Consumer complaint received 2025-03-25 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: MOHELA
State: IA

Complaint narrative:
XXXX dealing with a frustrating and potentially harmful situation with my student loan servicer, MOHELA, and XXXX wondering if legal action is an option. I submitted my XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) plan renewal well before the deadline, back in XXXX, and yet they have failed to process it in a timely manner. As a result, my XXXX plan has lapsed, and they are now demanding an outrageous {$3600.00} monthly paymentmore than my entire monthly income of {$3000.00}. 

To make matters worse, despite my explicit instructions to the contrary, MOHELA has placed my loans into forbearance. I never consented to this. In fact, I made it very clear that I did not want my loans to go into forbearance because I am actively pursuing XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( PSLF ). As many borrowers know, time spent in forbearance does not count toward the required XXXX qualifying payments for XXXX, meaning this unnecessary forbearance period is directly harming my progress toward loan forgiveness. 

Ive tried contacting MOHELA multiple times to resolve this issue, but I keep getting the same response : my XXXX renewal is under review, and in the meantime, I have no choice but to either make an impossible payment or accept forbearanceneither of which should be happening. This is not just an inconvenience ; it has serious financial and long-term career implications for me. I chose my profession and my financial path based on the promise that XXXX would allow me to eventually discharge my loans after XXXX years of service. By forcing me into forbearance, MOHELA is effectively delaying my forgiveness timeline through no fault of my own. 

This raises a critical question : Can I take legal action against MOHELA for failing to process my XXXX renewal in a reasonable timeframe and for putting me into forbearance against my will? It seems like a clear case of negligence, mismanagement, and potentially even bad faith practices. At the very least, they are failing in their duty to properly service federal student loans in compliance with XXXX and IDR policies. 

XXXX considering filing formal complaints with the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ), and my states Attorney Generals office. Ive also heard that some borrowers have had success reaching out to their congressional representatives for assistance in situations like this. However, XXXX wondering if I should take this a step further and explore legal options. Has anyone else faced a similar issue and successfully challenged their loan servicer? Is there legal precedent for suing a student loan servicer over something like this? 

At this point, I feel like my financial future is being jeopardized through no fault of my own. I did everything rightsubmitted my paperwork on time, communicated clearly, and followed the PSLF requirements. Yet, XXXX being penalized because my loan servicer is failing to do its job. If anyone has advice, resources, or legal insights, I would greatly appreciate it. No borrower should have to go through this kind of unnecessary hardship.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation