Date Received: 2022-11-04
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I have requested a refund of my student loan taken out in XXXX for {$5500.00} which was paid off in full during the Covid forbearance period so that I can apply for forgiveness. I made approximately {$4700.00} in payments to Fed Loan Servicing before my account was transferred to XXXX. I made the last payment of {$830.00} to XXXX. I received a refund from XXXX for {$830.00}, and my balance on the loan increased to reflect that. I have been calling Fed Loan and XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX trying to get the remaining {$4700.00} refunded so that it can be forgiven under the Biden plan. I have spoken to probably XXXX people on both companies that have told me so much conflicting information I want to pull my hair out. I would like to get a straight answer if that is possible. Thank you, XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: MO
Zip: 64157
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Have called numerous times regarding a student loan refund. On XX/XX/2022 I called MyFedloan and a refund request was submitted. Called XX/XX/XXXX and was greeted with an automated messages saying my refund was processing. Called again XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX to which I was greeted with the same auto response stating the refund is processing. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and went to the regular menu. No auto response regarding my refund request, so I spoke to a representative who confirmed it was still processing. On XX/XX/XXXX I called again and was greeted with an automated messages that states MyFedloan does not service my loans and they were transferred to XXXX. I called them to get some information and was told they have no record of me being a customer and that it may take until XXXX to sort through the new accounts and at the point I would have to resubmitt my refund request. I immediately called MyFedloan back ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to confirm this and MyFedloan stated that it does not matter the loans were transferred and they can see my refund request was approved by the DoE on XX/XX/2022. They stated I should expect the refund shortly. Today is XX/XX/XXXX and I have not received anything to date so I called MyFedloan again today and was told by a representative that they can see it was approved but I will not receive anything and will need to re-request it through XXXX once they set my account up. Reading online and seeing that people requested around the same time I did and received their refund in half the time is a little concerning considering my refund request was approved since XX/XX/XXXX after having been requested on XX/XX/2022. Any information regarding this would be appreciated. Thank you.
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 15236
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear CFPB : I am writing this letter to register a formal complaint against FedLoan and its mishandling of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) and Temporary Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( TEPSLF ) programs with me as a borrower. Throughout the process, FedLoan has made numerous errors and provided false information regarding my eligibility for these programs. I have two sets of Parent PLUS Direct Loans serviced by FedLoan. I took out the first one in XXXX and enrolled in the PSLF program. As shown in the first attached document, I have been employed with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, a qualifying public service employer, since XXXX. I submitted the proper Employment Certification forms, was approved for entry into the PSLF program, and continue to be approved for it. As the document also shows, that approval has since expanded to include the TEPSLF. I have faithfully made every required payment on time since XXXX. The second attached document from the FedLoan website shows the XXXX XXXX XXXX. It displays items including qualifying payments made, qualifying payments remaining, and expected forgiveness dates. This tracker is a recent addition to their website. I relied on this document to be accurate, as the average consumer would. In all the previous years, we relied upon the customer service support to guide us with accurate, competent information, which they did not do at all. That is why we are where we are today. Over the past 10 years, I faithfully checked several times each year with FedLoan to confirm my enrollment in the PESLF/TEPSLF programs, the terms, and that I was meeting all the requirements. Each time, they told me I was properly enrolled and on track for loan forgiveness. As the attached FedLoan documents show, I have made significant progress in the program, with my first forgiveness eligibility date coming up in XXXX. FedLoan now claims that I am not actually qualified for the PSLF or TEPSLF programs. They said I was not on a qualifying repayment plan because I had not consolidated all of my loans at the beginning ( this was exactly the opposite of what they said before ). They told me I would now have to consolidate all the loans, lose all my accumulated months of qualifying PSLF/TEPSLF payments and start over at XXXX. Bottom line : it is highly illegal and unethical for FedLoan to have admitted me into PSLF and TEPSLF, documented my monthly progress for 10 years, and now claim that I do not qualify for the programs. This is an abuse of hard-working middle-class Americans. In a series of calls last XXXX, we spoke with three FedLoan supervisors including : XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), and XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Each was confused about the true PSLF/TEPSLF requirements. They provided differing, contradictory stories about program qualifications. XXXX was the first employee in 10 years to admit that FedLoan provided substantial false information to us. Based on our case, he said he was going to escalate it to his superiors. However, we have not heard back from him, and I dont know if we ever will. Over the past year, I have also written letters to our senators, to the XXXX XXXX Attorney XXXX XXXX, PHEAA, and the U.S. Department of Education FSA Ombudsman Group. I have never received any resolution or reasons as to why this happened to me. We have also spoken with representatives from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX They said they are also looking into this issue, as we are in a very small group of borrowers caught up in this mismanagement. Even though in the last few months, there has been clearer language regarding PSLF and TEPSLF requirements, there was not in all the previous years when we were admitted into these progams. They should never have admitted us to these programs if we did not meet the requirements. On loan sequences 1, 2, 3, and 6, we are now within 25-49 payments of total loan forgiveness under the TEPSLF program to which we were admitted 11 years ago. We should not lose all of these credits due to FedLoans incompetence and lack of correct information. If we were not qualified for this program, why did they ever let us into it in the first place? We are now nearing retirement. As we were planning on this loan forgiveness, this places us in a financial dilemma. We based our retirement planning on the scenario of loan forgiveness around XXXX. We also based our most important financial and employment decisions on this. I remained with a public service employer as a XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX because I was assured the program would be here for me in the end. In summary, FedLoan has grossly mismanaged the PSLF and TEPSLF programs. The agency has acted in an incompetent, deceptive manner. We are asking you at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to intervene on our behalf to ensure that we are able to keep our accumulated months of qualifying payments as shown in the attached documents, to continue in the XXXX program, and to have these loans forgiven as it was stated they would be by the payment tracker on our account. Please contact me as soon as possible regarding next steps in this process. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 162XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I called MyFedLoan just few days after they announced " Debt Relief '' for student loans to get my {$1200.00} back that was paid during the pandemic forberance period. They processed my request, but didn't gave me any confirmation number as they mentioned they will have to do it manually. To this date, I have not yet received any funds back in my bank account. I called in about 6-7 weeks ago and I had to restart the process again.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95377
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I have been trying to get a refund of a student loan payment I made during the COVID-19 pandemic ( on XX/XX/2020 I believe ) for some time. I have reached out to my servicer- both my original servicer PHEAA, and the servicer my loans were transferred to, XXXX, multiple times via email. PHEAA just keeps telling my my loans were transferred, and XXXX doesn't respond at all. Today I tried to call PHEAA, and after selecting several options from an automated menu, I was instructed to hold. Then the line hung up on me after less than a minute.
Company Response:
State: MD
Zip: 21218
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-02
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: When the Student Debt Relief plan was announced, I called my loan servicer, Fedloan, on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX to request a refund of student loan payments that were made during the forbearance period. I spoke with XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) who informed me since there were three payments, she would have to put in three different refund requests. The three payment amounts were XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. She mentioned there wasnt a definite timeline as to when to receive the refunds, but it could be anywhere from two weeks to two months. I received two checks from the Department of Treasury on XX/XX/2022 : one for XXXX ( Chk. # XXXX ) and another for XXXX ( Chk. # XXXX ). As of XX/XX/2022, I have yet to receive the third refund of XXXX and its been more than 60 days. On XX/XX/2022, I called XXXX to inquire about the refund, and they still did not have my complete account information. I instructed them to add a note that I was awaiting a third refund in the amount of {$26000.00}. On XX/XX/2022, I called FedLoan to inquire about the status once again and the rep I spoke with, XXXX, explained that since my account had been transferred to XXXX, they no longer have access to any information regarding my account and instructed me to call XXXX. When I contacted XXXX, the rep I spoke with explained that since they werent the servicer that put in the request, I would have to call FedLoan. I have not been able to get a response or a concrete answer about the status of my third refund.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33309
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-11-01
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I am attempting to get a loan paid off in full in XX/XX/XXXX reopened and payments made refunded. I asked for a refund from FedLoan on XX/XX/XXXX and was told it was in process. This was the case when I called back a week later to confirm. On XX/XX/XXXX when I called to confirm again they said I would need to go to XXXX and that they had no idea why a refund request was submitted. I have spent 2 hours on the phone with Fed Loan Servicing trying to find out what's going on. They repeatedly sent me to my new servicer XXXX XXXX who would then send me right back to FedLoan. Today XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX at Fedloan ( Id : XXXX ) who told me I should just " wait and see there's nothing anyone can do ''. I asked to be escalated and she escalated me to XXXX ( XXXX ) who told me that my paid of of loan was being transfered to XXXX because FedLoan didn't have time to process my refund.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 021XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-11-01
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-10-31
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I made a payment to FedLoans on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$12000.00} which paid off 5 out of the 8 loans I had. The active loans left were transferred over to XXXX. I requested a refund on the voluntary payment I made in XX/XX/XXXX as I qualified for a refund due to covid. I requested the refund from FedLoans on XX/XX/XXXX as I was told by my current servicer ( XXXX ) that since that payment was made prior to my loans being transferred that FedLoan would handle the loan. I confirmed the request was in and received notice dated XX/XX/XXXX that the loan refund was in process and it would take 2 months to receive it ( I have attached the notice for reference ). It got close to the 2 month mark and FedLoan eventually told me there was no loan refund request in their system. I was told I had to speak with my current servicer to get the refund/ I went through a circle the week of XX/XX/XXXX because I kept calling XXXX who told me they couldn't refund it and then call FedLoans for them to say they can request the refund. I ultimately was able to get a refund request put into XXXX. I previously submitted a CFPB complaint about the inaccuracies and discrepancies with refund timelines on XX/XX/XXXX where FedLoan then responded on XX/XX/XXXX ( after I found out that my loan request was nowhere in their system ). They said they transferred my " paid in full '' accounts to XXXX and that they have the refund request I previously made. I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and they only had the request I remade on XX/XX/XXXX in their system. Essentially I waited 2 months assuming FedLoan was processing my refund to only be told that nothing was done and have to start from square one with XXXX. It seems as though both providers can me inaccurate information and it has resulted in a larger delay in receiving my refund. This is unacceptable as now XXXX refuses to give a timeline on when to expect my refund and some of the representative who had said it will take a minimum of 150 days from the day I requested the refund from them and not when I requested it from FedLoans which I was told would transfer.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 02130
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-10-31
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-10-31
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I submitted a refund request from my original loan servicer, FedLoan Servicing, on XX/XX/XXXX. After calling for two months with no helpful timelines or updates or any information about my account at all, I get told on XX/XX/XXXX that my refund request was approved through FedLoan Servicing and that it is waiting on the Department of Education for the actual refund to go through, which I was told should take 4-6 weeks from the original approval date, which was XX/XX/XXXX, which would mean I'd have my refund within the next two weeks if that was to be believed. Low and behold, two days later, I call again on XX/XX/XXXX and am told my loans got transferred to XXXX along with my refund request. My original CFPB complaint to the company had a response that blew me off saying that they no longer service loans and that I was transferred to XXXX. I assumed this meant I had a balance again and waited patiently to get information from XXXX about logging into my account to see a balance and refund. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX after getting zero information in the mail or via email from either servicer. I'm told that my account isn't even visible by either company until MID XXXX. First off, if I hadn't called FedLoan servicing, I would have had zero idea my account had even been transferred. Right off the bat terrible customer service. Second, they WAITED TWO MONTHS TO TRANSFER MY LOANS after I had submitted the request. I waited two entire months for zero progress because of their incompetency. On top of that, when I called XXXX I was told that I would likely have to resubmit a request and it would be another 8-10 WEEKS for JUST THE APPROVAL of the refund, and then another 4-6 WEEKS for the ACTUAL REFUND from whenever they decide to get the loans transferred in XXXX. So now I'm looking at 12-16 WEEKS from XXXX to actually get a refund. THAT MEANS THAT IT'LL TAKE ME 8 MONTHS TO GET A REFUND ON MY PAYMENTS. I PAID MORE THAN THE REFUND AMOUNT IN THAT AMOUNT OF TIME. THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY RIDICULOUS CUSTOMER SERVICE. Not only is the wait ridiculous, it is now costing me money. Since I can't apply for the debt relief until I have a balance, I'll get the refund way past the startup of payments again. Meaning because of these two company 's incompetence and just utter inefficiency, I WILL HAVE TO PAY INTEREST THAT I SHOULD'VE NEVER HAD TO PAY JUST TO GET MY DEBT RELIEF AMOUNT. When I brought all of this up to the XXXX representative, including the fact that I was told my refund request was also transferred, I was told " in that case maybe the refund is still processing. '' Which means there is also a chance I will get a balance reinstated to my account that is currently with neither loan servicer fully, that I can't view or access, without my knowledge, as the deadline to start payment looms closer. That fact alone has me very close to contacting my lawyer about this and take legal action against both companies, because at that point it's endangering my financial standing if there's a chance I have an open loan that I can't view or access. I've never seen such ridiculous and utter lack of customer service, transparency, and urgency. I want to be able to access my account and have my refund BY THE END OF XXXX, which even at that point is BEYOND RIDICULOUS, and if these two companies can't figure out how to get that done, than I will be contacting my lawyer to make sure I'm not responsible for paying interest once my balance is reinstated, because I WILL NOT be providing these companies ANY MONEY because they can't figure out how to function. This is UNNACCEPTABLE.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 328XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-10-31
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-10-29
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: The fed loan account is in XXXX balance and it does show a balance of XXXX
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33186
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-10-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: No
Consumer Disputed: N/A