Consumer complaint received 2024-05-03 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: MOHELA
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX Initial PSLF App, transferred to MOHELA XX/XX/XXXX Rec 'd decision from MOHELA. Used secure messaging portal to ask question about military service not being counted but showing as eligible periods. Told to send DD-214. Word for word in the message, " Upon review of your account, you can use your DD214 form to verify employment. You may submit that with pages one and two, please check box on page one indicating employer will not sign off and that you are submitting supporting documents. '' XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX Submitted PSLF applications with military documents that were denied. 

XX/XX/XXXX received documentation stating that there was missing information ( employer contact, etc. ) and incorrectly categorizing my military service as for profit and not eligible. Compiled more proofs of service including XXXX vet statement from the VA with dates of service. 

XX/XX/XXXX Submitted PSLF application with additional military documents that were denied. 

XX/XX/XXXX MOHELA requested W2s and paystubs for military service, this is after I was told DD-214 was sufficient. 

XX/XX/XXXX asked question via secure portal as to why my DD-214 is not sufficient XX/XX/XXXX received reply stating that the request was too complex and I needed to call, and reminding that repayment starts XX/XX/XXXX. Wait times were too long, got redirected, never got through to someone. 

XX/XX/XXXX sent certification of employment ( current ) and military documentation ( again ) XX/XX/XXXX received response dated XX/XX/XXXX with ERRORS to current employment dates. Military service was finally added, without explanation. Qualifying payment count updated to XXXX. ( Eligible payment count was listed as XXXX, meaning that XXXX payments were eligible but did not have employment certification ) Specific error was that eligible payments were not certified as qualifying payments from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, despite employment certification for continuous public service employment from XXXX of XXXX to present. This is very clearly a typo by whoever processed it and was either unintentional or deliberately done to delay processing and force me to submit another application, as they are paid per application processed it benefits them to make errors. 

XX/XX/XXXX I responded via secure message as I could not get through on the phone. I requested that they address the error. 

XX/XX/XXXX Additionally, I sent an internal complaint via secure message XX/XX/XXXX I received another response to the certification dated XX/XX/XXXX with same errors in dates. It appears they tried to reprocess but did not resolve the issue. No explanation. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received a canned response to the complaint submitted, about reviewing PSLF application. Stated please give us 10 business days. 

XX/XX/XXXX Complaint filed with Dept. of Ed. Included numerous documents and screenshots related to the problem. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX business day, no response. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received a response to secure message with sincere apologies. Escalated request to update payment tracker submitted XX/XX/XXXX. Please allow up to 15 business days for processing. 15th business day should be : XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - 15th business day, no response. Not able to get through to someone via customer service number. high wait times and disconnected from call. 

XX/XX/XXXX - submitted additional complaint internally to MOHELA following up on promise of expedited proccessing. 

XX/XX/XXXX - recieved message from MOHELA indicating their " sincere apologies for the delayed response '' and advising that on XX/XX/XXXX the processing pause and shift to Dept of Ed handling of PSLF started. No mention of my issue, no advice as to whether the issue would be corrected or if I need to re-submit an employer certification.

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