Consumer complaint received 2024-09-18 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: NY

Complaint narrative:
( 1 ) Please see my complaint against Mohela that I submitted XX/XX/24: COMPLAINT ID XXXX. 

( 2 ) Please review Mohela 's response to this complaint ( received by me XX/XX/24 ). 

( 3 ) Please review my reply to Mohela 's response ( below ). Please take action to ( A ) finally lower my monthly loan payment to the correct amount. And, once you have accomplished this, ( B ) provide a clearly outlined pathway for me to receive refunds for the amounts that I have overpaid and continue to overpay. Thank you. 

This response by Mohela is not helpful. They state that I am working with Mohela representatives to address my concern. However, they are no longer working with me. After all of the hours of back-and-forth, time on hold, incorrect advice, myself submitting tax returns and payment certifications from 2019-2020 which Mohela should have had on file , but were somehow " missing '', I had a call with Mohela on XX/XX/24. During this call, the Mohela representative said that they were STILL unable to lower my payment at this time, and they were not able to give me information regarding if or when this might ever actually happen. Again, my correct monthly payment should have been {$380.00} for this entire calendar year, aside from the period of time during which Mohela put my account into an involuntary administrative forbearance, so that they could transition their online platform. Additionally, and interestingly ( see below ), this response given by Mohela is the first time that I have ever been given specific dates for which my account was put into administrative forbearance this summer. 

As Mohela suggested I do in their response, I have viewed updates to my current repayment schedule through my Mohela web account. Constantly. My incorrectly-high monthly payment of {$1100.00} is still in place, and my online account indicates that this amount is again due on 10/12/24. In addition to overpaying since XXXX  2024 ( {$1100.00} instead of {$380.00} ), this Mohela response has brought to my attention that I paid {$1100.00} for XXXX  2024, when in fact I didn't need to pay anything at all! I was not previously given accurate information regarding when my account would be in forbearance this summer. So now it has come to my attention that I, in fact, made my {$1100.00} payment for XX/XX/24, when my account was in forbearance!!! ( See this new information in Mohela 's response ). 

I appreciate that Mohela suggests that I might be able to retroactively place a forbearance on my account in the future. And in doing so, I might be able to receive refunds of these over payments I have made, and am continuing to make (? ). I say this with a strong " might '', since, so far, any reassuring information given to me by Mohela this year has been proven to be entirely untrue. Additionally, they are continuing to over-charge me to this day, so this gesture is irrelevant at the moment. They need to fix my monthly payment amount, first. 

The next part of their response regarding changes that were made on XX/XX/2022 for XXXX borrowers who have already made at least XXXX  monthly payments is NOT relevant to my situation. The inclusion of this information in Mohela 's response makes it seem like they, in fact, did not look into my personal situation before submitting this. 

Subsequent to this, Mohela 's response discusses the buyback process, which is only relevant for those who have already had XXXX  months of qualifying employment under XXXX. Again, this is NOT relevant to my situation, and makes it seem like they did not look into my personal situation prior to submitting their response. 

Again, Mohela 's response to me is unhelpful. In fact, the majority of the lengthy content of their response is irrelevant information that does not apply to me. This is particularly insulting, considering that Mohela is currently getting away with destroying my life, without any repercussion, by significantly overcharging me month after month. I am exhausted from all the hours I have spent repeating myself and trying to stand up for myself, and still, nothing has changed. I still have to hold off on necessary expenses and put my life plans on hold. In a system where each monthly payment brings borrowers closer to forgiveness, I am doing everything I can to make the monthly payments, even when I can not afford them. In doing so, Mohela is putting me in a vulnerable situation. They continue to overcharge me with no end in sight. Please help. Please. Please. Please.

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