Consumer complaint received 2026-03-15 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Maximus Federal Services, Inc.
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
On or about XX/XX/XXXX, my federal student loan servicer, Aidvantage, sent me a letter informing me that my loans had been placed into an administrative forbearance due to the federal court injunction affecting the SAVE repayment plan. That letter contained two specific representations : First, it stated : " While you are in this forbearance no payment is required on your account and your interest rate will be set to 0 %. This means no interest will accrue while you are in the forbearance. '' Second, it committed to direct notification : " We will notify you before the forbearance comes to an end. We do not currently have a time estimate. We will then send you your next monthly billing statement at least 21 days before your next monthly payment is due. '' I relied on both of these written representations. According to publicly available information, the Department of Education directed that interest began accruing on SAVE administrative forbearance accounts effective XX/XX/XXXX. My account carries a total balance of {$430000.00} across 20 active loans with interest rates ranging from 3.40 % to 8.05 %. At full accrual rates, my account generates approximately {$65.00} to {$75.00} per day in interest charges. Despite this material change to my account terms, Aidvantage did not notify me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I conducted a thorough review of all communication channels and confirmed the following : ( 1 ) there is no message in my Aidvantage online inbox regarding the interest change ; ( 2 ) I received no email from Aidvantage about the interest resumption ; ( 3 ) I received no physical letter about the change, despite Aidvantage having previously sent the forbearance letter to my mailing address ; and ( 4 ) I received no telephone call. I first learned that interest had resumed accruing through public news reporting, not through any communication from my servicer. Between approximately XX/XX/XXXX, and the date I first learned of the change through news coverage, interest accrued on my {$430000.00} balance without my knowledge. Over approximately seven months of undisclosed accrual, this amounts to an estimated {$13000.00} to {$16000.00} in interest that accumulated while I reasonably relied on Aidvantage 's written representation that my interest rate was 0 % and that I would be notified before any change. This is not an isolated incident. In a prior CFPB complaint response, Aidvantage represented that my loans were " paid in full as of XX/XX/XXXX. '' This was inaccurate and was subsequently retracted. My account has also reflected contradictory loan status classifications, and Aidvantage has repeatedly failed to substantively respond to detailed written inquiries, instead providing form responses that do not address the specific questions raised. My experience is consistent with systemic failures documented by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. On XX/XX/XXXX, GAO publicly released Report GAO-26-108534, which found that in XX/XX/XXXX, the Office of Federal Student Aid stopped assessing student loan servicers on accuracy and call quality due to a 46 % reduction in staff. Before those assessments were discontinued, four of the five contracted servicers did not meet accuracy performance standards, triggering approximately {$850000.00} in financial penalties. Two servicers had record-keeping problems serious enough to receive the maximum penalty. The Department of Education 's own independent financial auditor separately reported in XX/XX/XXXX that the Department had a material weakness related to the reliability of its student loan data. The GAO specifically warned that inaccurate servicer records could result in borrowers being placed in the wrong repayment status or billed for incorrect amounts. The absence of federal oversight does not relieve Aidvantage of its obligation to honor its own written commitments to individual borrowers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation