Consumer complaint received 2024-11-06 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: F.H. Cann & Associates, Inc.
State: MI

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted my XXXX employer certification form to XXXX. It takes up to 90 days to process. Just shy of this 90 days, all XXXX processing transferred to Federal Student Aid ( FSA ). Borrowers were informed this process would take until XX/XX/XXXX. 

In early XXXX, I logged onto my FSA account and saw my prior qualifying months but my most recent XX/XX/XXXX employer certification form was marked " closed '' while older submissions were not. I called FSA and was informed it was closed " because they just needed more time for the updates '' and that I should " check back in XXXX. '' I waited until XXXX and it was still marked " closed. '' I called back, and emphasized it was now a XXXX mo wait and was then told the prior call center person gave me incorrect information. It was closed because " there was no employer signature. '' The form itself was not viewable to this person, just a data summary. I knew the form had been signed and the agent was unable to help me further. I looked into it on my own and found that FSA does not accept electronic signatures for XXXX employer certification, and my HR person had used an electronic signature. 

I still had my copy of the form with just my information and signature on it, so I reached out to my HR person and asked her to manually sign. I then uploaded this form using the " XXXX XXXX '' as advised by an FSA call center staff person. It was uploaded as a PDF and I received an email confirmation that it was received. I called FSA and they told me it would take " XXXX weeks '' to process. I waited this interval, and there was no news and the submission was no longer viewable on " my activity ''. There were now XXXX " closed '' certifications from XXXX on my account. This was now early XXXX ( XXXX mos after my initial submission ). When I called FSA, the woman told me she could see no new submission, it was still listed as unsigned. I asked if I could upload the form again right then, and as I did so, I noticed that on the thumbnail view of the PDF as it is uploaded, the signature was erased. I triple checked my document was the correctly signed one ( it was ) and still this happened. Suspecting this was an issue with the PDF format, I converted the document to a JPEG ( another accepted document type ) and uploaded this. I received an email confirmation and could see the submission under " my activity '' on my account. I also submitted a complaint to FSA asking them to look into this issue. 2 days later, I received an automated email informing me my complaint was closed. No action on my complaint was taken. XXXX week later, when I logged back into my FSA account, my most recent submission was no longer there. Despite the email confirmation. I contacted FSA and they informed me that this was a " user issue '' and I should try faxing my form " because that always works and it's visible in just XXXX hrs ''. She provided me with the number and I went to XXXX to fax my form. It took XXXX attempts by XXXX to get a transmission and confirmation report. 

I called back XXXX business days later and was now told " oh, we can never guarantee when we'll receive a fax, we get over XXXX per week. I'm not sure why she told you that, just keep waiting. '' It has now been XXXX  months since my initial submission, and despite multiple calls to FSA, a complaint to their own system, and multiple methods for submission, I have made no progress. It is painfully relevant as this XXXX submission includes the FINAL XXXX months of my XXXX qualifying payments for forgiveness. This feels like more than a coincidence. That utter lack of transparency and conflicting information every time I call is astounding. Additionally, software that erases signatures should be investigated. Although they have an on-line " PSLF tool '' which is their preferred method for submission, this method limits a user to a single " average hours per week '' entry. I was initially part time and then increased to full time. I do not fit into XXXX box for my hours over XXXX yrs and can not use this method and reflect my employment history accurately.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation