Consumer complaint received 2024-11-15 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge
Company: MOHELA
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
repayment plan, and the challenges in obtaining an accurate payment count adjustment for PSLF. 

Subject : Formal Complaint Regarding MOHELA and StudentAid.gov Mismanagement of PSLF Payment Count and Repayment Plan Issues To Whom It May Concern : I am filing this complaint to address the ongoing mismanagement and conflicting information I have received from MOHELA and StudentAid.gov regarding my student loans, specifically related to my Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) eligibility and my current repayment plan. These issues have resulted in significant confusion, financial stress, and unjustified charges.

1. Discrepancies in Repayment Plan and Unexpected Billing Issues I am currently enrolled in an alternative repayment plan with a monthly bill of {$5.00}. However, upon logging into my account, I was shocked to find that I was marked as past due for {$210.00} and am now required to pay {$860.00} by XX/XX/XXXX. Despite this discrepancy, my account still indicates that I am on the alternative plan, which conflicts with the amounts now being demanded. 
I contacted both MOHELA and StudentAid.gov to understand why this sudden change occurred, but neither a MOHELA supervisor nor StudentAid.gov representatives could explain or identify who made the change to my repayment terms. Despite this confusion, I am still being held responsible for these unexpected charges.

2. Inaccurate and Delayed PSLF Payment Count Adjustment I am also experiencing issues with the one-time payment count adjustment for PSLF that
was announced by the Department of Education . As of today, I have not received any updates or adjustments to my payment count, even though I am still waiting for this to be reflected on my account. 

Additionally : My employment certification was submitted and confirmed as received on XX/XX/XXXX, but my account erroneously reports that my employer has not been certified. I have been a full-time employee for over 10 years with the same qualifying employer and am eligible for PSLF credit for all months in XXXX. 
Despite my eligibility, I have been informed that my payments during the XXXX forbearance period in XXXX are not being properly counted toward PSLF forgiveness. 

3. Misleading Guidance from MOHELA and StudentAid.gov Due to these ongoing issues, I contacted StudentAid.gov for assistance. I have submitted complaints to Student aid.gov and the ombudsman with no resolution only that it will take over 45 business days to review my recount adjustment and that I could be in for a buyback which will also take 90 business days to process. I have been contact MOHELA requesting a resolution and payment count update before the transition change back in XX/XX/XXXX. I was advised to submit a reconsideration request, even though I am still waiting for the automatic payment count adjustment to be applied. This advice seems contradictory, given that I should not need to take additional steps if my payments are being correctly adjusted as promised by the Department of Education. I was told that I would be put in processing forbearance which should not need to happen as I never received notification of the change in payment with the same alternative plan.

4. Request for Resolution The lack of transparency, conflicting information, and inability to resolve these issues has caused me severe distress. I am being misled by both MOHELA and StudentAid.gov, and I am now at risk of falling further behind on payments due to errors outside of my control. 


I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and look forward to your assistance in resolving these issues. I am prepared to provide any additional documentation needed to support my claims.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation