Consumer complaint received 2025-05-20 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: CO

Complaint narrative:
I have had various issues over the last 15 years of loans. Initially after I graduated my loans were sold to many separate servicers without my knowledge. I would begin to pay my loans and then I would get a letter from a different servicer stating my payments were in default. Eventually some of my loans fell into default and destroyed my credit. I was eventually ( after years ) able to track down all of my loans and consolidate them but the damage was already done to my credit that took years to recover from. This isn't to mention the overwhelming amount of debt that piled up from not being able to locate the servicer of all my loans that I carry to this day. After my consolidation I worked for a public company and entered into PSLF on a IDR payment program. I then enrolled in school to become a XXXX XXXX. However, my payments were stopped or suspended multiple times without my knowledge or consent for deferment for school, a new program, etc. I completed my XXXX XXXX XXXX  in 2022 after working as a XXXX  through covid at a public company and wanted to enter in to loan repayment so I started making payments and they were again discontinued automatically for the COVID funds for 0 % and no payments. Now... I was advised by my new servicer ( again ) who is transitioning platforms and put my account payments on hold ( again ) after I had resumed payments for administrative reasons on their end for the month of XXXX to enroll in the SAVE plan. I was informed that after 20 years of IDR payments my loans could be forgiven. Until that time I needed to make the minimum payment and the remaining interest would be covered by the government. It appears that my balance continues to grow. I then called my servicer over multiple days ( I have spent countless hours on the phone ) who can't tell me why it has grown, can't tell me about my payment count status towards forgiveness, can't tell me what future payments may look like, can't tell me the program will be valid in 20 years if I do reach forgiveness, or if I will continue to qualify for it as my children graduate and my income increases. I was advised to contact Federal Student Aide by my servicer for payment counts, questions about my status towards the 20 years of repayment, and about the interest and SAVE plan. Federal Student Aide then stated those were all issues that had to be addressed by my servicer. Neither place had access to my balance history, payment history/status, and couldn't advise me on my repayment status other than to confirm my payment amount and confirm that I am enrolled in the SAVE plan. Clearly, it is advantageous for me to make a smaller monthly payment and for a large balance to be forgiven as it gives me more cash flow for my needs with XXXX children RIGHT NOW. However, I am very concerned especially with the issues in the past with my student loans and the financial havoc they have wreaked despite good faith efforts to repay over a decade ; that my balance will escalate, I won't qualify for the program in the future as my children leave the household and my income increases, and that no one can tell me my progress towards forgiveness after nearly 15 years. I am concerned that if I stay enrolled in the program I will have the same balance ( or much higher with interest accrual ) 20 years down the road especially since no one has been able to give me any direct answers. I submitted this exact complaint in XXXX and did not receive any feedback. Since that complaint, my student loans have become even more difficult to navigate to the point of being unreasonable. I was finally able to enroll in the SAVE plan when within 2 months I was told XXXX by my servicer that if I did not consolidate my loans I would lose my repayment count on my previous loans. They wouldn't tell me what that payment count was but advised me that if I wanted to maintain that count I needed to consolidate. I did so with my loan consolidation finishing in XXXX and my application for SAVE plan being submitted in XXXX. After my loan consolidation completed I was notified that they were no longer processing any applications for IDR plans including SAVE plan and that I couldn't return to my previous payment plan and I would have to then pay the full payment amount. I made two full payments before I received a notification that my loan had been placed in deferment without my authorization Even enrolling in auto pay for full payment without any complication from IDR plans, my automatic payments were cancelled within 2 months and I accrued an additional several hundred dollars in interest. Additionally my loans now collect interest at 0.25 % higher rate because I am not making auto-payments. I then had to try and contact my servicer which took 5 days and three total hold times of over 90 minutes with call backs. I was then told that IDR plans could be submitted but NOT the SAVE plan and as a result of the backlog of almost 5 months that it could take several months to process the new application and that my application for the SAVE plan couldn't be addressed until XXXX. Which at that time the processing could take an additional several months which would be over a year from when I first submitted my application. If I had not taken the arduous effort to take my loans out of forbearance done automatically this would have resulted in nearly {$7000.00} of additional accrued interest over that period. As a result of having to consolidate and being delayed in processing I am now effectively unable to participate in an IDR plan for months or participate in the SAVE plan that I was already enrolled in raising my monthly payment from < {$100.00} to almost $ 700 monthly if I want my loans to not fall behind. Over the life of these loans these delays and unreasonable administrative hurdles have impacted my credit ( default on loans I intended to pay costing me thousands in higher interest rate loans and affecting my ability to purchase a home for years ), and my finances ( thousands and thousands of dollars in interest charges during forbearance or administrative deferments ) that is completely unreasonable for a person who has tried in good faith to repay their loans.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation