Date Received: 2023-12-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I called MOHELA in mid XXXX ( around the XXXX ) and asked to change my date of payment from the end of the month to the XXXX. They told me it would take XXXX billing cycles to happen. So I called in XXXX ( around the XXXX ) and they said it had not gone through and they would reapply and to check back in 1-2 billing cycles. I called in early XXXX to findout that my date still had not been changed and was still in " process '' and could not be expediated. I also found out during this call that there was an error in my first call and I was in " pay ahead '' status which makes it where they can not automatically change my payment date. I was told that this should have been fixed by MOHELA at the time. However, none of this was communicated to me via email, mail, text, or online portal messaging. I have been working with an ombudsmen at the Department of Ed XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) who has not been able to get MOHELA to respond to her on why my date isn't changed. This whole time I have asked for administrative forbearance until they can solve the issue and am not getting the loan rate discount since I am not in autopay.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NC
Zip: 27540
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: My student loan servicer was XXXX. I had a payment of {$11.00} due on XX/XX/XXXX. I made this payment on XXXX, to be posted XXXX. On XXXX, my servicer switched to Mohela. Upon creating an online account with Mohela, I noticed my XX/XX/XXXX payment was still showing due. I assumed it was still in processing. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a message via their secure message center, asking why this payment had not posted and was now showing past due. I received no response. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a " friendly reminder '' from Mohela that I had missed my XXXX payment. I requested further clarification via their secure message center on XX/XX/XXXX. I received no response. On XXXX, I received an email from the Department of Education informing me my XXXX payment had been missed. The payment is not showing when I log into my old XXXX account ; only XXXXXXXX XXXX payoff of the total appears.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: IL
Zip: 604XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-16
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Information belongs to someone else
Consumer Complaint: My personal information was stolen years ago and used for several unauthorized accounts on my credit report. i would like these accounts off my report immediately. I've filed fraud and identity theft XX/XX/2023
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: PA
Zip: 19124
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-16
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Good afternoon to those concerned. In short, I am seeking assistance from the CFPB for : 1. Assistance in understanding what I owe Mohela in a timely manner. 2. Transparency from Mohela when changes are made to how money is allocated to pay loans. 3. Raising concern of how onerous it is to contact Mohela, as their online/email assistance is nearly nonexistent and their call center availability is unreliable. The full context is below. I would like to discuss my concerns about how my loan payments have been handled under Mohela. I was one of the fortunate few who was able to pay my loan payments throughout the pandemic, despite a significant hit to my budget. I was transferred from my old loan company to Mohela, and from the beginning had problems. Mohela sets up its systems ( from my experience, at least ) to intentionally confuse student loan borrowers to incorrectly pay off their loans to increase interest. When I was first transferred, I noticed that my autopay amount under the last company was the same, but they had taken the whole amount of the payment ( {$250.00} ) and placed it under one loan instead of paying each individual loan 's required amount, causing interest to build. I called in and had that corrected, and was told that I had to go to the online portal and dictate how much I wanted to pay on each and every loan. After doing that, payments were fine for XXXX. Autopay worked as intended and all of my loans had their minimum payment amounts compensated. In XXXX of XXXX I heard that Mohela was having servicing issues, so I decided to check the mail statements I had been receiving by request from Mohela as physical proof of payment receipts. I found that without my knowledge or consent, Mohela had taken 2 months of payments ( XXXX and XXXX ) and placed them under XXXX loan again, and not distributing the funds as I had so carefully worked out 2 years ago. I called Mohela and was able to get the funds properly dispersed, and was assured that it would not happen again. This call took nearly an hour to complete ( XXXX minutes in total ), with much of the call time spent in automated messages and waiting for an available representative. In early XXXX I filed for an IDR plan, and was informed by the FSA that my ongoing payments should be around $ XXXX {$16.00}. I checked that Mohela had received the notice, and assumed that it would take at least a month to process. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the latest letter from Mohela regarding my previous loan payment that was processed via auto-withdrawal on XX/XX/XXXX. I saw that once again, the entire payment amount of {$250.00} was once again placed on only one loan. On XX/XX/XXXX I attempted to reach out to Mohela, only to find that they close their call centers early half of the week ( XXXX XXXX eastern ), and have a varying schedule for when their call center is open. I also only learned that their call center was closed after 5 minutes of pre-recorded, unskippable audio notifications. During this call I was told through an AI assistant ( I assume ) that I will have {$38.00} withdrawn for my student loan payment this month, not the usual {$250.00}. I assumed that would be the amount withdrawn and accepted that I would make time to call them on the XXXX, since I do not have the time on the XXXX to call them, since it tends to be a long, often unpredictable endeavor. I logged in to the Mohela website just to get an idea of what loans had not been paid and found that Mohela was trying to pull an auto-payment in the total of {$250.00} for XX/XX/XXXX. As I am now thoroughly confused and unsure of what exactly is going on, I went to cancel autopay until I got some answers as to what I actually owe. The website told me that I could not cancel autopay. I also tried to find where the mysterious {$38.00} that was quoted had come from and was unable to find answers. I attempted to use the online contact function, but was told it was not available. As of now, I am contacting my bank to see if I can shut off auto-payments from Mohela since I can not do it from Mohela 's side, and can not contact them until the XXXX. I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing further developments regarding these issues.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: KY
Zip: 40515
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-16
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I am on the PAYE IDR plan, and I am also in the PSLF program, so my loan servicer is MOHELA. Pursuant to Department of Ed regulations, if my recertification date post-pause is within 6-months of payments restarting, my recertification date should be pushed out 12 months. MOHELA has not updated my recertification date from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. This has been going on for months and is an easy fix. I have filed a complaint with MOHELA internally, I have also filed a complaint on Student Aid 's website. I have talked with two MOHELA reps who did not know why my recertification date was earlier than 6 months, but kept trying to push me to recertify early instead ( which would have made me ineligible for the 12 month push out of my recertification ). What MOHELA is doing violates Department of Education rules on how soon borrowers are supposed to recertify their income. MOHELA is now threatening to take me off my IDR plan, which will cause my monthly payments to spike from roughly {$99.00} to over {$1200.00}.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: OH
Zip: 44145
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: I sent a request to MOHELA for information on my PSLF history to be updated or instructions to update the information on XX/XX/XXXX. Their site says 3 business days for a response. Other sources say it could take up to a month for a response. I waited until XX/XX/XXXX before sending another message requesting the same information. I still have not received a response. I sent another message today, XX/XX/XXXX. I am now taking the complaint to the CFPB to hopefully get somebody's attention at MOHELA. PSLF requires 10 years of qualifying payments. I have been paying since XX/XX/2013. I have worked in XXXX XXXX since XX/XX/2013. I have certified my employment. They claim all of the payments I made since XXXX were not qualifying because I had no charges due. I can assure you they absolutely were due and were paid. I have done my due diligence and am being ignored by a company that likely gets paid XXXX if not XXXX of tax dollars to service my loan.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: SC
Zip: 29406
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Starting in XX/XX/XXXX, I asked why my loans were in deferment. I received an email stating that I could have them taken out. I was never told it was an administrative forbearance because of their issues. I would have just left in in administrative forbearance. It took almost 3 months to get a response that " customer service already handled this. '' I have tried calling and after an hour on hold get disconnected. This has happened more than once. Now they say I owe a payment in XXXX. I only know this because I looked on the website, I never received a statement ot email. When I tried to pay it, the system would only take it if I paid {$80.00} more that the payment amount so I did not pay it. I have been applying for PSLF since Covid lockdown and have yet to receive a determination on loans from XXXX and older.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: KY
Zip: 40272
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-15
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: Application to decreased the amount due per month to reduce the monthly payments as well as recertification to be continued in the PSLF program with my current employer at a not for profit with verification as requested by loan servicer, MOHELA. XX/XX/XXXXXXXX : Application for PSLF was initiated. XX/XX/XXXXXXXX : Income Driven Repayment [ IDR ] Application submitted on student.aid.gov website. IDR monthly amount was projected at XXXX on the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan. XX/XX/XXXXXXXX : PSLF reapproved on Federal Student Aid website XX/XX/XXXXXXXX : PSLF acknowledged by MOHELA XX/XX/XXXXXXXX Federal Aid website states the application was reviewed and processed. XX/XX/XXXXXXXX and XX/XX/XXXXXXXX Administrative hold was placed on account. XX/XX/XXXXXXXX No solution after a phone call to reach an understanding after 94 minutes on the phone with MOHELA. Application was still " pending " Customer service stated they were processing applications submitted in XXXX. My application was submitted in XXXX and there was no reason to be determined as why it was not approved and the status of the application. XX/XX/XXXX Second request to switch to IDR submitted on the Federal Student Aid website. The amount projected remained the same at XXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX Direct withdrawal for payment was completed by Mohela from checking account No updates were able to be given by loan servicer. Next payment is due XX/XX/XXXX.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NY
Zip: 10021
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Currently on wrong IDR plan. Calculated incorrectly. Should be on the SAVE plan. Instead on SAVE-ALT. MOHELA has contacted my stating that i owe > {$4000.00} per month for student loan repayment when my monthly payment should be {$0.00} based on my income driven repayment plan. I have attempted to call multiple times and filed complaints without any response. MOHELA is being unhelpful and refuses to recognize the problem.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MN
Zip: 55904
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: First of all let me tell you what happened in the beginning. Back in XXXX, I received the email stating that some or all of my loans were eligible for IDR account adjustment forgiveness. I need to opt out of ONE and only ONE of my loans so that I could consolidate it with my Parent Plus Loans. Instead of doing as I asked, Mohela opted me out of ALL of my loans! So after literally months of issues dealing with that- they finally got it correct and my loans from my letter in XXXX were actually forgiven in XXXX ( a full month later than they should have been! ). My Mohela account still shows one of those loans in repayment with a monthly payment of over $ XXXX - and that is also what is showing on my credit report. It's been XXXX months and still sitting in repayment??? WHY??? No one can tell me. I've asked multiple times about the refund for the overpayment of these loans- only to be told things like - you won't get a refund, it will be applied to your current loan?? BETTER NOT BE! Oh, so you would like it refunded? YES I WOULD Ok, I'll note your account. Wait a few weeks call back - go through the same thing - but ask why am I having to make payments on this new loan when it should be forgiven now also? Oh we have to wait for the dept of ed to tell us. me - ok, but can we put it in XXXX No have to wait for dept of ed. So I just make payments that I know I am going to have to wait months to be refunded - yeah that is kinda silly YOU THINK?? UUGGH The last three business days, I have been on the phone with Mohela for over 16 hours. Most of that time on hold waiting to speak with a supervisor because I actually know more about my account status than the 'I 'm in training ' people do! So I have been told my refund has been requested. Your refund request was cancelled. I'll open an investigation, wait ten business days for accounting to respond. STILL WAITING - it was submitted on XX/XX/28! You have two refund requests. You don't get a refund. It's up to the dept of treasury. It's up to the dept of ed. We don't have anything to do with the refunds. It takes ninety days from the date of forgiveness. IT'S BEEN MORE THAN NINETY DAYS AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN REQUESTED IT FROM THE DEPT OF TREASURY. Seriously what do I have to do to get the refund for my overpayments?? Why is this so hard? Why can't I actually speak to ANYONE at Mohela that knows ANYTHING? I am once again on hold as I type this, waiting for the person in 'training ' to get 'permission ' to transfer me to the supervisor queue... so far this call has been 50 minutes and I'm not even in the right queue yet! Why do I not get the call back option? Why do I get disconnected all the time? So now at XXXX XXXX, I get sent to the correct queue and they are only open for one more hour and the in training rep tells me the wait time is one to one and half hours! This is ridiculous! Lastly, why do I have to listen to the XXXX XXXX at the beginning of the call stating that payments will restart in XXXX -two months past that already!
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MI
Zip: 488XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A