Consumer complaint received 2025-12-31 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Servicer under contract with Federal Student Aid
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/year>, I received a follow-up regarding my reaffirmation form in order to receive financial aid and to defer my XXXX XXXX over payment to my student loan. Aid advantage representatives sent me the form and walked me through everything my college needed to do in order to resolve the issue. They denied it but due to me being indignant I qualified for a payment plan if I was on financial assistance. I fought to get on public assistance and for their representatives to comply with sending the debt resolutions company a form that stated I was active. Following this I have be compliant with my repayments but I missed one in XXXX following my XXXX that left me permeant XXXX for reasons not related to the XXXX but the mishap of the department of education changing the phone settings from receiving payments over the phone or over the weekend. In addition, when I did reach a representative they resolved to set me up with an online account to make payments in the future and while she and I was on the call we realized that I could not make a payment due to my debit card being compromised and the system did not take credit card payments. By the time I received my debit card to make a payment the debt resolutions company revoked my payment plans saying " it is a once in a life time ordeal and I needed to pay back the amount in full as they has canceled my financial aid and amount received during that semester. I had to borrow to get the money and when I paid the amount in full XXXX XXXX XXXX representatives said I needed to pay my student loan in full in order to resolve the XXXX XXXX overpayment and reprimanded me for submitting my payment receipts via email. Additionally, they would answer the phone and place me on hold and hang up after learning my name. This issue lasted so long that I suffered food insecurity and home insecurity as my landlord said they no longer wanted me to live in my apartment and delivered a unofficial eviction. I was so afraid but I did not want to be on the streets while in college so I made a complaint to the department of education and contacted the president of my instruction to see if their office could help me resolve the issue. They did not but once my financial aid was reinstated I had to probe the office several times to make my disbursements as I was starving and on the verge of homelessness. But that only exacerbated their harassment and mistreatment by canceling my XXXX XXXX for spring semester saying I had maxed out of my XXXX XXXX allowance for my college career. I knew this was another blowback but I did not know how to handle it or who to turn too as this is my last year in college. I had already explained how the lag time in delivering my aid cost me my earned position with the COOP fellowship, me not being able to commute to campus, and cost me networking opportunities on campus. Furthermore, instead of offering to help they threw another blow at me when I consulted the Presidents office for mediation discussing several issues I am experiencing on campus such as depending on my XXXX and department alumni to deliver letters of recommendations they agreed to deliver but I was denied from the capital fellowship program with prejudice for applying and not meeting the minimum qualifications. Finally, the presidents office sent me a happy holidays post card in response and a few days later the financial aid office updated my package to only reflect the fall semester and not spring semester when I accepted my student loan package for spring and fall and approved a student loan for the entire year. Usually student loans are irreversible unless the student sent the money back but this office revised my package as a result of subornation as they did not consult with me nor offer me any solutions following this new detail. It is worth mentioning that I moved miles away from campus to afford the cost of living and attendance and I do not want my credit to suffer as a result of a XXXX XXXX state university unofficially exiling me and treating me with prejudice. The department of education did not help me they only email me back saying my intuition reinstated my aid and to wait but they did not reinstate my aid they are terrorizing me in a indirect way while maintaining professional decorum. They even furthered their heinous crimes by not allowing me to receive he full amount of the middle class scholarship or the other scholarship I received for being a student living in California under the poverty line. My XXXX scholarship was reduced to XXXX. In addition, when the incident happened of my financial aid being canceled they updated my account so my fall semester would have {$3500.00} more which incidentally is the rest of the amount I was waiting for from fall but I was told I didn't qualify for - and it is worth mentioning that the {$3500.00} is just enough to cover the last two classes I need to graduate college.

Company response to consumer: Untimely response