Date Received: 2023-11-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Mohela randomly put my loans in forbearance and now i have interest i owe because of this. They did not give any reason and now they are impossible to get in contact with. My loans before covid were {$150.00} and now i somehow owe over {$500.00} a month and you cant get in contact with anyone and even trying to reevaluate the payment has been impossible to understand and now says its delayed.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: OH
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: XXXX - approved for PAYE IDR payment plan XXXX XXXX Submitted Loan consolidation payment plan XXXX - applied for SAVE IDR payment plan XXXX - called because SAVE IDR had not been processed in 4 weeks and they have removed me from the PAYE IDR and placed me on the standard repayment level program without any notification. They stated it was due to my consolidation process, despite my initial consolidation application clearly stating to keep me on the PAYE program. They told me to apply again over the phone to get this issue settled within 10 business days. Submitted repeat SAVE IDR application over the phone. Since then, I have called every 2 weeks to attempt to get this issue resolved XXXX - called again, put on hold for over 2 hours. they hung up on me XX/XX/ - called again, they stated they would place my ticket on " priority '' for the issue to be resolved. Throughout this, was on hold for over 2 hours to reach resolutions department XXXX - called again, again, stating they would place my ticket on " priority '' again being on hold for over 2 hours to reach resolutions department XX/XX/ - called again, issue still not resolved. I am still on standard repayment program. I have been on hold trying to reach their resolutions department yet again.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: AR
Zip: 722XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-07
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: My servicer is MOHELA. I have provided the details below, but in summary, I have evidence demonstrating that an agent of MOHELA obtained my debit card information under false pretenses, and ultimately charged a total of {$750.00}. MOHELA is aware of this and is working with me to identify the employee, and has granted me a forbearance through XX/XX/2023. However, interest will still accrue during this time unless I again provide MOHELA sensitive financial information something which they have already proven they can not reliably safeguard. On or about XX/XX/2023, I added my XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account information to my MOHELA account so that I could make automatic monthly payments. My balance due on XX/XX/2023 was {$1300.00}. On or about XX/XX/2023, my IDR application was approved, reducing my monthly payment from {$1300.00} to {$430.00}. On or about XX/XX/2023, I received a notification from MOHELA informing me that that XXXX XXXX XXXX could not locate a bank account associated with the information that I provided, and that I still owed the {$1300.00} that was due on XX/XX/2023. Admittedly, I did not see this notification until XX/XX/2023, when I checked my MOHELA account to ensure that my payment scheduled for XX/XX/2023, had been adjusted to reflect my new IDR payment. Upon realizing that I had apparently made a mistake, I immediately added my bank account information again, and scheduled a {$1300.00} payment for that day ( in addition to the {$430.00} payment already scheduled for XX/XX/2023 ). These XXXX payments, totaling {$1800.00}, would have satisfied my entire outstanding balance owed to MOHELA for XXXX and XX/XX/2023. On the morning of XX/XX/2023, I became concerned that I corrected my auto debit information too late for the payment scheduled on XX/XX/2023, to successfully process. I was especially concerned given that my XXXX payment was already overdue, and the notification I received from MOHELA on XX/XX/2023, advised that I could face late penalties. On XX/XX/2023, at approximately XXXX EST, I called MOHELA 's customer service number at ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX with the goal of speaking to a MOHELA Agent about whether my updated auto debit information had processed, and if not, to see whether there was another way I could ensure that I satisfied my {$1800.00} obligation. An automatic recording advised me that the wait time was XXXX minutes and invited me to add myself to a call back list. At approximately XXXX XXXX, I added myself to that list and hung up. At approximately XXXX EST I received a call back from MOHELA 's number, ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX. The woman on the other end of the phone advised that she was calling me back from MOHELA. She asked me to verify my full social security number and DOB ( which I provided like an XXXX ). The woman further advised that, because she was a " trainee '', her " mentor '' would be assisting her with the call ( these may not have been her exact words, but she said something to the effect of these words, which led me to believe that her " mentor '' was listening in, or at least monitoring this phone call in some way ). ** Note : I unfortunately do not remember this woman 's name, however MOHELA has already pulled the recording from this call and are working to identify her. *** I explained my situation to this woman, and she advised me that she could cancel my two pending payments, and that I could instead make the {$1800.00} payment on my debit card. This caught me off guard, because my MOHELA user account does not include the option to add a debit account. I asked her about this, and she said something to the effect of " we are in the process of adding this feature for users, but you can give me the information and I can add it on my end. '' I recall specifically confirming whether she could cancel the separate {$430.00} payment, since it had long been scheduled to withdraw from my account on XX/XX/2023, and she confirmed that she could. Admittedly I thought this was all a little odd, but at that point I had no reason to believe that this woman was anything other than a MOHELA employee. Additionally, because of her earlier statements about being a trainee, I thought her mentor was on the call, and figured that whomever it was would correct her if she was not providing accurate information. She even sent me confirmation at XXXX XXXX, via a general MOHELA email account, that my scheduled {$1300.00} payment had been canceled. Again, having no reason to believe that this woman was anything other than a MOHELA employee being monitored by a supervisor, and acutely aware of the {$1800.00} XXXX owed to MOHELA to satisfy my XXXX and XX/XX/2023 balances, I provided her my debit card information. All of it. Like a XXXX. At XXXX EST, I received another email from a general MOHELA account confirming my payment of {$1800.00} and providing a confirmation number of XXXX ( please note that MOHELA 's system is set to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. When wrapping up the call, the woman asked if I would like additional information on IDR or public service loan forgiveness plan and I said yes. She emailed me this information from a general MOHELA email account at XXXX XXXX. XXXX then proceeded to provide all the boilerplate disclosures that one would expect after a phone call with a student loan servicer. At approximately XXXX EST, I received a text alert from my bank informing me that someone had attempted to purchase a gift card for {$510.00} from XXXX, a website that sells reloadable Visa/MasterCard gift cards XXXX and a variety of other gift cards to popular stores. I was not the person who attempted this purchase, nor have I ever purchased an online gift card from XXXX. Upon a review of my transactions, I saw that before the XXXX transaction, someone other than me had charged {$87.00} to insta cart. Both of these transactions occurred on XX/XX/2023, within approximately 40 minutes of the MOHELA representative obtaining my debit card information. Later on, my account reflected an additional Instacart charge for {$160.00}. After XXXX XXXX XXXX alerted me to the fraudulent charges on my debit card, I immediately froze the card. I had a pretty strong suspicion that the fraud had to be related to my phone call with MOHELA because of the proximity between the call and the fraudulent charges, and because I generally don't use that debit card for day to day purchases. I called MOHELA 's general number again, and was placed on hold for nearly XXXX hours. This time I did not feel comfortable reserving a call back, so I waited on the line the entire time. The next MOHELA representative I spoke with is named XXXX. After I explained all the circumstances, XXXX was extremely concerned. She immediately flagged that MOHELA agents are not allowed to take payment information over the phone, and certainly can not take debit card information over the phone. XXXX escalated the issue and I was transferred to someone named XXXX XXXX ( employee # XXXX ). XXXX and his supervisor ( first name XXXX XXXX combed through my account records and determined that the woman who stole my debit card information took steps to cover her tracks. For example, XXXX informed me that she was somehow able to change the time entries for the " note entries '' on my account to disguise her XXXX EST call to me. I have attached all the documentation that I have in support of my claim. It is my understanding that representatives from MOHELA are in possession of other information, including the identity of the responsible employee and a recording of the call where my information was stolen. Borrowers like me should not have to worry that actual employees of the institutions that the government entrusts to service student loans are stealing from them. I am thankful that the other employees of MOHELA have been genuinely helpful in helping me resolve this, but it is clear that it does not have appropriate safeguards in place to protect borrowers like me who are trying to be responsible and pay what they owe.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MD
Zip: 21204
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX that I missed a payment and that my interest was capitalizing- I am currently on SAVE and have a $ 0 monthly payment per my XX/XX/XXXX IBR application submitted to XXXX. My understanding of the ED regulations was that any interest beyond the required payment amount would not capitalize. I also don't see how I could miss a {$0.00} payment. I have sent emails to MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX and again on XX/XX/XXXX, but have not received a response- I can't call due to not being in the United States and having no access to a US based phone number. I have had an extremely negative experience with MOHELA since having them assigned as a new servicer. Please let me know what I can do to avoid being declared delinquent in the future and to avoid interest capitalization.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: AZ
Zip: 864XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: In XXXX on XXXX I made a request for the payments made during XXXX to be refunded. I made payments the entire time during XXXX up to XX/XX/XXXX. I received one payment of {$300.00} in XXXX of XXXX. When I received no further payment I contact Mohela through their website by email in XXXX of XXXX. I was told it would process in the next 90 days. By XXXX of XXXX I had heard no response nor a refund of the payments I made. I again sent an email requesting information as to what was happening and received no response. I have placed a call this morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and spoke with XXXX. She said the request had been processed and closed but no payment was sent. She has started a new request and I will have to wait another 90 days for a response. I asked if there was anything else I could do about the situation and she said to just to wait the 90 days. I should not be forced to wait more than a year for a refund of payments or have to make multiple requests to get what is rightfully mine.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NC
Zip: 27106
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Don't agree with the fees charged
Consumer Complaint: I can not get ahold of a Mohela representative. There is no way to submit a complaint except by calling. I have called 5 times with hold times over 1 hour every time and unable to reach a representative. I have a job to maintain and can not keep this up. I am calling MOHELA to complain about the 90 day turn around time for the SAVE plan. Initially after applying I was given the timeline of 30 days for review. Three weeks later I received a notice of a turn around time of 90 days. I am being cheated out of Biden 's new SAVE Plan benefits meanwhile Mohela is reaping the benefits and I am forced to pay more than I should have. This is incredibly disorganized and chaotic. In the meantime, my interest is accruing and have already accrued over {$2000.00} since my application was submitted. Mohela is committing a crime. This means it will likely accrue to {$6000.00} of interest by the time Mohela gets around to processing my application, and that is {$6000.00} more that I should not have had to pay under Biden 's new plan.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NJ
Zip: 08057
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Mohela is my servicer and I have had multiple issues with them with little to no responses. For example a message I sent on XX/XX/XXXX was just responded to today XX/XX/XXXX ... and it did not fully answer my inquiry. Very difficult to get in touch with them by phone also, I do not have time to sit on hold for several hours ... as I have tried in the past. I have not gotten the info requested about the forbearance that I was on- I wanted to make sure that I would still be eligible for PSLF payment counts. I had them remove the forbearance to be safe ... after repeated messages to them they did remove the forbearance, messages which say a 2-3 day response time, are being responded to over 6 weeks later. I also have had wrong payment amounts for the SAVE plan- I was automatically switched to a slightly lower payment of approx {$750.00}. When I ran the numbers, the payment should be between {$400.00} and {$500.00}. I redid the SAVE application and payment was lowered to approx {$610.00}. Another issue is that I had no notification of the original payment being due, I happened to see it in my online account. The payment was approx {$750.00} and I made the payment on XX/XX/XXXX for {$750.00}. I then noticed when I signed in on XX/XX/XXXX that they said I was past due in the amount of {$17.00} ... .so I made that payment on XX/XX/XXXX. I then saw that I continued to be past due XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX after paying above the minimum payment due. I contacted them on XX/XX/XXXX and still have not gotten a response to my inquiry. I am also a member of the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX and have been unable to get ANY info from Mohela or Dept of Ed about the status or the amount that will be forgiven/refunded. I do not trust Mohela in this. I am also concerned because they are moving to a new platform... I feel this will cause more issues and also allow them to " have a new excuse '' for their ineptness. The interest rate shown on my payment info is the highest rate out of all of my loans and I am concerned they are charging that across all of my loans. Numbers don't seem to be adding up.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: AZ
Zip: 865XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: MOHELA has caused significant difficulty during transition to repayment. I applied for XXXX XXXX XXXX, but selected that I did not want to go into forbearance because I wanted to continue to make payments towards my PSLF forgiveness. MOHELA put me into forbearance anyways. I called several times but was on hold for over XXXX minutes each time. When I finally got through, I was able to have my account taken out of forbearance, but then was advised my XXXX payment would be noted as a late payment. Since I was in forbearance at the time, I asked for that payment to not be reflected as a missed/late payment because at the time there was no payment due. The representative stated there is nothing she can do. When I asked for a supervisor, she said she was going to put me on hold but then hung up on me. I had to call back and wait on hold for another XXXX minutes to get through. I then spoke with a representative that said I would not have a past-due amount or any missed/late payments for the month of XXXX. However, now when I check the site, it says that I have a past-due amount from XXXX - when I was in forbearance. MOHELA has not been helpful in getting my repayments back on track, logging them correctly, or having adequate support to be able to fix/address any problems that have been experienced during this process.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MN
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, my current employer completed the digital certification process to verify my ongoing employment at a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) organization. This certification will increase my PSLXXXX qualifying payment amount from XXXX to XXXX, making me eligible to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. As the payment pause came to a close and my certification went unprocessed, I repeatedly attempted to contact MOHELA to understand the status of my employment certification, spending many hours on hold waiting to speak with someone. I was finally able to get through to a representative on XX/XX/XXXX and she acknowleged the delay in processing but said she wasn't able to see why my certification was still pending. She advised that she would place my loans in a processing forbearance for the time being, through the end of XXXX, to give MOHELA more time to process my documentation. I received a letter in my MOHELA inbox stating that my forbearance had been approved until XX/XX/XXXX. On the same date ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I received a billing statement dated XXXX in my MOHELA inbox, advising that I had a payment of {$580.00} due on XX/XX/XXXX. I assumed that this had been processed before the forbearance went through and disregarded it. As the payment due date approached, I called MOHELA almost daily. Because the tool that allows you to receive a call back instead of waiting in the hold queue is not functioning, I spent hours on hold over several days, never reaching a customer service agent. On Friday, XXXX, the payment due date, I waited on hold for XXXX minutes, interrupting an important work call to speak with the MOHELA rep once they finally answered. I asked him about the billing statement and he shared that my forbearance had actually NOT been approved and that I did, indeed, owe a payment due that day. He said that NO forbearance is allowed until the PSLF qualifying payment count shows XXXX, totally contradicting what the prior customer service agent shared. I received no correspondence from MOHELA notifying me that my forbearance had not actually gone through. The agent mentioned that there are significant delays in processing the digital employment certification submissions in particular, as the submission process was flawed, resulting in duplicate records being created, which now have to be manually resolved. He could not advise on the timeline for that resolution and told me there is nothing I can do, including submitting the verification in another format, as that would only create yet another duplicate record to be resolved.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NJ
Zip: 07030
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-11-06
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: During XXXX, I applied for Borrower Defense on some of my loans, on the application I specifically opted out of forbearance, as I want to keep paying my loans ( as I have done all throughout the Covid related pause ). On XX/XX/23 I got noticed I was moved to forbearance and after a XXXX hold with Mohela XXXX I was told it was due to borrowers defense, they apologized, and said my account would be updated. That following week, I was moved back into repayment. However, on XX/XX/23 I went back into my account and noticed I was moved back into forbearance, which I again never asked for. I called on XX/XX/23 and after XXXX hold was told I would be transferred.. after another XXXX, I had to disconnect. And this time when I called back, I received an automated message indicating they were too busy to take calls. I finally got through to Mohela again on XX/XX/23 and was advised they would submit my request to remove my forbearance ; that the request would take XXXX days. It has been over XXXX business days with no change on my account and now I have to sit on hold all over again. When I called XX/XX/23, the automated line indicated I have a XXXX wait time and can receive a call back. When I selected this option, it put me on hold anyways ; I can not sit on hold for over an hour, especially for a problem that should have never happened in the first place. So now I have to manually make payments, because my account is in forbearance and by not being able to have automatic payments, I am missing out on the 0.25 % interest rate decrease that I am warranted, because Mohela has me in a status I have very specifically opted out of.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: AZ
Zip: 85281
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-11-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A