Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I am low income and applied for the newly introduced Saving on a Valuable Education ( SAVE ) Plan. I was deemed eligible with a predicted monthly payment of {$0.00} ( I make approximately {$13000.00} a year which according to SAVE means I will have no monthly payment or interest while my income is below {$32000.00} ). My application was processed and accepted and I was told that my eligible loans were places on an income-driven repayment ( IDR ) plan on XX/XX/XXXX. However on XX/XX/XXXX I received a Billing Statement stating I owe {$650.00}. Thinking it was still processing and would update soon, I waited a few day, but didn't get an updated statement. So I went to look at my loan details and the SAVE plan was only applied to XXXX of my XXXX eligible loans. I called immediately and was connected to a Mohela rep named XXXX at about XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. She told me she had no idea why the SAVE plan was only applied to 4 of 10 loans and that it should have been applied to all 10 Federal loans because they all were eligible and there was no error on my end. Even though the SAVE plan should have been applied to all loans, she did not have a way of fixing this herself, so her solution was to have me reapply for the SAVE program over the phone. As for the currently due payment, she suggested putting the loan in Forbearance. The biggest issue with this is that I am now accruing daily interest while I wait for them to fix their error. Since XX/XX/XXXX, I currently have over {$70.00} of interest accrued and it goes up daily, when had the plan been applied appropriately and correctly the first time, there would be no interest. I just received a notice from Mohela titled " Correspondence Processing Delay '' which states it may take up to 90 days to process my request. This is another 90 days of interest that I was never supposed to accrue all because of a technical error on their part. It feels really unethical to first incorrectly apply this Federal SAVE program, send me a bill for loans I should not owe anything on, and now charge me interest daily while they take an unreasonable amount of time to solve the issue. And reading online, it seems many others have had this issue.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MD
Zip: 21218
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I am in the PSLF program and Mohela has not processed my PSLF form from XX/XX/23 their website says 30 days and it has been over that time frame. I called them today and they said there was an error on their side but they didn't contact me at all. I have made the 120 payments to qualify for forgiveness and now they are saying that it will take over 90 business days due to their error for my loans to be forgiven. I have to work for a qualifying employer till my loans are forgiven and that lessens my employment options and that is unacceptable since it was their error. They did not resolve the issue and weren't helpful at all they keep giving excuses.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: OH
Zip: 43701
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Mohela failed to send me a notice of payment due date prior to 30 days before my loan payment was due. I received notification on XX/XX/XXXX for payment due on XX/XX/XXXX, in violation of Education Department policy ( screenshot attached ) This is the same exact issue that happened in XX/XX/XXXX, which caused the Administration to intervene and put everyones payments on hold. I shouldnt have to wait on hold for hours or write to the CFPB for a government-owned company to follow public regulations.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NY
Zip: 11215
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem with your payment plan
Consumer Complaint: It is unclear when my student loan payment is due. Additionally, it is unclear when student loan interest begun. I was not notified of when interest begun accruing on my loans. I previously asked for information on the SAVE program because I was interested in learning more about how that program addresses accrued interest when compared to the PAYE program. However, MOHELA failed to timely respond to my question asked on XXXX until XXXX and XXXX ( see XXXX XXXX delivered by MOHELA on XXXX ) AFTER interest appears to have started. Furthermore, the loan payment date is XXXX and XXXX which is different than the next loan payment due date reflected on studentaid.gov which is XXXX. It appears to be a slimy business for a loan service provider to notify a borrower of SAVE payment plan only after payment have begun in a message dated XXXX when the inquiry was made in XX/XX/2023. I am concerned that I paid interest for a XXXX plan I would not otherwise have paid due to enrolling in SAVE program that could account for interest as forgiven amount which is my understanding I think. My loan balance documentation will show that on XXXX there was no indication that most of my loans would resume. However, on XXXX interest had already accrued without any notification by MOHELA. Additionally, I did not receive any information on the SAVE program in response to my XXXX inquiry until XXXX and XXXX.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: WI
Zip: 548XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-10
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I requested a refund from Mohela federal loan servicer to the amount of {$50000.00} for student loan payments I made during the COVID forbearance period. I was informed that it would take up to XXXX business days for me to receive a refund by mail. Today it is XX/XX/XXXX and still have not received my refund. I have called Mohelas customer advocacy department and have spoken to numerous supervisors to get an update on my refund. After spending at least XXXX hours of my life waiting to speak or actually talk to a representative all I was told is that my request was approved and is pending payment from the US Department of Treasury. The refund that I had requested has already been put back into my total student loan balance which is slightly north of XXXX XXXX We are approaching XXXX months since I have made the initial request and Mohela has no answers and my refund is still pending. What is happening is illegal and is the equivalence to a federal offense. I do not have anyone to turn to for answers leaving me feeling helpless, violated and lied to the highest degree. It is irresponsible and incomprehensible that such a large loan servicer does not have answers and do not have the ability to ask the US Department of Treasury with the status of my refund. In any scenario, this situation would be seen as federal crime but in my case its only be treated as a wait and see case which is absolutely not acceptable. At this point, no middle class person in the situation that I am in would continue to wait around any longer hoping and waiting for the day their check miraculously appears in their mailbox. This situation needs requires immediate answers and accountability needs to be taken for the handling of this disastrous situation.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: FL
Zip: 33063
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-10
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-10
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Mohela. I made early payments in XX/XX/2023 prior to payments starting totaling {$4900.00}. Checked my account in XXXX and noticed I placed back into forbearance and called Mohela and was told they didn't know if those payments I made would count towards future payments. Got another noticed that I was forbearance and said I could request a refund. So I requested a refund on XX/XX/XXXX and was told 5 days for refund. No refund in 5 days so I called back was told 30 days. No refund at 30 days. Called back was told 90 days. Sent a complaint to the XXXX got a generic response from Mohela and every letter says that they are trying to collect a debt and are a febt collector. I have a loan that is NOT in default and trying to get a refund on what I paid ahead since I was originally told they didn't know how those payments would count towards future payments. One would think logically that those payments would be applied towards future payments, but when speaking on the phone with them they kept telling me I would owe in XXXX even though I had paid enough not to have a payment until XXXX originally not knowing I had been placedin forbearance until the end of XX/XX/XXXX., but since in deferment those payments would have counted from XXXX to XXXX and payment due in XXXX. They have no clue what is going on and sent letters stating they are trying to collect a debt. This is absolutely ridiculous. They say 60 days for refund is it XXXX business or calendar days and why can't they just give a date??? And refund inba timely manner. XXXX days is not timely.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: IL
Zip: 60440
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-10
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: My student loans were paid in full by the Biden-Harris administration . This still reflects on my credit report as owing. Mohela XXXX Department of Education Servicer ) balance forgiven {$98000.00}
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MI
Zip: 48235
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: I completed an application for the Save plan on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a correspondence letter on XX/XX/XXXX saying that " MOHELA has placed my account on Administrative Forbearance from XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX while my SAVE application was being processed. There was a lot of misinformation going around whether those months in forbearance would count towards PSLF. So, in XXXX of XXXX, I called MOHELA to ask whether the Administrative Forbearance would count towards PSLF. The representative told me no, so I asked for it to be removed. When I asked why it was taking several weeks for my application to be processed, the representative scolded me and told me that I knew that the COVID pause was ending, and I should have made plans for repayment before this. After that it took several weeks before my request for Administrative Forbearance to be removed. My SAVE application never got processed and I was dropped from forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX. I called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to a representative about being placed back on administrative forbearance since MOHELA gave me misinformation about the Administrative Forbearance as the months do count towards PSLF. I was told that the representative was in training and that they couldn't just place me back in Administrative Forbearance. I was then transferred to a senior representative. The senior representative had me complete two more SAVE applications since they didn't know why my initial one from XX/XX/XXXX was on hold. I was also told the Administrative Forbearance would be placed back onto my account. On XX/XX/XXXX, a bill with an amount of {$440.00} was sent to my inbox with a due date of XX/XX/XXXX. I called MOHELA again on XX/XX/XXXX and asked about the bill. The representative told me not to worry about the payment since the SAVE application was being processed and the forbearance would be applied back on my account. I asked if I should pay by the due date while this was all being sorted. The representative told me no since it was an error, and my application should be processed shortly. I was also told that my application would be expedited since I initially applied in XXXX of XXXX. The representative further stated that there's a 15-day grace period for late payments so don't worry about paying it. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX ( bill due date ) was a Sunday and MOHELA was closed. I was told that it takes a few weeks for the SAVE application to be processed and for the forbearance to be applied to my account. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and was transferred twice. I finally spoke to someone in the resolution center, who was able to figure out why my applications werent being processed. I was directed to fill out another SAVE application. They said I would be put back on forbearance while the Save Application was being processed and the forbearance would be backdated to XX/XX/XXXX due to being on the wrong IDR plan. The documents I received from MOHELA on XX/XX/XXXX say " delinquency forbearance from XXXX and general forbearance XXXX. '' Another document received on XX/XX/XXXX says " general forbearance until XXXX. '' I called yesterday on XX/XX/XXXX to ask about my documents showing a delinquency forbearance and a senior representative told me that since I didnt pay back in XXXX a delinquency forbearance was placed on my account. I asked for it to be removed and was told that they couldn't do that, and to just wait to see if when they do the recount whether that month will count. I told the representative that I made decisions based on the information their representatives were giving, and she apologized for the misinformation but said that there really wasn't much else to resolve. I can either wait 60-90 business days for the two additional SAVE applications that are still pending to see if the request for forbearance to be backdated for XXXX or to wait for the recount and hope that those months count. I also inquired why the documents saying processing forbearance and not administrative forbearance and was told they are the same thing. Overall, this process has been very frustrating with MOHELA. The representatives answering the phone at MOHELA are all in training and give a lot of misinformation. The wait times to speak with a representative are ridiculously long ( 1-3 hours ). Getting answers is impossible. There is no reason to fill out 5 SAVE applications.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NY
Zip: 10598
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-10
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Since applying for XXXX my application has been in processing XX/XX/2023. Now over electronic communication I received notification my payment is due XX/XX/XXXX. It is not based off XXXX. I can't get a real person on the phone to process my application as anyone on any forums says that is what step I need to take ( not offered online ). When I call and provide my social security the automatic message isn't ( even today ) updated like my online account is. But I need to speak with someone to get my XXXX application processed. I've done all the steps on my end. How can they randomly charge me double what my payment should be? It is not the payment per XXXX. How can they not have anyone answering the phone? On XXXX I asked for a call back Vs waiting the 60 min hold. I got a call back after 1 hour, when I answered no one said anything. The line was mute. No second attempt by them even was made. It is maddening! To be clear, my XXXX application still says processing on my account. How long is too long??
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: KS
Zip: 660XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2024-01-09
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I received my XX/XX/XXXX billing statement fewer than 21 days prior to the billing due date. I was not notified of this until I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX notifying me of that occurring and that my account had been placed in forbearance starting in XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX. At that point the forbearance period was over. It is now XX/XX/XXXX and I have not received a statement for my payment due on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX so again I will be not be receiving a billing statement until fewer than 21 days before the due date.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: AL
Zip: 368XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A