AES-PHEAA

2018-03-24

Durham, NC

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Chicago, IL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Last year 2017 XXXX did not contact me about the need recertify my PAYE plan. They literally put in every single bill they send that the payment is an estimate and the the plan " Since you are currently on the Revised Pay As You Earn ( REPAYE ) plan, you are required to recertify your income and family size annually. Your next payment due above is an estimated amount if you do not successfully recertify. '' They do not say WHEN I need to recertify. This year I still don't know if and when I should recertify so I just went to the XXXX and filled out the form myself when I was able to. This is completely ridiculous. Neither student.ed.gov or XXXX bothered to notify my of WHEN to recertify by. When I did recertify last year after the deadline I had to resubmit the SAME EXACT FORM 5 times because they kept denying it. Clearly this is a tactic to squeeze money out of students by causing all the interest to capitalize. Having this company run this is a complete disgrace.
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-23

NY

Took or threatened to take negative or legal action

Debt collection: I do not know

Sued you without properly notifying you of lawsuit
Complaint: I received several letters from XXXX XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX regarding a student loan debt from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I contacted them on multiple occasions to find out what debt they were talking about, where the debt originated from. XXXX XXXX XXXX could not tell me. I asked for a contact number and they would not give me one saying they had the debt now and I had to pay them. In XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX filed a lawsuit against me on behalf of XXXX XXXX for. I never received a notice to appear. In XX/XX/XXXX, my mother received a court document saying he had to appear in court for this loan ( she allegedly was a co-signor ). I contacted the court because I did not receive a notice to appear. The court clerk told me they had the wrong information for me and that I was in fact being sued as well. In the court document you can see that it states : Upon information and belief, defendants requested an educational loan. That request was received by its servicing agent. The loan was approved, funds were disbursed by a lending institution, and the ownership of the note for the subject loan was transferred to plaintiff. No where in that does it say who the lender was, the original amount of the loan, no contact information, nothing. And yet the court allowed for this to be a legitimate lawsuit. I had to appear in court with my mother on XX/XX/XXXX. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice. As of today, XX/XX/XXXX on my XXXX credit report there is a report of AES/ XXXX which is XXXX XXXX. I have tried numerous times by phone and mail to get them to remove this from my credit and they will not. It states they charged off this debt. They lost in a court of law. And it has been on my credit since XX/XX/XXXX.
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Kosciusko, MS

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Don't agree with the fees charged
Complaint: Beginning XX/XX/XXXX I began to request that XXXX XXXX provide me the original contract of the student loan agreement, because the amount that is recorded as the balance due on this account is inaccurate and not mine. Therefore, I requested to verify the debt because according to my records, my total amount owed is {$3500.00} that was transferred from other lenders to consolidate around XXXX of XXXX. I have attached a copy of my credit report posting this accurate balance. I also requested the original contracted that I physically signed, however XXXX sent an electronic signature with a name that is spelled similar to my name, but is not my name ( SSN Card Attached ) and did not provide competent evidence bearing my signature ( see social security card attached ). This information is unverifiable and inaccurate. The balance incorrect, and is stating an amount that is higher than I owe. I also, contested late payments that were posting on the account due to the fact that it was placed in forbearance until this investigation was to be resolved. The itemized printout that they sent me was wrong, and as a result of other inaccurate dealings with my credit, I had to file identity theft.
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Beyersville, TX

Struggling to repay your loan

Student loan: Private student loan

Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Complaint: OnXX/XX/XXXX, I call American Education Services to talk about lowering my bill or getting a better interest rate. I spoke with someone on the phone stating that because my Loans were current that I had no options, and that I needed to let them go delinquent to get any type of assistance. The following month I called, again I was told, the longer you let it go, the better options you have. I kept letting it go, to see if I could get any help and each time I have been rejected. I even wrote an email to the lender through the company and hear nothing back. I now have a total of {$4400.00} PAST DUE, and spent an hour again on the phone with the company and she again told me there were no options and the past due balance will remain. She advised that I speak with a student loan consolidation company. In total I borrowed {$48000.00} dollars for college. Since 2005 I have been paying my loans on time and have only paid {$15000.00} in the principle balance with {$22000.00} going towards interest! This is on a {$48000.00} LOAN! I have been left with no options but to let this go delinquent because this company refuses to work with me. I really NEED help, I need to get this interest lowered, and get my loans in current status with better assistance. PLEASE help, the only reason I stopped paying was due to XXXX XXXX and having to pay medical bills so that I could keep seeing the doctor. This is urgent.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Converse, TX

Incorrect information on your report

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Account status incorrect
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Arnold Line, MS

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Brentwood, NC

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-23

Incorrect information on your report

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Account information incorrect
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

New Britain, CT

Struggling to repay your loan

Student loan: Private student loan

Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Complaint: I received a letter from a debt collection agency on XX/XX/18 for 2 student loans, totaling > {$50000.00}. I was not informed by the lender by phone, mail or email that this was an issue that was being sent to collections. I was previously on a reduced payment plan of $ XXXX. After speaking with the lender directly today, I am told this repayment plan is only effective for 3 months and can be renewed for an additional 3 months, with a limit of 6 months total for the entire life of the loan. When attempting to set up this repayment plan, the lender representative informed by that I must also pay back the entire past due amount of {$2100.00} to make my account up to date. When I expressed that I was happy to make an alternative arrangement, and that this option is not financially feasible and does not give me enough time to get up to date before the expiration of the repayment plan in 3 months, I was told that there are NO other options. When I attempted to make a good faith payment to attempt to find time to write a letter to the lender to resolve the issue, I was referred to the website, as I was unable to make a debit card payment by phone. I had my checking account information saved on the site ; when attempting to make a web payment, there was an error. ( A representative told me that there are " issues '' currently with the payment system and I may not be able to successfully make my good faith payment today ). I explained that my excessive financial obligations far exceed my income, and the fact that they have sent me to collections now impedes my ability to make credit purchases or take additional loans for emergency situations. I have XXXX small children and am looking for additional employment and need to buy a reliable car in order to continue to work and make payments to my lenders ; this report to debt collection has now likely impeded my ability to do so, and thus it will be difficult for me to maintain my current job, as well as obtain additional employment, and take care of XXXX children as a single parent. Despite multiple attempts to make a resolution, this lender has told me there is nothing that can be done. Please help me to remedy this situation, I would like to set up a modified repayment plan with recurring automatic payments, but am told I have no options. Thank you for your time.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

PA

Attempts to collect debt not owed

Debt collection: Federal student loan debt

Debt was paid
Complaint: I registered for XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. Classes began XX/XX/XXXX. I withdrew in writing XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, Director of Student Accounts was supposed to return all money sent to the school on my behalf. The enrollment application was fraudulently executed. The application needed all signatures. If any were lacking, the agreement would not be binding. The Administrative Official did not sign. The Department of Education and XXXX XXXX should not have sent money to XXXX XXXX. They should have noticed that oversight. The address for XXXX is XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Pa XXXX. My major was XXXX XXXX. I have received letters for ten ( 10 ) years. I have written Senator XXXX, loan officers via certified mail, XXXX XXXX. I sent a certified letter XX/XX/XXXX requesting all collection efforts to cease. My information was returned and denied. According to my documents the balance is XXXX. Everything is ignored. I have kept all documents from this school and loan companies and cards from the certified letters. My social security number was on many of the forms, violating HIPPA. I want my record restored and negative information removed from the credit agencies. XXXX XXXX is sending letters. They were sent certified letters XX/XX/XXXX.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Helena, MT

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Thank you for considering my complaint. This is a complaint that while XXXX XXXX has accepted 61 timely payments from me on a IBR or REPAYE plan, it has refused to acknowledge that I have made 61 payments towards the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLF ). Honestly, dealing with these student loans stresses me out more than almost anything else in my life. Whats particularly frustrating is that Ive done nothing wrong and yet it seems it requires too much work just to stay on top of this. My hope is that this letter gives you a summary of my student loan saga. My goal is to have my actual payments towards PSLF match the servicers records. I have over {$230000.00} in total debt, so I am very invested in making sure that everything works out. After graduating XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, I attended XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, graduating in XXXX with a double major in XXXX and XXXX XXXX. My parents and grandparents paid for my XXXX education, so I have no student loan debt from that time. I enrolled in XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX in either XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. I remember taking XXXX loans and XXXX XXXX loans. I think I went through the same financial aid process that everyone does. However, since I was in XXXX for XXXX, I was considered out of state for the first two years of XXXX XXXX. I finally got a waiver from the XXXX president and paid in-state tuition for my last year. I graduated in XX/XX/XXXX. After completing XXXX XXXX and initially declining to take the XXXX XXXX, I enrolled in the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( now called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) [ XXXX ] to get a XXXX in XXXX XXXX. I do remember calling someone to verify that I could pay for my education with student aid, and that person stated that I did come in under some kind of maximum threshold. In addition to the standard fall and spring semesters for two years, I took summer language programs in XXXX and XXXX, also paid with financial aid. The XXXX summer program was through XXXX, and the XXXX summer program was through XXXX XXXX XXXX ( while XXXX and XXXX were not yet fully merged as I was attending, it was clear that they already had a very strong partnership going. It seemed like the loans all came from the same source ). There was a lot of financial aid drama during my time at XXXX. I have forgotten most of it, but it was very unpleasant. The most frustrating experience occurred when one semester, for reasons that have never been explained to me, somebody somewhere was denying me financial aid. The student aid counselor said that I was not being approved for the regular process ( maybe Stafford loans ). To pay for one of my semesters, I took out a joint XXXX loan and then something called a XXXX XXXX loan, which appears to be an internal loan program that is run inside the school. At some point during my attendance at XXXX, I became aware of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. I also decided that I was going to take the XXXX XXXX after all, knowing that I needed to get a job. Around this time the XXXX oil boom was taking off. Lawyers were charging huge billable hours to handle divorce cases and the like. I had started making phone calls and developing plans to go to that area so that I could make money to pay off my loans. But I also started applying for the XXXX XXXX XXXX because I knew that PSLF could forgive my loans after ten years of service. PSLF was a major driver into my ultimate acceptance of a XXXX XXXX job once I was offered one. I was also aware that PSLF applied to loans starting XX/XX/XXXX. I, of course, had started my first semester of XXXX XXXX just a few months before that. Thats why I became interested in the Temporary Special Direct Consolidation Loan Program. This was a temporary, very limited program, and you might not have heard of it. Here is a link to an article that mentions it : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX It was my understanding that by using this program, those first semester early XXXX XXXX loans would be converted into PSLF loans so that everything would be forgiven after ten years of payments. Thats the reason I applied for it. The program had a hard deadline of XX/XX/XXXX and I applied well in advance of that deadline while I was either still in school or right around the time I graduated. I believe that the entire process went through successfully as well. I graduated in XX/XX/XXXX and I began working as a XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I have worked as a XXXX XXXX with the XXXX XXXX XXXX ever since. On every anniversary date I have submitted documentation verifying my employment, but one year my human resource officer made an egregious typo that suggested I had only been working for a few days. I have repeatedly tried to get this cleared up over the years and have submitted multiple documents with my correct start date. With the assistance of an attorney, I believe that this matter has been corrected, although I am not completely sure. After the six-month grace period, loan payments started to arrive. At the very beginning my income was so low I had payments for {$0.00}. I was told that this actually counted for PSLF, but I distrusted them so much that I sent in very small payments just to make it clear that I was making payments and that I expected eventual forgiveness. Soon enough my income leaped up and I began making much higher payments under IBR. I pay the exact amount they are asking for every month and I pay every month. I have never declared bankruptcy. At first, my payments were being serviced by the XXXX XXXX XXXX. This company was based in Montana. They are no longer in business. At some point, XXXX XXXX XXXX assigned all of my loans to XXXX XXXX. They are my servicer today. I cant remember all of the nonstop drama, but it has never been clear if XXXX XXXX knows about all of the payments I made to XXXX XXXX XXXX. An attorney informed me that XXXX appears to be aware of these payments. I am not entirely sure if the change in servicers happened before or after my first payments started. The vast majority of the money that I owe is with XXXX XXXX. As an aside, I have also been making a separate payment to another company, which originates from the XXXX XXXX fiasco at XXXX. My original servicer was XXXX XXXX and is now XXXX XXXX. That matter involves about {$6200.00} and is not the focus of my complaint here. Over the last two years I have grown increasingly frustrated that the numbers appearing for PSLF on the loan statement have not matched the actual payments that I have made. After repeated calls, I was put through to a supervisor, who said that he would do a formal review. This supervisor also suggested that I switch from IBR to REPAYE, which would reduce my payment amount while still being PSLF eligible. I did so in XX/XX/XXXX. There was a LOT of drama with the stupid {$5.00} payment that I had to make during the changeover period. I actually made this {$5.00} payment ON TIME, but I paid it on a Saturday and the website refused to do anything until Monday after the due date. This created a lot of drama but I think it was resolved. At this point, however, my patience of dealing with the servicer without legal counsel has ended. The formal review of my PSLF numbers finished and seemed to change nothing. I have included a copy of my most recent bill. As you can see, the numbers are all over the place, which makes absolutely no sense since all of my loans came out of the grace period simultaneously and they have all gotten the same payment every single time. And of course Ive never taken these individual loans out on the date disbursed date. Like many students, I just signed a promissory note and that was it. The student loan payments are due on the first of each month. For the payment due on XX/XX/XXXX, for example, I made my 54th payment. I know that it was payment # 54 because ever since I started this, I have tracked the number of payments. On the memo line of every check I write down the payment number, and I also put the payment number in the check register. It has been aggravating, but I collected all of the bank statements where I have made each payment. Rather than send you five years of bank statements, I have included a tracker of each payment, along with the check number and the date the money was drawn by XXXX from my account. Of course, XXXX XXXX has accepted every check that I have sent them. It is an undisputable fact that they have accepted 61 payments from me as of the XX/XX/XXXX payment. I want XXXX XXXX to acknowledge that I am at 61 payments for all of my loans ( 62 come XX/XX/XXXX ), and that all of my loans are PSLF eligible at the 120th payment. Thank you for your review and I look forward to hearing from you.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Clermont, FL

Incorrect information on your report

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Information belongs to someone else
Complaint: student loan with XXXX XXXX reporting to my credit file that doesn't belong to me email company and send letter by mail asking proof of document have not gotten anything or hear back from them account was removed from my credit file but then 3 month later put back on
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Burlington, WI

Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Clermont, FL

Incorrect information on your report

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Information belongs to someone else
Complaint: CALLTHE COMPANY TOLD THEY THIS ACCOUNT DOSENT BELONG TO ME EVEN EMAIL AND DISPUTE THIS ACCOUNT
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

New Smyrna, FL

Incorrect information on your report

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Account status incorrect
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Roselle, NJ

Struggling to repay your loan

Student loan: Private student loan

Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-22

Kissimmee, FL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-21

San Diego, CA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: Upon graduation, I was unaware that my prior loan would not have a 6 month grace period. I received a 90 day late on my credit report and realized something was wrong. When I contacted XXXX, they offered me forbearance. I asked them about the late to my credit report and they said that I could provide my forbearance letter to the credit bureaus to have the late removed. To date, they have refused to provide me with a letter that states that my loan was in forbearance. They sent a flimsy email that I sent to the credit bureaus that did not change anything because the email is not an official letter stating that I was granted forbearance. Their actions have dropped my credit score by 60 points. Furthermore, they convinced me to sign up for paperless billing but do not tell students that in the event there is a problem with the account they will not call or write you. The email I signed up with years ago was hacked. I no longer had access to the email which means I did not have access to their noticing. This is unfair. It allows them to keep consumers uninformed and make statements like " the fine print in your contract says ... or we don't have to contact you because you're in paperless billing. '' It also allows them to get away with collecting additional interest and keep students in the dark. It's really unacceptable. I am repaying my student loan now but the damage to my credit has caused additional financial hardships which do not allow me to pay more on my student loans. XXXX doesn't seem to care about this because the longer it takes me to pay the more interest they can collect and the only way they can prevent people from paying is to damage them financially ( credit ).
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-21

Albuquerque, NM

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: I have been enrolled in automatic payments for my student loan repayment through XXXX XXXX XXXX for over a year. Today on XX/XX/XXXX I checked in on my account to see if they had received paperwork I submitted several months ago to renew my enrollment in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. When I logged onto my account, it said my last posted payment had been forXX/XX/XXXX. I double checked my bank statements and there has been no automatic withdrawals on my account since XX/XX/XXXX. I received no notifications from XXXX XXXX XXXX that my payments through automatic payment had been suspended or that I had late payments. When I attempted to reach a loan service officer via the toll free number, no option was given to me to speak to a representative. I am highly concerned I will now be billed {$600.00} in back payments for payments that should have been billed and drafted from my account automatically over the last 3 months, or that these late payments will be submitted to credit reporting companies. Additionally, I have gotten no confirmation of my enrollment in PSLF program and no assurance that I am making qualifying payments.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-21

PA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Good Morning, On XX/XX/XXXX my loan payment of {$590.00} was due. A payment of {$400.00} was made on XX/XX/XXXX and {$190.00} on XX/XX/XXXX satisfying this payment. A few days before my due date I received an email advising I owed {$400.00} to my XX/XX/XXXX payment. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX at XXXX and spoke to a customer service representative after reviewing my payment history and could clearly see the issue was what the company did with the XX/XX/XXXX {$400.00} payment. The representative checked my records which was expected but after a good amount of time passed I felt as if he was looking for any reason to make the issue my fault. However, he could not find an issue and I was advised he would submit an action to have the {$400.00} credited to my XX/XX/XXXX payment. This would take 7-10 days. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX at XXXX and spoke to another customer service representative as the {$400.00} was not credited to the XX/XX/XXXX payment in the time period advised and my XX/XX/XXXX bill was showing I owed a payment due of {$990.00} and not the regular {$590.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. She advised that the other representative did put in to have the {$400.00} credited to the XX/XX/XXXX payment but it would take much longer for this to be credited with a timeline of 4-6 weeks. 4-6 weeks?!?! What financial institution, business, or otherwise takes 4-6 weeks to make account related changes? Full disclosure this is not my first issue with XXXX XXXX and have had to stay on top of my student loan account due to the amount of mistakes they make in servicing my loan. Most are minor in example not processing an ICR plan reapply in an attempt to get my spouse to sign paperwork on my loan despite having all of my loans prior to being married. However, considering the issues and my status of applying for loan forgiveness I believe these issues are related to cause issues down the road when applying for the forgiveness. At this point I feel I have no other option but to file a complaint with the CFPB every time I have an issue because there is no other real recourse for XXXX XXXX actions.
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-21

Jacksonville, FL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-21

Palos Park, IL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Private student loan

Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-03-21

Birmingham, AL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: I visited the XXXX XXXX XXXX website over a month ago to get an interest statement. I also learned that my payment amount was increasing. While on the website I went to the manage repayment section to see about getting assistance or learn why the amount had increased. I contacted the office and they explained that due to a program I was on it has now expired that my payment increased. Not sure what program that was, they would never say. I asked how to lower the payment back down and they stated they would research. I received an email that my case was still under research a month later. I still have not heard back from the servicer regarding my request. Because I had not heard back regarding the amount, I checked my account to see what was charged and I noticed that XXXX payment had not cleared my account ( this payment is on auto debit and has been for years ). Today I check my account and learned that the servicer has debited my account {$480.00} without any notice to me of doing so causing my account to be overdrawn. I still have yet to hear from them regarding the payment amount increase. I tried calling their office today but learned that they are temporally closed through the automated system. I consider this transaction to be unfair. Im trying to get assistance to lower and not only am I double charged for their error, I have a much higher amount. If they were going to debit my account in that amount I should have been made aware of the charges. I dont have that amount of money to pay at one time for a loan that doesnt even pay down the principal!!! I want one of the payments refunded. I agreed for the monthly amount to debit on a certain date. It was their error for it not to debit. I also would like to know where that status of my request for lowering the payment stands.
Company Response: Closed with monetary relief

Timely Response

2018-03-21

Matteson, IL

Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem

Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting

Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response