Consumer complaint received 2026-06-02 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: Servicer under contract with Federal Student Aid
State: CO

Complaint narrative:
VIA ONLINE PORTAL ( consumerfinance.gov/complaint ) AND CERTIFIED MAIL XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CO XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX DC XXXX consumerfinance.gov/complaint | XXXX RE : Formal Complaint Federal Student Aid ; Unreasonable Delay, Failure of Consumer Communication, and Absence of Escalation Pathway in Grad PLUS Loan Credit Appeal Processing ; FSA Case No. XXXX I. Complainant and Account Information Complainant Name XXXX XXXX Address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CO XXXX Phone ( XXXX ) XXXX Email XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Federal Student Aid XXXX U.S. Department of Education XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX FSA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Active Issue Unreasonable delay in credit appeal processing ; failure of consumer communication ; no escalation pathway XXXX. Description of the Problem I am a XXXX XXXX and federal loan borrower filing this complaint against Federal Student Aid ( FSA ) regarding the handling of my XXXX XXXX Loan credit appeal ( Case No. XXXX ) for the XXXX academic year. My complaint concerns XXXX consumer protection failures : XXXX. Unreasonable and prejudicial delay in processing a completed loan appeal, with no communication to the consumer for over XXXX weeks following submission of all requested documentation. XXXX. A systemic failure of consumer communication, including unmet callback commitments, circular referrals between channels, and contradictory information provided by representatives in the same phone call. XXXX. The explicit confirmation by an FSA representative that no escalation pathway exists for credit appeal cases leaving consumers with no internal remedy when their cases stall. These failures are occurring under a hard regulatory deadline. My university 's financial aid office has confirmed that my appeal must be approved and the loan disbursed before XX/XX/XXXX, when new federal regulations take effect. If a decision is not rendered before that date, I will lose access to this federal loan program entirely. FSA 's failure to process a completed appeal within a reasonable timeframe, while maintaining no escalation pathway for affected borrowers, is causing direct, irreversible consumer harm. XXXX. Chronological Summary of Events Date Event XX/XX/XXXX Notified Federal Student Aid of intent to continue appeal of adverse credit determination on XXXX XXXX Loan application ( Case No. XXXX ). XX/XX/XXXX FSA requested a copy of credit report. XX/XX/XXXX Submitted requested credit report in full. XX/XX/XXXX FSA requested additional documentation regarding a collection account on TransUnion credit report specifically, a creditor letter confirming settlement, XXXX balance, and/or XXXX months of payment history. XXXX XXXX XXXX account contained a discrepancy requiring extended correspondence with both XXXX and the original creditor to resolve. FSA explicitly offered this resolution path as an available option. Complainant acted diligently throughout and submitted documentation immediately upon obtaining it. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX completed all requested creditor documentation in full. XX/XX/XXXX Follow-up phone call to FSA customer service. No status update provided. XX/XX/XXXX Follow-up phone call to FSA customer service. No update. Follow-up email sent to XXXX on original appeal thread. XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with FSA representative XXXX ( XXXX XXXX. No. XXXX ). XXXX advised complainant to begin documenting concerns and escalating, noted the account, and scheduled a callback. No callback was ever received. XX/XX/XXXX Follow-up email sent to XXXX on original appeal thread. No response. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX submitted through FSA feedback center. Additional email sent to XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX center response directed complainant to reply to original appeal email thread which complainant had been doing consistently without response. Live chat with FSA representative XXXX : requested escalated review ; XXXX stated " we do not have anyone to escalate the credit appeal case to '' ; could not transfer complainant to anyone regarding credit appeal status ; directed complainant to feedback center ; scheduled another callback. XX/XX/XXXX Called FSAIC. Spoke with XXXX ; transferred to XXXX, who incorrectly stated someone had already called complainant and advised filing a new application. Transferred to XXXX XXXX, who confirmed no outbound call had been made and that the application was processing directly contradicting XXXX. XXXX scheduled callback to correct department. XX/XX/XXXX Formal demand letter submitted to FSA Office of the Chief Operating Officer. FSA Ombudsman Group complaint filed. Colorado XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint filed. ED OIG complaint filed. Congressional casework initiated. This CFPB complaint filed. IV. Consumer Communication Failures A. Unmet Callback Commitments On XX/XX/XXXX, FSA representative XXXX ( Call Reference No. XXXX ) acknowledged the seriousness of my situation, advised me to begin formally documenting my concerns and escalating my case, noted my account, and scheduled a callback. That callback was never received. On XX/XX/XXXX, FSA representative XXXX also scheduled a callback following our live chat. That callback was also not received. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX scheduled a third callback to the correct department. As of this filing, that callback has not been received either. XXXX separate callback commitments made across XXXX contacts, none fulfilled. This pattern reflects a systemic breakdown in FSA 's consumer communication and case management practices. XXXX Circular Referral Between Channels On XX/XX/XXXX, I was directed by FSA representative XXXX to submit my concerns to the FSA feedback center. The FSA feedback center responded the same day directing me to reply to my original appeal email thread. That email thread had gone unanswered for over a week. This circular referral live chat directs to feedback center, feedback center directs back to email thread, email thread receives no response left me with no functional channel through which to obtain any information about my own loan appeal. XXXX Contradictory Information from Representatives On XX/XX/XXXX, FSA representative XXXX informed me that someone from FSA had already called me and advised me to file a new application. XXXX later in the same call, XXXX XXXX confirmed there is no record of any outbound call having been made to me, and that my application was in fact processing. These are directly contradictory statements made within a single consumer interaction, reflecting a failure of internal record-keeping that materially impairs a borrower 's ability to understand and respond to the status of their own case. XXXX Explicit Denial of Escalation Pathway On XX/XX/XXXX, FSA representative XXXX informed me via live chat that " we do not have anyone to escalate the credit appeal case to '' and that she could not transfer me to anyone with authority over my credit appeal status. This is not a case of an individual representative being unhelpful it is the confirmed, structural absence of any consumer escalation mechanism for credit appeal cases within FSA. A federal loan program that processes adverse credit determinations on XXXX XXXX borrowers, but maintains no escalation pathway when those appeals stall, fails a basic standard of consumer fairness and responsiveness. XXXX Harm to Complainant XXXX. Financial harm : I am unable to secure federal loan funding for my graduate education, creating significant financial hardship. XXXX. Academic harm : My ability to continue my XXXX program is directly contingent upon resolution of this appeal. Interruption or discontinuation of my studies would set back years of academic progress. XXXX. Irreversible harm : The XX/XX/XXXX regulatory deadline is absolute. No retroactive remedy is available once that date passes. FSA 's delay is not a recoverable inconvenience it is a potentially permanent loss of federal loan access. XXXX. Personal harm : I am a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. Completing this XXXX would make me the first member of my family to hold a XXXX. The consequences of this failure extend well beyond the financial. XXXX. Consumer harm from lack of transparency : I have been unable to obtain basic information about the status of my own federal loan appeal despite repeated good-faith attempts across every available channel. This represents a fundamental failure of consumer transparency in the administration of a federal credit program. VI. Prior Attempts to Resolve The following good-faith attempts to resolve this matter directly with FSA were XXXX prior to filing this complaint : Phone calls to FSA customer service : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX Emails to FSAIC on original appeal thread : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX FSA feedback center submission : XX/XX/XXXX Live chat with FSA representative XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX Formal demand letter to FSA XXXX XXXX XXXX Chief Operating XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX FSA Ombudsman Group complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Colorado Student XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Congressional casework through XXXX Representative XXXX office : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. XXXX Requested I am requesting the following resolution : XXXX. That the CFPB forward this complaint to Federal Student Aid and request an immediate status update on Appeal Case No. XXXX. XXXX. That FSA be required to provide written confirmation that all documentation submitted on XX/XX/XXXX has been received and is complete for processing. XXXX. That FSA provide a written decision on my appeal no later than XX/XX/XXXX, allowing sufficient time for loan disbursement prior to the XX/XX/XXXX regulatory deadline. XXXX. That the CFPB note for its records the confirmed absence of a consumer escalation pathway for federal student loan credit appeal cases, as an issue potentially affecting a broader population of borrowers and warranting further review. XXXX. Supporting Documentation The following documents are available to support this complaint : Complete email correspondence with Federal Student Aid ( XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) Creditor letter submitted XX/XX/XXXX Credit report submitted XX/XX/XXXX Formal demand letter submitted to FSA XXXX of the Chief Operating XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX FSA Ombudsman Group complaint, XX/XX/XXXX Colorado XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint, XX/XX/XXXX U.S. Department of Education OIG complaint, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. Certification I certify that the information in this complaint is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I consent to the CFPB forwarding this complaint and any supporting documentation to Federal Student Aid for response, and I authorize the CFPB to share my information as necessary to process this complaint. Printed Name : XXXX XXXX Date : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Untimely response