Consumer complaint received 2025-03-26 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:
I was in an XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) plan for almost XXXX years. I consolidated my loans in XX/XX/XXXX to take advantage of the one-time account adjustment and when I consolidated I selected the lowest payment plan which was XXXX. Because of litigation I was automatically placed in a XXXX level repayment plan which I never selected and which isnt XXXX so it wont count towards XXXX. I was initially told I am not not eligible for administrative forbearance because I was never in XXXX XXXX, but that is because of the timing of my application and the only option is for me to keep calling back to extend the forbearance. I also cant enter an XXXX plan even if I want to because there is a processing pause. 
On XX/XX/XXXX a Mohela supervisor extended my forbearance for XXXX year through XX/XX/XXXX so I did not have to call back each month. This helped me avoid making payments on a plan that would not count towards XXXX. I have a recording of this conversation. She also helped me submit a paper application for a new XXXX plan, but said she could not guarantee when this would be processed due to the pause, but in the meanwhile I would be in forbearance so I wouldn't have to worry. I uploaded the paper version of the XXXX application that day. 
Because of my XXXX application, I received a letter from Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX stating that " We recently received your income-driven repayment ( XXXX ) application, but since a federal court issued an injunction preventing the XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) from operating the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) Plan and other XXXX plans, XXXX application processing is taking longer than normal. 
Due to these delays your XXXX application is in a pending status and MOHELA is putting your account into a forbearance for up to XXXX  days. '' My XXXX  application got denied due to a missing signature ( even though a Mohela supervisor looked over my application and told me it was complete ), so after calling and speaking with another supervisor to determine why my XXXX was denied, I submitted a new XXXX application on XX/XX/XXXX with the signature needed. That supervisor explained that if my application is not approved before my next payment date of XX/XX/XXXX, I can call to be placed on processing forbearance. She understood that I did not want to make payments that were not in an XXXX plan because they would not qualify for XXXX. She said the processing forbearance wont be done automatically, but at that point I can call and ask because theyll see the new XXXX application on file. Unfortunately I have been trying to call to ask and can not get through to anyone because of the outrageously long hold times. However, I did receive a letter from Mohela on XX/XX/XXXX ( I will upload ) that said " A federal court issued an injunction preventing the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) from operating the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) Plan and some other XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) plans. As a result of this ruling, XXXX has directed MOHELA to put your account into a forbearance because either : XXXX. You are currently a borrower on XXXX. 
XXXX. XXXX  Days have passed since we received your XXXX application, and it has not yet been processed. '' So again, like last time, I was told my account was in forbearance. Today, on XX/XX/XXXX, my account is saying PAST DUE from XXXX and I have another payment coming up on XX/XX/XXXX. I am worried this will wrongfully affect my credit. Clearly the forbearance was not properly put on my account. I have been trying every day to call for XXXX month, but each time I call the wait time is XXXX hours and I can never get through to a representative. In the past even if I was able to get a hold of an account representative, the first agent I spoke with insisted I had to be transferred. When I get transferred I am just put on hold for hours on end and a supervisor never calls me back, so my account is still wrongfully showed past due. I have called about this issue every day for the past month. The shortest wait time is XXXX hours even during the recommended time to call which is Thursday and Friday from XXXX. I will continue to try to call to resolve this issue, but in the meanwhile I felt this complaint was necessary as Im worried I will soon be reported to collections. Mohela is operating a deflection scheme to avoid resolving the issue and updating my account status.

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