00} per month, yet I was still paying a {$220.00} minimum payment, the same that I was making when I earned nearly twice that amount. As a first-generation college student, I did not have any parents to help aid my college tuition, and instead was required to take on significant debt to attend school. I also did not have guidance from my parents with regards to student loan debt or repayment. I had the intention of signing up for the correct plan to ensure I would qualify for PSLF. I am so upset that I will not see forgiveness in the next few years, after nearly a decade of on-time, in full payments. 

I am hoping that I can appeal this decision, and be granted permission to change my repayment terms and get credit for my XXXX on-time, in-full payments, especially considering they were more per month than if I had been on an income-based repayment plan. I would like to start saving for my newborn daughters college tuition, but instead, I am looking at repaying my loans for over a decade longer than I would be if I had been on the correct repayment plan all along. 

My lender is not interested in helping me rectify this situation so I am hoping that CFPB can help. I have called Fed Loan Servicing dozens of times over the years, and I have to say that my private student loan lender, XXXX XXXX XXXX, has been much more apt to hear my concerns or offer real customer service. Fed Loan Servicing is not interested in looking into my issue further. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.