Consumer complaint received 2025-04-11 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: Maximus Federal Services, Inc.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Complaint : Drastically increased my monthly payment, not approving IDR applications, and screwing up a refund for four months. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX my student loan balance was {$36000.00}, and I was making {$200.00} monthly payments for years. I went back to school in XX/XX/XXXX and went on In-School Deferment.

In-School Deferment sends XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX = {$50000.00}. 

Only a few days before XX/XX/XXXX, Aidvantage says I have {$750.00} due on that day as my first payment. Begrudgingly I pay via XXXX as I don't want my count to go delinquent. I call Aidvantage and ask why this amount is so large compared to what I am historically used to paying. They have no answer and can't lower it. I apply for SAVE plan at this time. They confirmed I provided all documents and just need to wait for approval. They do NOT put me on another forbearance due to my application. 

XX/XX/XXXX I get an email notification saying my account is delinquent, and that I owe {$240.00} right now, despite paying {$750.00} via XXXX, and balance owed was XXXX just XXXX days prior. I manually pay {$240.00}, and then I call in an ask why this happened. They have no answer and never give me an answer. 

XX/XX/XXXX I pay {$750.00} again via XXXX, no news on XXXX application status. 

XX/XX/XXXX I pay {$750.00} again via XXXX, no news on SAVE application status. I call in and ask the status of my SAVE application. They can not find my application until I give them specific dates, and miraculously they find my application. They then tell me that they didn't receive any of my require income documentation despite my sending in months prior and being told it all looks good. Because of this, my original application was never considered. I am angry, I provide them with Income docs, and they restart my application. They put me on a two month application forbearance at this time. 

XX/XX/XXXX my forbearance ends. Next day I see I owe now {$980.00} per month starting in THREE DAYS!!! Three days advanced notice of another wild price jump. I immediately cancel XXXX as I do not trust it due to earlier problems. I manually pay {$980.00} and it is applied to my account on the XX/XX/XXXX due date. However, also on XX/XX/XXXX, Aidvantage takes {$760.00} from my bank account via XXXX, despite cancelling XXXX a week prior!!! So now they have a total of {$1700.00} payment from me for month of XX/XX/XXXX. 

I call Aidvantage and complain. It takes XXXX minutes into the call before they even admit to the mistake. I tell them to use that extra payment and apply it to my future account so that I do not owe for next month. They say this is acceptable. 

XX/XX/XXXX I notice the {$760.00} completely disappears from my " Recent Payments '' section in Aidvantage XXXX. Confuse, I call in and they tell me a refund has been issued for {$760.00}. I complain that I didn't want a refund, and they ignored me, but then I say " whatever '', I will wait for this refund. 

XX/XX/XXXX my account updates saying my next payment is due on XX/XX/XXXX, and that it is for {$400.00}. I manually pay this amount. Completely frustrated, I call into Aidvantage and ask again for the status of my refund, AND I ask for the status of my SAVE Plan application. They say applications aren't processing right now. As for my refund, they say the original ticket was put in incorrectly and the refund was never issued. They escalate the ticket at this time and I am told the {$760.00} refund process is starting over. 

XX/XX/XXXX my account page updates in Aidvantage saying that my next payment is {$960.00}, due on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I am angry at this point and say I don't care about the SAVE plan anymore, and ask if there is another IDR plan they are accepting applications for at this time? I'm told I can try the ICR plan which would bring my monthly payment down to {$600.00} a month. I tell them to cancel my SAVE Plan application, and start a new application for ICR Plan. I provide all of my documents. They put me on a two month NON-interest accruing forbearance while this application is being reviewed. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I get notification that my account has update, but instead of my account page saying that I owe {$0.00} for XX/XX/XXXX, I am instead now delinquent and that I owe {$6.00} due NOW. I manually pay this amount. 

XX/XX/XXXX my account page says that I owe {$0.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX is XXXX. I do have a new XXXX though saying my forbearance is ending XX/XX/XXXX. No refund received yet for {$760.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX my account page says that I owe {$0.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX is XXXX. I do have a new XXXX though saying my forbearance is ending XX/XX/XXXX. No refund received yet for {$760.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX ( today ) I call Aidvantage. I tell them I still have not received my {$760.00} refund which was first initiated XX/XX/XXXX. They research my tickets and now tell me the original refund ticket was put in for {$400.00}, which is wrong. I told them this is not true, otherwise why did {$760.00} disappear from my recent payments. It was clearly approved for refund. The Aidvantage representative can not tell me why the refund hasn't been completed yet, and that they are putting in another escalation for this today, with a processing estimate of another XXXX to XXXX weeks. 

I also ask the representative for the status of my new XXXX plan application. She tells me that all ICR applications are not being reviewed right now. I say " Wait, I was TOLD on XX/XX/XXXX that ICR plans ARE being reviewed, and this is the entire reason I cancelled my SAVE plan applcation in the first place. Now I'm being told that this is not true, and that ALL Income-driven repayment plans are on pause, not just SAVE. I was either lied to or given false information, and this caused me to cancel my SAVE application that had been in processing for six months.

I am ALSO now told that the two-month non-interest accruing forbearance I was put on these past two month is ACTUALLY an interest accruing forbearance. Another lie told to me on XX/XX/XXXX. 

The current representative tells me that my next payment is due XX/XX/XXXX, but she can not tell me how much it will be. She said the system will automatically put me in forbearance if my newer XXXX plan application hasn't been approved yet, but I know this is a lie. It has never done this before. I'm told if it doesn't do it automatically, that I should call them a week before the XXXX payment is due. 

Based on history pattern, I fully expect my XX/XX/XXXX payment to now be even HIGHER, and it won't appear on my account until a couple days before it is due. This company is paying with lives, I CAN NOT afford a {$1000.00} payment every month and I'm been attempting to get it lowered for XXXX months now. 

If I have to pick between paying mortgage/feeding my child, and paying this XXXX student loan, this student loan is going into default. I don't even XXXX care anymore about my credit. I own everything I need already. Aidvantage does not want to work with me and thinks bullying me into submission via incompetence will just force me to pay higher payments.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation