Consumer complaint received 2024-12-14 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA
State: WI

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to formally complain about the persistent errors, delays, and poor customer service I have experienced since my loans were transferred to MOHELA. Despite numerous attempts to resolve my issues, including long call wait times, inconsistent information from representatives, and system errors that have not been corrected, I have not received adequate resolution. This has led to repeated delinquency notices, failed auto-pay enrollments, and confusion about the status of my loans and forbearance. Below is a detailed timeline of my experience with MOHELA. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX transfer to MOHELA was completed Signed up for auto pay XX/XX/XXXX Received a letter that my loans were in forbearance. 

XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX min phone call ) Called MOHELA to question and was told that the loans are not actually in forbearance, but the letter was to inform me that they had previously been in forbearance years prior. 

XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX min ) Received a letter that my loans were delinquent. Called to question since I had signed up for auto pay and was told that my auto pay enrollment XXXX not have been activated in time but it also looked like my loans should be in forbearance. The call escalated and a customer expert did clarify that my loans were in forbearance and they would work to update their information. This did require them to override their system and in doing that, they were going to need to cancel my auto pay. I was informed that the forbearance would end on XX/XX/XXXX and my next payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. The customer service associate I spoke with informed me that I should be sure to enroll in auto pay prior to XX/XX/XXXX to ensure that I do not receive another delinquency notice. 

XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX hr XXXX and XXXX min call ) Attempted to enroll in auto pay as instructed in the call on XX/XX/XXXX. My MOHELA dashboard still stated that my loans were past due and because of that I would not be able to enroll in auto pay. I called MOHELA ( the automated phone system stated that I am delinquent ) to try to get more information about what was happening and what I should do. The customer service representative was not able to answer my questions stating that from all the documentation on their end, I was not delinquent. My call was sent to a supervisor who stated that the reason all of this happened is because of the XXXX plan I am on. When I stated that I did not believe I was on the XXXX plan, she looked at my profile more closely and agreed that I am not on the XXXX plan. She stated that the federal government extended the forbearance period for student loan borrowers recently for a few weeks, maybe until mid XXXX, but she couldnt be sure when it would end. She then placed me on hold to investigate more. Our call was disconnected and I did not receive a call from her, so after waiting for XXXX minutes, I called again and asked to speak with a supervisor. This new supervisor informed me that signing up for auto pay prior to XX/XX/XXXX would likely not allow auto pay enough time to finalize in time for the payment to actually process on XX/XX/XXXX. She also informed me that from her end of the system, I am showing that I am not delinquent and am in forbearance, but when she impersonates me, she sees the same information I am seeing. She stated that I should not make any payments until I am not in forbearance, but she was not able to tell me when my forbearance would end. She did state that she would escalate my ticket in an attempt to resolve the issue more quickly and that she would also personally check on the ticket but that I should not pay until this gets sorted. Due to all of the misinformation I have received, I requested that she document that I would like a supervisor to review the phone calls from the XXXX and XXXX for the purpose of quality assurance and professional development. She did state that she would pass that request on. 

Also spoke with student aid to request I move to an income driven repayment plan in an attempt to seek XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. They stated I needed to submit paperwork to MOHELA. 

XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX min ) Attempted to submit my request for XXXX to MOHELAs online portal and received an error message multiple attempts in a row. 

I then called MOHELA to question why I was receiving this message and was told that because of the federal governments pause on XXXX plans, they are not taking these requests via the online submission platform and that I would need to mail or fax the paperwork if I wanted it submitted. The message to try again seems odd given that they are not taking these documents electronically. 

XX/XX/XXXX My MOHELA dashboard still states that I am delinquent and that I have another payment due on XX/XX/XXXX. 



XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX hour XXXX min call ) Called again to attempt to get this all figured out and ensure that I would not be receiving another letter that I am delinquent on another month of payments and also to ensure this would not be negatively impacting my credit score. 

On my dashboard I noticed that XXXX of my loans is showing in forbearance until XX/XX/XXXX while the other XXXX loans are showing forbearance until XX/XX/XXXX Representative advised that when things get transferred over, some things may not get transferred over from the previous system to the new system that MOHELA is using. I asked if it is correct that they have XXXX different end dates and the representative stated that she can submit a request to have the forbearance on all of the accounts end at the same time. 

The online MOHELA portal is still showing that I am past due on the XXXX loans. The representative stated that because of the high call volume these tickets are taking longer than expected. I was told on XX/XX/XXXX that it would take XXXX business days. Today is day XXXX and it is not fixed yet but was told that it could take another XXXX  days. When I asked what the ticket was actually submitted for ( past due notice or forbearance end date ) the answer was unclear stating it was a forbearance request escalation. 

Call student aid to request that transfer from MOHELA back to XXXX. 

I stated that if none of these issues can be fixed today, I will be filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Was transferred to a supervisor. 

Supervisor can adjust the end date of the forbearance to match the others on XX/XX/XXXX. Once the forbearance is adjusted, may take XXXX hours to update the past due on my account portal. 
XX/XX/XXXX Notified that my plan is past due/delinquent but I have enrolled in autopay a number of times since XXXX and it seems to not be sticking. Called but they were closed XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX hr XXXX min call ) Called MOHELA to question the delinquent notice. Waited for XXXX hour and XXXX min for my call to be answered. The rep stated that I appear not to be enrolled in auto pay. I informed him that I have XXXX emails from MOHELA on different dates stating that I have enrolled in auto pay ( see below ). He put me on a brief hold to look into this and returned telling me that it looks like all my payments are going to XXXX account. I do not believe that to be true based on the previous payments I have made manually not showing that. When I questioned him on this, he stated he could transfer me to a specialist. The estimated wait time on the call was XXXX min ( at XXXX XXXX ). I clicked the button to request a call back when my turn is up which should have been about XXXX, but as of XXXX XXXX, I still have not received this return call. 






XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX minute outgoing call XXXX minute incoming call ) I called MOHELA at XXXX XXXX  because I never received a call the day prior as I requested on their call que because I could not wait XXXX minutes. The original hold time to have my call answered was XXXX minutes. The representative who answered my call said I would need to speak to a XXXX to have my issue resolved. She transferred me and the wait time was estimated to be XXXX minutes. I elected again to have my call returned in the order it was received. At XXXX I received their call back from an agent named XXXX ID # XXXX. I was informed that their records do not show that I am in auto pay. She stated that XXXX of my XXXX loans are past due and that maybe only loan XXXX was in auto pay. When I questioned if loan XXXX was actually in auto pay, she stated she was not sure. I asked why I would not be in auto pay when I have emails from them from XXXX and XXXX stating I have requested auto pay and it would take XXXX business days to process. She informed me that it actually takes XXXX billing cycles which is not stated anywhere. I asked why the emails say it takes XXXX business days if it actually takes XXXX billing cycles. She told me she didnt know why my emails would state that. I requested to speak to a supervisor. I was put on hold and XXXX returned to the call stating that she verified what she is telling me is accurate with her supervisor. I asked XXXX more times to speak with the supervisor and was told that the supervisor has not accepting this transfer. I then stated that I would have to file a formal complaint then because I was not getting the service I need and asked if the representative had anything she wanted me to put in my complaint. She stated, Sir, you can put whatever you want in that complaint. A moment later she told me she would be transferring me to a supervisor. I was transferred to a resolution XXXX named Precious ID # XXXX who investigated my concerns and informed me that I should be enrolled in auto pay which should have taken effect for the XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX billing dates. She requested a manual repair and told me I would need to call in again in XXXX business days to confirm that this issue has been resolved.

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