Consumer complaint received 2024-05-07 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: MOHELA
State: AL

Complaint narrative:
My loans were transferred to MOHELA from XXXX at the end of XXXX, and it has been an absolute nightmare. When they received my loans, they told me XXXX never processed my SAVE application, so my payments were not based on my income. While I know the federal government has no control over private loans, I graduated during the XXXX recession, and I was forced to take out private loans to finish my XXXX XXXX XXXX. So, I have been paying, and continue to pay, about $ XXXX for my private student loans. After my first phone call with MOHELA around XXXX, I was told I needed to complete the SAVE application via studentaid.gov, which I did. XXXX previously told me my monthly payments would be around $ XXXX, which is doable. MOHELA told me my monthly payment would be over $ XXXX because I filed jointly with my husband. This year, my husband and I purposefully filed separately ( my XXXX is just over XXXX ) after another MOHELA representative told me my payments would drop to $ XXXX without his income included ( this was during a phone call I had in XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ). As a result, I did not receive any tax refund, but I felt it would be worth it to have lower monthly payments. Again, this decision to file separately was largely due to the " advice '' provided by MOHELA representatives. When I recertified my income/financial information on studentaid.gov at the end of XX/XX/XXXX, my SAVE monthly payment was $ XXXX ( attached - no personal info included ). I also received a separate estimate saying my payments would range from {$35.00} - XXXX ( attached, again no PII visible ), and these documents were sent to MOHELA. In the loan agreement, it states that MOHELA will place me in the plan with the lowest payment ( which should theoretically be the SAVE amount ). I received MOHELA 's response ( attached screenshot ) saying my IDR/SAVE application was denied, and my monthly payment is $ XXXX - which is not doable with all of my other bills. I called MOHELA prior to chatting with a representative on the StudentAid.gov site. I explained that MOHELA was not using my XXXX and he said that was incorrect on MOHELA 's part. He also suggested I reach out to the XXXX XXXX XXXX and this organization based on the information I gave him. I spoke with a different representative from MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX around XXXXXXXX XXXX CST. Firstly, she told me I made " numerous mistakes '' in my application, which is why they could not change my monthly payment. I was also told I did not complete it at all, so it was a bit confusing. I was told that my XXXX was NOT used to calculate monthly payments ( they included my total salary, including amounts taken out for taxes, SS, etc. ). I was placed on hold for several minutes, and the agent came back to tell me that my payments would only drop to {$10.00} if I included my spouse 's income, she also said she wasn't married so she " didn't really understand how that works ''. Basically she told me the fault was with studentaid.gov and I need to complete another application, but include my husband 's salary. I tried that and my payment estimate more than doubled. I am beyond frustrated with MOHELA 's actions and " counsel ''. Every time I talk to them, they put the blame on me or the dept. of ed saying " I used the wrong form '' or " I just don't qualify '' or " we didn't receive that information ''. I also received a call back from one of the MOHELA supervisors on XX/XX/XXXX ( that alone took almost 40 minutes of hold time before I was connected to a voicemail saying I would receive a callback ). I spoke with an employee who worked in the customer service department. She told me that based on my income ( which she made clear did NOT mean my XXXX ), my SAVE payment was {$100.00}. I have completed the SAVE application 3 times now, which were all sent to MOHELA. According to studentaid - I qualify for $ XXXX. She said she requested that my account be reviewed ( along with information that XXXX be provided by studentaid ) - she said this would take 7 - 10 business days. She said if " the information is accurate '' my payments *should* go to $ XXXX, otherwise it will be {$100.00}. Whenever I speak with MOHELA, they throw the previous employees under the bus. When I explained about the earlier representative telling me my payments would decrease after adding my husband 's income, she laughed and said that is inaccurate - nothing about making sure that earlier rep would be informed of her mistake. MOHELA will also place the onus on the borrower or the Dept. of Ed. The only suggestion they have if I can't make payments is to go into forbearance. At this point, I owe more than I borrowed, and I just want an amount I can afford. I also spoke with Studentaid.gov ( via their phone line ) today XX/XX/XXXX and I was told that SAVE amount is only an " estimate '' and that MOHELA makes the final decision with how much my monthly payments are. If that is the case, why are they having borrowers complete the SAVE application at all? Base on my income, my payments should be well under 3-figures based on the formula which uses the Federal poverty level and AGI ( Again, MOHELA is NOT using my XXXXXXXX ; they include income already collected for taxes ). My XXXX is {$41000.00}, per my tax forms, which I can provide. For a family of one in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, 225 % of the XXXX HHS Poverty Guideline amount is {$33000.00}. The difference between my XXXX and 225 % of the Poverty Guideline amount is {$7400.00}. Under SAVE, my payments should be based on 10 % of my discretionary income ( {$7400.00} ), which is ~ {$740.00}. If that is divided by 12, my monthly payment should be around {$62.00}, which is STILL more reasonable than the {$100.00} amount MOHELA keeps telling me to pay. These letters also never disclose why my SAVE application is denied, just that my monthly amount is {$100.00}. Right now, I can not access my account on MOHELA because my account is being transferred to their different platform. If I call MOHELA customer support, the representatives also can not access my account. This company is a dumpster fire, and I want A CORRECT MONTHLY PAYMENT AMOUNT BASED ON SAVE. If MOHELA can not do basic math, it's a bit of a problem. I was told by the MOHELA supervisor that my account would be reviewed in 7-10 business days, I find that highly unlikely now that my account is being transferred, and basically, it can not be accessed by anyone. MOHELA has done nothing but lie to me since my loans were moved there. I also included a screenshot of the email MOHELA sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX saying again they did not approve my IDR plan. I can not access the letter due to my account being inaccessible, but the previous letters did not offer much of an explanation, just that my payment is $ XXXX. According to Student Aid, my both of my SAVE applications ( since I filed separately ) are still in review by MOHELA. It doesn't really make sense to me that they can make these decisions when employees can not access borrower accounts while they are being transferred to the new platform.

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