There are over 9925 complaints on file for AES-PHEAA. Dated between 2019-12-11 and 2012-03-07.
2018-02-25
Seattle, WA
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: This is a follow up on my previous complaint XXXX, regarding actions that have been taken while the complaint is still pending/unresolved. As of 1XX/XX/XXXX I will no longer communicate directly with them because they have fouled up every request without fail.
XX/XX/XXXX : I received an email response ( sent from them on the XXXX but stuck on their mail server and not delivered until the XXXX, putting this response just before I lodged my initial complaint ) saying I had to submit a new IDR request to be put on the IBR plan.
XX/XX/XXXX: I went ahead and submitted a new request, this time only submitting it a 'recertification ', giving them the chance to effectively keep me on the original IBR plan I should never have been removed from. I also responded vie the XXXX portal with a message saying as much.
XX/XX/XXXX : I received approval for the REPAYE plan. There was no indication of what this was in response to. My new IDR request was clearly not for REPAYE, so I have to assume that after some mucking around they decided to take me off the standard plan they erroneously put me on and switch me to REPAYE.XX/XX/XXXX : I received and interest notice. It would appear that as a result of them switching my plan, they triggered some kind of interest payment that will be capitalized if I do not pay. Of course I did not want to switch plan from my original IBR to standard or REPAYE and should not have an interest payment due.
XX/XX/XXXX : I received notice that, " ... you requested to pay the accruing interest ... ''. I never made such a request, I can only assume this is related to them shuffling my plan around erroneously. It indicates that by not paying, I am consenting for them to capitalize this interest. I am not paying this interest because it is due to their errors in processing, and I do not consent to them capitalizing this interest.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-25
Farmer Market, CA
Account information incorrect
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-25
Washington, DC
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief
2018-02-24
Ridley Park, PA
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Complaint: I had a monthly payment of {$45.00} due to income based repayment. When I was close to graduation the company changed the payment to {$1500.00} a month. I had applied for income based repayment but they had not processed the paperwork. I sent the paperwork in XX/XX/XXXX. They did not inform me the paperwork was not received until XX/XX/XXXX. My payment went from {$1500.00} to {$21.00} for 2 months, then it was put in forbearance. In addition, they consolidated some of my loans but not others. I was told all loans would be consolidated to correct the company 's error in XX/XX/XXXX. I started to receive a $ XXXX monthly bill for one loan in XX/XX/XXXX. I received a {$310.00} bill for a different loan in XX/XX/XXXX. You write and you are told that department can not help you. You call and you wait on hold for 45 minutes to be hung up on. If you do not talk to the same person, you do not get the same information. There are no records of anything and there is no explanation as to why a payment would increase to 10 times what you paid before when your income did not increase.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-24
Arco, CA
Old information reappears or never goes away
Complaint: They have put a 90 day late payment on my credit report. I had no knowledge that the account needed too be paid. I thought it was in forbearance and I get a ding on my credit. Ive asked them many times if there was anything I could do too get the late payment off and they just keep telling me no. Ive never missed a payment besides that and I regularly pay on time and sometimes pay twice a month. Please help me get this off. Thank you
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-24
Penn Yan, NY
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief
2018-02-24
Portland, OR
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: Thank you for looking into this on my behalf. My husband has had similar issues with his student loans, also managed by PHEAA. We are both in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and making Income Based Repayments through the Revised Pay As You Earn ( REPAYE ) program, and are around 3-4 years into the 10 year requirement. Per their site, I am currently at 40 PSLF qualifying payments made out of the 48 I have made, he is at 25 out of 51 payments for grad school ( if his XXXX were submitted when my last one was in XX/XX/XXXX, he would be around 36 ), and 41 for his XXXX loans that he has been paying on since 2005 ( since approximately XXXX with PHEAA, XXXX XXXX previously ).
All we want is a list of payments made ( which they do provide ) and a notation whether the payment was ultimately deemed as PSLF qualifying for our records ( which is impossible to determine - they only give us a total IE payment made XX/XX/XXXX - PSLF Qualifying, payment made XX/XX/XXXX - Not PSLF Qualifying { because no XXXX has been filed yet } ).
For some reason, getting this level of clarity from PHEAA on this has been like pulling teeth, and it is hard to fathom why this would be so difficult for them to provide. On the site, they break down payments into amazing detail - but not this detail. We have both made requests of this nature, and only seen one document one time that provided this level of detail - and this was only provided after multiple requests.
My most recent XXXX Certification letter dated XX/XX/XXXX indicates for example that from the dates of XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX my employment was qualifying for PSLF, but there is no clarity on how many of my payments made during that time period were PSLF qualifying. All documents of this sort dated prior XX/XX/XXXX are no longer available to download or view via their site, so I can't access older certification forms.
We are trying very hard to comply with the requirements of this program, but find some details challenging to discover outside of the verbal guidance of a person in their call center. We prefer clearly written instructions so there is no room for confusion, or later being told we did something incorrectly when we followed their guidance ( which has happened already - IE no one told us that if you made payments prior to the statement for the month being generated, even by one day, they would not be " qualifying '' until after my husband made a few payments 25-28 days before the due date and inquired as to why they weren't counted as " PSLF qualifying payments '' ).
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief
2018-02-24
Clayton, MO
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief
2018-02-24
Nyc, NY
Don't agree with the fees charged
Complaint: Due to delays processing my refinancing, I overpaid by about ~ {$300.00}. I have contacted XXXX about this issue and have not gotten a response. I would like them to refund me the overpayment.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Birmingham, AL
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Hamburg, NY
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: XXXX XXXX has created a bureaucratic customer service black hole that traps borrowers in a cycle of frustration. As if the near permanent status of indentured servitude to student loans were not oppressive enough. Their first level of representatives have no access to information or power to overcome borrower 's challenges. In addition, their phone system is difficult to hear and leads to many dropped calls.
I received a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX that my student loan payment was returned to my checking account. XXXX XXXX had no record of the transaction and confirmed there was sufficient funds. This is the second time in 4 months this occurred.
This happened previously on XX/XX/XXXX. At that time I made the payment and the direct debit continued successfully for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Now the problem resurfaces in XX/XX/XXXX.
When I called and voiced my frustration I was hung up on by the second level customer service representative # XXXX. In total, the first 3 representatives I spoke to had no help and continued to blame the wrong cause of this issue, insufficient funds, or push the envelope to someone else.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Lenoir City, TN
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I submitted a request for payment review and assessment of my PSLF on XX/XX/XXXX. My original request went through employee # XXXX. I was told it would be up to 90 days to recieve my detailed payment tracker/count letter. I followed up XX/XX/XXXX and employee # XXXX told me that my request was in process but they were not through with the review. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with employee # XXXX who said that she was sending a request to expedite my account to her supervisors and that if I didnt hear something within 10-15 days to call back. I called back XXXX XXXX, XXXX ....
Today was rough.
I spoke to employee # XXXX who said she was simply with payments and would transfer me to extension # XXXX. There I spoke to employee # XXXX who had no real information and passed me to their supervisor employee # XXXX. This person told me that my account would be assessed within 120 days from the original request and was in a pending status. I reminded them that I was well past that 120 mark already ... they didnt have an answer so They passed me on to their supervisor, employee # XXXX who went by XXXX. Im told they are a lead customer service agent. They told me that since I was over the 120 days that they would send an email to expedite my request ... I said that I was actually following up with an expedited request that had not happened yet. Then they SAID ... I see, that email last time was sent by an agent on a lower floor, those arent effective and are rarely seen. The thing Im going to do different is, because I know people over there, is Im going to actually walk over there in a little while and talk to someone for you. I was floored ... I couldnt believe their claim that I and the last agent I spoke with were wasting our time and energies. I said, couldnt you speak to someone on my behalf now? They said they werent in the same building and would talk to whoever they knew over there in a few hours. I asked, at the water cooler? They said, yeah, basically. THIS IS THE BEST THAT YOURE GOING TO GET, XXXX. I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT. I was floored again. And asked to be transferred to their supervisor.
I spoke to XXXX, who did not give an employee number but claimed to be a customer service supervisor. He told me we shouldnt be doing this in the first place ( speaking to doing expedited requests ) because it put me at an unfair advantage to the many people ahead of me who had been waiting 6 months or more. I said, you have lots of people waiting longer than I have? He said yes. He also told me that he was my LAST STOP and that he would take over the expedited request sent in earlier in the conversation in hopes that maybe it would do something. We had a conversation about my lack of faith, trust, hope that anything had been accomplished today and how many people had wasted their time and energy. I also pointed out that i didnt want an unfair advantage over anyone, and that perhaps that was part of the problem!! Im so upset.
I said thanks, and that my next stop would be to contact the CFPB.
Company Response: Closed with non-monetary relief
2018-02-23
Dulles, VA
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: I recently filed a complaint with CFPB regarding the way my PSLF payments were being calculated. XXXX XXXX XXXX responded to my request for a detailed request of PSLF-qualifying payments by significantly omitting and altering information. In fact, the information they provided conflicts with the information they provided in XX/XX/XXXX when I similarly requested an explanation of why my student loans were not be calculated.
Specifics : From XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX : I made 4 PSLF qualifying payments on my federal student loans. This was attested to by XXXX XXXX XXXX in the attached document ( PSLF Statement XX/XX/XXXX ) in the highlighted fields, including a payment of XXXX.
{$320.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) {$320.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) {$320.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) {$1300.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I was NOT under a student deferment at that time.
In the most recent response received regarding PSLF qualifying payments from XXXX XXXX XXXX ( PSLF Statement XX/XX/XXXX ), they stated I was under student deferments for the first three payments, which is false. Additionally, they COMPLETELY OMITTED the payment I made of XXXX, which is a COMPLETE Falsification! I have proof of this payment.
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX has repeatedly changed their records of my payments to them throughout my time dealing with them as a lender. I just want the payments I made under the PSLF program to be counted.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Odell, OR
Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
ID
Problem with customer service
Complaint: A couple of months ago I contacted American Education Services and I asked them if they could work on changing my payment plan. My wife just had XXXX and we are struggling to make all of our monthly payments. They told me that I've used up all of my forbearance which was when I first got out of school during the recession. Since then I've been paying close to a $ 900+ per month for about a decade which has not been easy since I have another student loan payment of {$1200.00} with XXXX. They told me that their is nothing that they could do and that they were not willing to help me in anyway. I've tried going to other companies to see if I could consolidate my private student loans but no one out there will touch it. The other interesting little fact is after all of this time I still owe roughly what I borrowed. So I'm stuck and I've been stuck with a variable interest rate. So after that discussion I decided to cancel my auto payment which is frustrating because now it is effecting my credit score and my parents since they are co-signers.
The last thing that AES decided to do, is this month they ended up taking money out of my bank account after I cancelled auto payments. I went and double checked to make sure on their website that I cancelled auto pay and that I removed my all of my bank account information which I did. " AES '' decided to switch it to a direct debit without my consent. This seems illegal to me.
These Private student loans have been an absolute nightmare for me and my family. The biggest mistake in my lifetime has been borrowing money for college ( Private Student Loans ).
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Madison, WI
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: My loans have been in deferment because I am in school. This semester is the first that I am not a full time student. I received an email at XXXX this morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ) from my loan servicer that I had a new billing statement. The billing statement was dated XX/XX/XXXX and stated that I owed over {$1200.00} and that it was due on XX/XX/XXXX, which means that I am delinquent without ever having had a chance to pay the bill.
When I contacted the loan servicer today, they could not explain why this had happened nor did they suggest a solution to the delinquent payment. The supervisor I spoke to essentially told me to sign up for an Income Driven Repayment program and that if approved, they would " forgive '' the delinquency. No other solutions were offered.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Waco, TX
Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with monetary relief
2018-02-23
Fithian, IL
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: This is for XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I paid off all of my loans in full in late 2015. Suddenly they are showing a {$0.00} balance on my account and have restarted my autodebit payments, and were about to debit for the full amount ( {$480.00} ). I had a long, very tense call with them where I was mostly on hold and they gave me a LOT of conflicting information. All they've done for now is suspend the one autopayment, but I'll need to do it again and meanwhile their system is still showing a tiny balance which they haven't corrected. I'm afraid this is going to balloon into a much bigger problem and I'm also worried about what other clerical errors they've made with my account and others.
Company Response: Closed with monetary relief
2018-02-23
Succasunna, NJ
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Well, I have already submitted a complaint through this medium against XXXX XXXX, but I have received yet another troubling letter from them, along with information stating that I will have funds directly debited out of my bank account. I have already cancelled my direct debit agreement, as stated in my previous complaint. If they directly debit money out of my account, I will pursue IMMEDIATE LEGAL ACTION ( already in the works ). Even more troubling, I received a letter just this morning stating that my deferment date was changed to XX/XX/2018. This bill was postmarked XX/XX/2018. This is an example of an ex post facto violation of a contract between lender and student, one which is highly unorthodox and illegal. I refuse to pay this loan company, XXXX XXXX, any more of my loans, and I demand that they immediately cease and desist any and all communications with me, and forgive the entirety of my debt because of their unfair, illegal, and unethical practices towards a consumer. I will forward any and all communications from XXXX XXXX directly to the CFPB and directly to my lawyer, who is preparing a legal case on my behalf.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-23
Napoleon, ND
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I paid XXXX XXXX XXXX to manage my loans {$600.00} and then {$29.00} thereafter. They sent my loans to XXXX XXXX where I made payments. I was told student assist would manage everything but when it came time to recertify I had to go through XXXX anyway. I cancelled with XXXX XXXX and my loans disappeared from XXXX. I was told they went back to the original vender. They fell off my credit report completely and were no where to be found. XXXX XXXX told me to call XXXX XXXX and vice versa. A year later my loans pop back up with XXXX with added interest of {$5000.00}. I've been going back and forth with XXXX and XXXX XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX with no reconciliation of the issue. They will not remove the additional interest and can not tell me why the loans disappeared at {$44000.00} and returned at {$48000.00}. I've been out of school since XX/XX/XXXX had the loans since XX/XX/XXXX and all the money I've paid does not lower them in anyway. I'm included conversations back and forth between the loan companies. XXXX XXXX basically told me I should be happy they disappeared and would not help me in any way. Now XX/XX/XXXX and I'm still dealing with excessive loan debt that is not completely accurate.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-22
MN
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: After graduating from XXXX XXXXl & reaching the end of the repayment grace period, I consolidated my student loans in XX/XX/XXXX. That left me with two loans - consolidated unsubsidized loan and a consolidated subsidized loan. I have worked in qualifying employment for the public service loan forgiveness program my entire adult life and every day since since my first eligible payment in XX/XX/XXXX. I've only had two employers during that time, both are non profits. One is a XXXX XXXX XXXX and the other is a XXXX XXXX. I have tried to turn in employer certification forms annually or fairly regularly to ensure certification.
I have made made every payment except five months where payments were not made because my servicer ( s ) required me to take a forbearance so they could process paper work or transfer my loans between services. Of course, this adds another 5 months or separate monthly payments on the the end of 120 repayment obligation through no fault of my own. To the best of my knowledge the months that I was required to take a forbearance were : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, & XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. I believe that the XXXX forbearance was cause the company XXXX, who may have been my servicer at the time and the rest were compelled by XXXX who may have taken over my loan on or about XX/XX/XXXX.
Determining what organization serviced my loan at what exact time leads to the second issue of my complaint. In addition to be forced to delay making qualified forbearance through delays in paperwork process and loans transferring described above, I've been asking XXXX for an accounting of every payment that I have made since XX/XX/XXXX and a determination of whether each payment qualifies for the PSLF program. It is XX/XX/XXXX and I still don't have that. I was given a record of payments since XX/XX/XXXXseveral times. I've been told I was in default ( which was never true ). I've been told that there were no records before XX/XX/XXXX. I've been told that I had previous servicers and they went out of business so there are no records any more. I've been told that their record review is inconclusive. I've asked the NSLDS who my previous servicers are and contacted them myself. One promptly mailed me the records, the other said they turned everything over to a different servicer and didn't retain any record of me at all. My bank statements list the withdrawal from the Department of Education, but not XXXX in name back in XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX got 3 payments in early XX/XX/XXXX before transferring to XXXX. They mailed me their records, but they also list at the Department of Education on the withdrawal transaction with my bank. The bottom line is that XXXX has me at 62 qualifying payments for PSLF when I should be around the 80 mark ( or higher if not for the forced forbearance months ) and they can't produce a complete records of payments made or their eligibility for PSLF after being asked for 4 years.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-22
Balch Springs, TX
Old information reappears or never goes away
Complaint: After noticing the debt on my credit report, I sent a Debt validation letter to XXXX XXXX. A request was made pursuant to 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 ( 6 ) of the FDCPA. As stated in the law, XXXX XXXX did not cease collection activities, in fact, they continued reporting to the credit bureau. To date, I have not received a letter or phone call from the XXXX Service or any attempts by the debt collector to validate the debt they believe I owe. It has been more than 7 years since they placed the debt on my credit report and More than 1 month since I requested validation. The original open date is reporting XX/XX/2011 which is more than 7 years of negative reporting on my credit. This same company has also been reporting under US Dept of Education for the same account and dollar amount. They also garnished my Federal Tax Refund for {$1200.00} well over 7 years ago to repay the amount they are still claiming owed.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-22
Federal Way, WA
Problem with customer service
Complaint: My name is XXXX XXXX and I feel that my cosigner and I were duped in to this loan. I would like XXXX to prove ownership of this debt ; I took out this loan with XXXX Bank. I can not file bankruptcy according to the paperwork I received when I ordered a copy of my contract, why? Because this is a XXXX loan, which means nothing to me. If you look up XXXX loan I believe they filed bankruptcy and I have no idea what that has to do with XXXX bank. The document I have states that this is a XXXX loan because it meets the IRS code of a Qualified Education Loan, after all the name of the loan in question is XXXX XXXX, XXXX Loan. I would think that if it is promoted as a legitimate student loan that just as other student loans there would be options available to lower the payments. I have called and asked about refinancing or some of the other programs on the AES website since they are the servicers and been told none of the options are available to me and that I cant refinance. I was also told in a letter on XX/XX/2018 regarding my email at the beginning of XXXX that even though we have made payments on time for over 36 months that I can not remove the cosigner because I used the deferment, well this isnt stated anywhere, and most student loans you can remove the cosigner after 36 months of on time payments. What does deferment have to do with it?
There are pages missing or fabricated from my loan agreement, the first page which is the signature page is clearly numbered 1 by the fax machine ; none of the further pages have any numbers or information from the fax they could have been changed and added at any time. For example the first two pages have no page numbers except as I mentioned the first page has a fax page number stating this page is 1/8 one of eight, the third page starts with its own numbering which starts at page 2. So there are pages 2, 3, and 4 which look like they can just be added to any loan if a person asks for copies, there are no signatures or initials. Also in reading the court filings regarding AES/PHEA and filed by the CFPB I believe it states that the ( Note Disclosure Statement ) is supposed to be on the first page of which it was not with the documents that I did receive concerning my contract. Another interesting thing is that the beginning page says that it is page 1 of 8 yet when I requested a copy of my agreement I only got 6 pages and a disclosure notice to the cosigner at the end that looked like it had just been added to my paperwork and could have been printed at any time just like half of my agreement.
I am asking for proof of this loan, it was made with XXXX Bank and is now owned by XXXX and serviced by AES, I have no idea where this loan has been and who actually owns it. I would think that AES collecting on a loan they cant prove ownership of would be fraud and they should give any money paid back to me.
I have attempted to make payments and stay current with American education services ( my loan servicer for private student loans ) and this loan is to the point where I can no longer manage paying it. I am a XXXX veteran living off of my XXXX pay and my cosigner was medically retired and is now living of social security and they can not afford for me not to pay this loan. The issue is that my actual lender who claims to own the loan is called national collegiate trust. The company buys up old debt and then collects on it, I never actually had a loan with XXXX but they bought my loan. I now have no relief and can not get in touch with anyone at this company.
AES has been suing individuals who owe them for the past few years and many of these cases have been thrown out because once the case goes to court they can not provide proper proof they actually own the debt, and the borrower case is dismissed in many of these cases. My issue is I have not defaulted to this point, but because of my limited income I have no choice. I just cancelled my Automatic Monthly Payment for XXXX and hope from this complaint I can finally get some relief. National collegiate trust needs to be held accountable and they need to prove they bought my loan. There are thousands of people in my same position just looking to get some assistance and speak with XXXX about their loan and try to lower payments.
I have never held an account with XXXX XXXX XXXX If XXXX holds paperwork from previous loans, that information should be provided, showing a complete assignment of the debt from the original creditor. XXXX XXXX bought and securitized student loans. These securitized notes were then sold to debt investors. XXXX XXXX then hired collection agencies to pursue debtors for collecting what they considered to be outstanding debts. Federal laws mandate collectors to possess the documents that prove debts they want to collect are indeed owned by the people theyre pursuing. Over 2,000 collections lawsuits that were filed on behalf of the trusts were in violation of the laws. In these lawsuits, the trusts do not have or can not find the documentation necessary to prove either that they own the loans or that the consumer owed the debt. Valid affidavits must be signed by a witness with personal knowledge of the consumers account records. But such affidavits dont exist for any of these lawsuits.
Employees completed and notarized sworn legal documents for lawsuits brought on behalf of the trusts. XXXX XXXX also filed at least 486 collections lawsuits after the statute of limitations had expired. If there is a class-action lawsuit to help those negatively impacted by XXXX XXXX and its debt collector who sued thousands of students by relying on false or misleading legal documents and couldn't prove that those being sued were the actual owners of the loans in dispute I would like to be included, compensated for damages, and have the following AESXXXX account removed from my credit report : AES/XXXX XXXX XXXX in the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-22
Willingboro, NJ
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2018-02-22
Midlothian, VA
Account status incorrect
Company Response: Closed with explanation