Date Received: 2022-08-16
Issue: Getting a loan
Subissue: Fraudulent loan
Consumer Complaint: I attended XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) from XXXX to XXXX. Upon graduation, the only jobs I could get were minimum wage jobs and my student loans payments were more than I could afford to pay. I refinances my loans with a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX which did not satisfactorily explain that refinancing would make my loans fully private, limiting my eligibility for federal student loan protections. XXXX XXXX XXXX has since gone out of business and the note was transferred to American Education Services which had managed my direct FFELP loans which remained federal loans. They list the loan as being owned by XXXX XXXX XXXX and the school is incorrectly listed as the XXXX XXXX XXXX and not XXXX. This year, XXXX was listed as one of the schools implicated in the Sweet v. Cardona lawsuit which stated that implicated schools engaged in misleading recruitment practices, and fraudulent misconduct. Students who attended XXXX and did not refinance their loans will receive debt forgiveness. Because I made my loans private, I will have to pay back {$68000.00} ( principle ) on a loan with an original balance of {$52000.00}. The difference owes entirely to compounding interest with a current rate of 9.2 % Because this loan is now private, I will not receive loan forgiveness under the Sweet v/ Cardona lawsuit. It is my contention that if the original loan was based on fraudulent and misleading recruitment tactics, any transfer of the loan to a private entity is also invalid and the loan should also be forgiven. I am going to be XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. My student loan balance is four times greater than my 401 ( k ) savings. If I am unable to receive forgiveness of this loan, I will likely face garnishment of my Social Security. So this outstanding loan has the potential to impose a significant negative impact on retirement. Furthermore, I was diagnosed with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX of this year. Therefore, I will only find it increasingly difficult to make payments on this loan given the medical bills I will incur over the remainder of my lifespan. I can seek to have this loan discharged in bankruptcy if I am able to prove undue hardship. However, the implications of bankruptcy on my financial well-being would be significant and would last for up to 10 years. It hardly seems fair that I should be further punished by bankruptcy to unburden myself of a loan that was fraudulent, to begin with. I have always remained current with this loan and never entered into default. I made payments when possible and received deferment or forbearance when needed due to economic hardhsip or being in graduate school. XXXX loans are intended to lift people up. Attending XXXX XXXX XXXX was the bigget mistake of my life. Refinancing the loans with Loan-to-Learn/XXXX was the 2nd biggest.
Company Response:
State: MN
Zip: 55082
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-17
Issue: Getting a loan
Subissue: Fraudulent loan
Consumer Complaint: I am paying private student loans to a medical school ( XXXX ) in XXXX that I never attended. The medical school I did attend was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Is it legal for the school to fraudulently get the money for tuition, using another school on the other side of the planet that I never attended? Did the school commit fraud in certifying the loans therefore I'm not responsible and i should be refunded what I paid?
Company Response:
State: NJ
Zip: 079XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-17
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I never requested my loans to go into in-school deferment and always paid towards them every month in XXXX : XXXX, respectively. I have XXXX payments in which Fed Loan Servicing has not counted as qualified payments despite my several request.. Fed Loan Servicing has already acknowledged by letter that my in -school deferments were removed on XX/XX/XXXX and forbearances were removed XX/XX/XXXX for the periods mentioned ( XXXX ; XXXX ). The in-school deferment was removed due to the School Related Deferment Waiver Form I made at least 39 payments during this time, if not more, and should have these payments moved as qualified payments. I have asked how to make this happen, and was told to request a bill be generated. I have requested for a bill to generated several times for the system to capture these 39 payments on three occassions via phone on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. I have also called to inquire in XXXX, and have sent notices via the website and have uploaded supporting files. I am complaining to the CFPB since Fed Loan Servicing is my student loan servicer, knows of the 39 payments, as well as have sent me a copy of my payments which actually totals more than 39 payments. I am asking that Fed Loan Servicing generate a bill for all payments where my in-school deferment waiver was approved, in which I was told will allow my qualified payment count all 118 payments I made under the PSLF and TEPSLF student loan forgiveness program. My loan should be forgiven or close to with forgiveness with having 118 out of 120 payments discovered as of XX/XX/XXXX. My original PSLF application was submitted in XX/XX/XXXX. I have had and still have a qualified employer job since XX/XX/XXXX up to the present. I have made, at a minimum that has been found to date 118 payments as of XX/XX/XXXX. I never requested my loans to go into in-school deferment and always paid towards them every month in XXXX. Any months in which a customer had time in a repayment status, regardless of the payments made, loan type, or repayment plan ( as with the Limited PSLF Waiver ), should be counted as qualified payments. I would like my count of qualified payments updated immediately, and able to prepay my last two months of payments to secure PSLF and TEPSLF Loan Forgiveness.
Company Response:
State: VA
Zip: 220XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-16
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I have attempted phone calls to correct an inconsistency in my PSLF count. Fedloan will not count the period XXXX as eligible due to a paperwork inconsistency concurrent with previous misleading statements about the TLF program and the subsequent paperwork that was submitted. That TLF paperwork was never expunged from my file, so the PSLF payments for those periods continue to not be counted. Due to my previous complaint being remedied, the TLF application needs to be deleted, and those payments need to be counted. I have submitted two employer certification forms ; one in XXXX and one at the end of XXXX. My employer qualified and I have not changed employers since XXXX. Any time I try to call and talk to someone I am put on hold for hours, waiting to talk to a PSLF specialist. I am tired of the runaround and need someone to fix my file so my payments all count accurately and appropriately.
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: 440XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-15
Issue: Communication tactics
Subissue: You told them to stop contacting you, but they keep trying
Consumer Complaint: I stopped paying on my private student loan due to the fact that there is legal precedent that the owner of the loan, National Collegiate Trust ( NCT ), purchased my loan and many others in a manner that does not provide the legal ownership or the right to collect. The loan service provider and debt collector, American Education Services, has been giving me the runaround for over two years regarding this issue. American Education Services ( AES ) maintains that they do not originate loans and are not involved in the changing of hands when debt is bought and sold, yet somehow they are the same company who I originally set the loan up with in XXXX. I have been trying to get AES to provide me with proof of ownership from NCT, or at the very least provide me with contact information so that I could negotiate a settlement, for over two years. They refuse to give me any contact information or even speak to NCT on my behalf. I have spoken with many, many different agents at AES about this issue and even sent them the publication on the CFPB website about how NCT has been fined millions of dollars by the CFPB for false debt collection practices. AES provided me with several different " account management '' companies that service NCT accounts, a XXXX XXXX Co, and XXXX XXXX XXXX. As far as I can tell these are just shell companies, as I have contacted both several times to inquire about my loan account with NCT, and neither of them have any record of my loan even existing. American Education Services also works as the debt collection agent for the companies they service, and as such, have been calling me nonstop for months trying to get me to pay on a loan that they can't even prove is legal. I flexed my rights, and sent them via certified mail a cease and desist letter and a request for debt validation. A copy of the letter is included below. Despite the receipt of a debt validation request and a cease and desist contact, AES continued to harass me with debt collection attempts, and I informed every agent on every call that they were contacting me illegally as I have issued, within my rights, a cease contact order and a legal verification of debt, which must be provided within 30 days in accordance to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They also sent me a letter stating that despite my " request '' to cease contact, that they were obligated to continue contacting me anyway. Cease and Desist [ person information redacted ] XX/XX/XXXX American Education Services XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX Re : American Education Services XXXX Account Service Provider for NCT ( National Collegiate Trust XXXX Account # [ redacted ] I am writing in regards to the account above. Please verify the above-reference debt as required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I have called in and explained many times that I have reason to believe that NCT does not have legal ownership of this loan, and that they have been collecting on it illegally and fraudulently. There is a significant precedent for the loans acquired by NCT in XXXX not having been property registered or signed over in a legal manner. Furthermore, the guarantor of the loan, XXXX, very quickly went bankrupt in the months after the procurement of these loans. I have already submitted documentation verifying all of this information to American Education Services, along with links directly to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website explaining the illegal practices. I have asked for documentation regarding Proof of Ownership several times, documentation that I am legally entitled to, and must legally be provided within 30 days of request under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I did not receive this documentation, despite multiple requests, for over eleven months, the fourth time I requested it be sent out. Since American Education services refuses to give me direct contact information for NCT, and will not contact them on my behalf, I am holding American Education Services responsible for past and/or future breaches of the law regarding this account. I have already mailed in a similar letter in XXXX, which your company chose to disregard. I must be provided Proof of Ownership Documentation from NCT. Simply sending another copy of the original promissory note will not suffice. Furthermore, this documentation must be sent in a timely manner. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if I am not provided with this documentation within 30 days of receipt of this request, the debt must legally be removed from my credit report. Aside from verification of the debt, in the form of Proof of Ownership, do not contact me about this debt. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC Section 1692c requires that you honor this request. Any attempt to contact me will be recorded, documented, and submitted to be used against you in court. Any correspondence other than the requested documentation will be considered harassment. I have repeatedly explained the situation, asked for you to cease harassing me, and will no longer tolerate it. Copies of this letter have been forwarded to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the North Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. RESPONSE FROM AES Dear [ name redacted ] : WHY WE ARE CONTACTING YOU We are responding to a recent request to stop contacting you regarding your educational student loans serviced by American Education Services ( AES ). WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Notwithstanding your request, we are required to continue servicing the account for the loan owners. This means we must continue communicating with you regarding the status of your account until it is either paid-in-full or transferred for nonpayment. In addition to communications from us, if your account is past due, you may receive communications from third-party collection vendors that are engaged by or on behalf of your loan owners. We will forward your request to such third-party collection vendors, which may honor your request to stop contacting you. Please note that when we contact you, the representative will always indicate who the call is from. Please note that your request will only be communicated to a third-party collection vendor with respect to your account. If you have a co-signer, your request will not apply to your co-signer, and if you are a co-signer, the request will not apply to the borrower. Any other party to your loans may submit a separate, written request. ACTION YOU NEED TO TAKE When we communicate your request to no longer be contacted to the applicable third-party collection vendors, it will continue to be communicated until revoked by you in writing. Because you may no longer receive communications if your loan is past due and outsourced to a third-party collection vendor, it is important for you to closely monitor the status of your account and to contact us to discuss any repayment options and alternatives that may be available to assist you in managing your education loan obligation. If you would like to revoke your request, please email us directly through your online management tool, Account Access or submit a written request to the correspondence address listed below : American Education Services XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX Note for Federal Trade Commission XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX and NC Department of Consumer Affairs XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : The cease and desist letter above was sent via certified mail and received by American Education Services XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. I received a debt collection call at XXXX the next morning, XX/XX/XXXX ; and another at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, as well as emails notifying me of delinquency. I received further calls on XX/XX/XXXX at both XXXX and XXXX. I have repeatedly told every representative as well as an account manager that the cease and desist was sent, received, and that all collection calls made inside of the 30 days pending receipt of my debt validation are all harassment and illegal. When I originally sent the letter I called them to inform them what it was and that it was on its way, and explained to the representatives that called me that they have received a cease and desist letter, therefore the calls are harassment. The representative that called on XX/XX/XXXX confirmed that they had received the letter but it had not been processed yet. On XX/XX/XXXX, they sent me a letter to my paperless inbox stating that they would only communicate the cease of contact to their third party collection vendors, but they themselves were obligated to stay in contact. I have only received collection calls from American Education Services, and no third party vendors ever, to my knowledge. American Education Services contacted me yet again on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. I called back and explained to the agent that they were now not only violating the cease and desist, but also past the required 30 time frame to send me debt verification. The agent was under the impression that I was recording the conversation ( I was not. ) She stated that American Education Services policy is that they do not consent to being recorded, despite the fact that they record all phone calls. I later spoke with an account manager, who refused to answer any of my questions ; why are you still contacting me? Why havnt I been sent the documentation Ive requested? Why does your company think they are above the law, referencing the letter sent on XX/XX/XXXX, copied below? I also asked about the recording policy, and he stated that while they only record for quality assurance and training, customers who call in and record are most likely using the recording for legal purposes and therefore they are not allowed to discuss anything on a recorded line. Im no lawyer, but from my understanding of the law regarding informed consent, only one party has to be aware of a phone call being recorded, and being that AES holds my sensitive personal information, and I as a consumer have a right to information regarding my contract, this seems very shady.
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 27604
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-15
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Investigation took more than 30 days
Consumer Complaint: I am filing a dispute in regards to the incorrect items on my credit report. It has been well over 30 days and I have not received the results of my investigation.
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85053
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I applied for student loan consolidation and Public Service Loan Forgiveness in XX/XX/XXXX. My loans were consolidated in XX/XX/XXXX and my employment verification was applied for XXXX to presnet. Fedloan reported I had 44 payments toward my 120 payment of PSLF. My Fedloan history had no records of payments from XXXX, with those payments I am over 120 payments for PSFL. I then began to contact Fedloan and Studentaid.gov to correct my payment history. I downloaded my loan history from my previous lender, XXXX, and submitted this to Fedloan and Studentaid.gov. Initially I did not track my contacts, as most individuals who I contacted advised it was a simple fix as there is " no way '' to have no loan history for seven years and that it would eventually be recognized and corrected. Here is a timeline of my contacts once I began tracking ; XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXI submitted a complaint through studentaid.gov, complaint # XXXX, was sent an automatic reply to expect a response in 15 days. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Received a generic emails response that accounts were being reviewed and, essentially, to be patient, my complaint was closed with no resolution or acknowledgment of my issue. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Contacted studentaid.gov via phone spoke with XXXX advised to call the National Student Loan Database XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Contacted National Student loan Database and was informed they do not work with borrows, only lenders, advised to call studentaid.gov ( who had directed me to call them ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX-Contacted studentaid.gov via phone spoke with XXXX case # XXXX advised to wait for my case to be reviewed, stated she saw my email and complaint. She reviewed my attachments, including my payment history from XXXX and concluded it " should be fine. '' XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX I received notice from Fedloan that my employment was certified but no payments were counted prior to XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX I called Fedloan and spoke with XXXX XXXX worker XXXX who transferred me to a PSLF counselor. I was transferred to XXXX, worker XXXX, she advised me to upload my payment history to Fedloan as they could review and apply the missed payments. I immediately uploaded my payment history. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Filed an additional compliant with studentaid.gov, complaint # XXXX, requesting it be escalated to the ombudsman, was sent an automatic reply to expect a response in 15 days. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX submitted an email to Fedloan requesting an update on applying the missing years of payments to my account. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Called studentaid.gov to inquire about complaint # XXXX, advised I " should receive contact soon. '' Advised the " case owner '' would contact me but could not tell me who was the case owner or how to contact them. XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX received the following email from Fedloan , that does not address my issue of missing payment history. ; " Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) waiver we can review previous ineligible periods including payments made on any repayment plan, payments made prior to consolidation, and payments made late or for less than the amount due. At this time, we are unable to provide you with information on which months will be considered. Federal Student Aid and FedLoan Servicing are working diligently on implementing any changes that may impact your account. You may not see changes reflected on your account or on the online platforms for several months. '' All of my emails have included the information below and I have attached my payment history ; " I have been paying on my loans since XXXX. I have applied for loan forgiveness but the student aid website has my loans dispersed in XXXX and then in " repayment '' status since only XXXX, there is no history of my loan status from XXXX. My qualifying payments for PSLF do not include my payments from XXXX. I have my payment history from XXXX that shows my payment history from XXXX. I have attached my XXXX account history which shows payment history. I have also attached my PSLF application to establish I was with a qualified employer during that time. ''
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95687
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: My Problem is with FedLoan and the Dept. of Education and the XXXX. FedLoan last year split my XXXX loan into TWO loans, and the Student Loan Database/XXXX XXXXs only showing ONXXXX of them. My XXXX loan balance, alone, was about {$300000.00}, and now XXXX only shows ONE XXXX loan for {$40000.00}. FEDLOAN is showing TWO XXXX loans for {$150000.00} EACH, plus a SUB loan for {$40000.00}. I don't know why they have done this, they have not properly explained what happened last year, but now I have three " new '' loans with XXXX payments ( because of COVID ) recorded on them. The total balance, as far as I know, is truly what they say at over {$400000.00} but I don't really know as there is no history to check anymore before XXXX. I only ever borrowed about {$130000.00} total ( from XXXX ) and the rest is capitalized interest. I have never been in default or anything. I am worried that if my loans get forgiven with these new programs, I won't get the entire amount forgiven because of this weird problem with them splitting the loans. And then how can I ever explain what happened? I am " in '' the PSLF program : my first loan was from XXXX and the last loan was in XXXX. I have had so many servicers and it seems like they are not all reflected here. I have consolidated 3 times ( I think. ) I have been in Forbearance or Hardship Deferment for a total of at least 15 years. I have been in Public Service since XXXX, and I still am. I could have been in an XXXX plan all those years, but I was always told by my servicer that forbearance/deferment was best. And then I had to consolidate AGAIN in XXXX to get into the PSLF program ( Direct loans only ) and they said that " restarted '' the clock. I could have been making the {$0.00} payments when my income was low, but because of the forbearance, the loan payments always outstripped my income. Since XXXX I have finally been making payments until XXXX. Now, with the PSLF program " waivers, '' I could have gotten payment credit for PARTIAL and/or LATE payments or even periods of DEFAULT, but because I was in hardship deferment I get no credit at all. I could have paid {$1.00} and get credit. I only need to make XXXX more payments, which are {$700.00} a month, but my interest grows by {$1500.00} a month, so my payment only pays HALF the interest. I can never pay them off. If my loans don't get forgiven through PSLF or IDR I will be spending Social Security on these loans. I'm already XXXX. Fed Loan FINALLY sent me an email, but it doesn't help. They said, " Per your inquiry, on XX/XX/XXXX, we submitted a request to have your current student loan balances updated with the Department. Unfortunately, with the impending loan transfer to the Departments new PSLF student loan servicing company, XXXX, there is potential chance of balance update request we submitted to revert back to the current status. It has been brought to our attention that XXXX handles these types of situations in a different manner ; as a result, if the manual corrections for the balance of your Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation loan does not remain, we recommend once your loan transfers to XXXX you submit a request for them to change the information. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience or confusion that this situation may have caused you. '' THAT's exactly what happened, my loan has " reverted back '' to the wrong amounts. FEDLOAN also said they split my loan into two loans because " Due to system limitations if the total principal balance or outstanding interest for a Direct Consolidation exceeds {$100000.00}, the loan portion with the high balance will be divided by de-converting the single loan and reconverting it into two equal loans. As these are still considered a single loan, only on portion is reported to the National Student Loan Data System ( NSLDS ). '' WHY are they doing this? WHAT " systems limitations? '' FEDLOAN seems to be intentionally muddying the waters. Are they trying to HIDE loans from the NSLDS? It doesn't even make sense because they split my one loan into two loans that are STILL over {$100000.00} each, so are they going to split them again and give me FOUR loans? Either their system has " limitations '' or it does not. What am I supposed to do here? Now they are transferring this MESS to XXXX?
Company Response:
State: VT
Zip: 057XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-14
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Consumer Complaint: The school I attended is closed. It is on the list from the Department of Education for student loan forgiveness. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, who was the owner of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX plead guilty XX/XX/XXXX to charges of bank fraud and tax evasion. I was persuaded to get a private loan through XXXX XXXX XXXX and promised a {$4000.00} grant by expediting the loan at a certain date. ( XX/XX/XXXX ) What I was not told was the loan would start accruing interest the moment it was dispersed. School did not begin until the end of XX/XX/XXXX. My loan was originally {$57000.00}. By the time my loan entered repayment the amount had grown to {$61000.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ). The grant money was no benefit. Payments started XX/XX/XXXX. In over twelve years I have paid over {$26000.00} in interest alone. There is no set APR and the rate continues to rise.
Company Response:
State: LA
Zip: 70124
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-08-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I notified the PHEAA/FedLoanServicing of 19 months of eligible employment ( between XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX ) for public service loan forgiveness via their online upload form. On XX/XX/XXXX PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledged receipt of the request to review my eligible employment to determine if these 19 months qualified for public service loan forgiveness. On XX/XX/XXXX, I notified the PHEAA/FedLoanServicing of an additional 6 months of eligible employment ( between XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX ) for public service loan forgiveness via their online upload form. On XX/XX/XXXX PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledged receipt of the request to review my eligible employment to determine if these 6 months qualified for public service loan forgiveness. It took 92 days, on XX/XX/XXXX, before I received a response from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing about either of these requests. The first of these responses indicated that the authorized official at my former place of employment did not include a date on the form. The authorized official did include a date, but the year was " XXXX '' instead of " XXXX ''. No information was included in this correspondence regarding which of the forms I had submitted had a missing date. The second of these responses ( also received on XX/XX/XXXX ) explained that I did not yet qualify for public service loan forgiveness, stating I still needed to submit documentation for 36 months of eligible employment. This correspondence enumerated the specific employment periods that had been approved as qualified. Neither the forms submitted on XX/XX/XXXX nor XX/XX/XXXX, a total of 25 months of eligible employment were acknowledged in this correspondence. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing that the total number of eligible months of employment had increased by 6 months, indicating the balance of months to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness was 25. This correspondence did not enumerate the specific employment period of the newly qualifying 6 months. By XX/XX/XXXX, I had my former employer correct the date on the form. However, I accidentally submitted a blank form ( a case of similar file names ) to PHEAA/FedLoanServicing. Though I believed the file was correct at the time, the PHEAA/FedLoanServicing does not have a mechanism to instantly flag errors on submission forms and so I was unfortunately not made aware this form had no information regarding any eligible employment periods to be considered for public service loan forgiveness. On XX/XX/XXXX PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledged receipt of the form and my request to review my eligible employment to determine if I qualified for public service loan forgiveness. On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed PHEAA/FedLoan Servicing inquiring about the status of my outstanding forms and asking for an estimated review date. I emailed again on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, PHEAA/FedLoan Servicing sent correspondence stating " In order to present you with an accurate answer to any questions you may have, please reply to this email with a more detailed inquiry or visit our Help Center at MyFedLoan.org ''. I responded that same day indicating I had submitted employment certification forms on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, and a corrected one on XX/XX/XXXX and also indicating that none of those payments had been counted yet. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another email asking for a status update. I sent another email asking for a status update on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, after 75 days from my attempt to correct the previous form with a wrong date and 5 emails asking for information in the interim, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing stating that my file was blank. This was the first time this was made known to me. It's now been 207 days since I initially attempted to certify this employment. On XX/XX/XXXX, I responded to the PHEAA/FedLoan servicing correspondence making me aware of the blank form. I informed PHEAA/FedLoanServicing that I had since uploaded three employment certification forms. Earlier that same day, I resubmitted the initial 19 months of employment ( those still had not been counted as of yet ), the corrected form with 6 months of employment ( where the wrong date had initially been entered, and then a subsequent blank form had been erroneously uploaded by me ), and a new set of additional 6 months of employment between XX/XX/XXXX and the date of the request ( XX/XX/XXXX ) via their online upload form. On XX/XX/XXXX PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledged receipt of the request to review my eligible employment to determine if these 6 months qualified for public service loan forgiveness. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledging receipt of an employment certification form, but this did not acknowledge a specific form ( there are now three outstanding ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledging the same initial issues ( " missing '' dates and blank forms ) that had been reconciled with previous uploads and stating that those forms would be denied for the issues that had since been corrected. I do not know if this person was responding to one of the initial emails I sent prior to correcting the forms. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledging receipt of an employment certification form, but this did not acknowledge a specific form ( there are still three outstanding ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed PHEAA/FedLoan Servicing inquiring about the status of my outstanding forms. I received the following the same day : " We received your Public Service Loan Forgiveness question, and will get back to you as soon as possible.In the meantime you can review your account details through Account Access. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I received correspondence from PHEAA/FedLoanServicing acknowledging receipt of an email I sent on XX/XX/XXXX stating " Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) waiver we can review previous ineligible periods including payments made on any repayment plan, payments made prior to consolidation, and payments made late or for less than the amount due. At this time, we are unable to provide you with information on which months will be considered. ". This message was confusing to me since I am asking about specific employment certification forms. On XX/XX/XXXX, I notified PHEAA/FedLoan Servicing via email that if I did not receive a comprehensive response to my forms within 48 hours, I was filing a complaint with the CFPB and seeking advice from counsel. As of the day of this complaint, it's been 242 days since I originally attempted to certify my employment. This chain of events does not include several phone calls I have made to them during this same period. Unfortunately, I did not document the details of those calls.
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: 432XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-08-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A