GREAT LAKES

2018-11-05

Coalinga, CA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Don't agree with the fees charged
Complaint: Great Lakes is a deceiving liar, the problem first started in early XXXX of this year ( XX/XX/2018 ). I receive an email from them stating that the subsidies on my loans had been removed because I had reached my 150 % limit on my program. This was factually incorrect as I have just begun the 5th year of my 4-year program, 150 % of the program would be 6 complete years. I called them multiple times only to be told that they received all their information from the MOST RECENT school I was attending, and that they could do nothing to change it unless the school updated the information to the NSLDS. I called my school financial aid department and they stated, they had changed nothing and that my subsidy limit reported to the NSLDS still had 1.9 years left. I checked if that was true by logging in, and indeed it was true it was being reported that I still had 1.9 years of active subsidy from my most recently attended school, XXXX XXXX University XXXX. After, repeatedly talking to the Customer Service line and them not being able to do anything, I decided to post a complaint on XXXX. A few hours later I was emailed saying that the subsidies would be reinstated. After checking, I noticed that only one subsidy had been reinstated, I called Great Lakes Customer Service and was told that they were working on reinstating the rest of the subsidies, and that it would take 3-5 days to complete. After not seeing any results I called once again and was told that they were waiting to confirm the data from NSLDS before they removed the subsidies, they then called back and said that the subsidies would not be put back into place because I had two year schools reporting that I was part of 2 year program that had reached the 150 % mark. Now, keep in mind the U.S. Department of Education states that loan subsidies must be determined from the LONGEST MOST RECENT PROGRAM. This was further proven by great lakes themselves who attached a sheet on the XXXX complaint that stated the same thing, therefore themselves admitting it. They then states that the subsidy was only put back into place on my most recent loan because it was part of the new program, but as you can see on the pictures attached of the NSLDS database it shows that all loans are from the same XXXX program and it even gives you the remaining subsidy eligibility period which is 1.9 years. My subsidy limits should be determined by the LONGEST MOST RECENT PROGRAM being reported to NSLDS regardless of the other enrollments, this is stated by the Department of Education and was given to me by Great Lakes also. They stated that all their information is derived from what is being reported to NSLDS, and as you can see in the attached picture NSLDS is showing I have 1.9 years of subsidies left. I have gone above and beyond every time Great Lakes has given me an excuse of why my subsidies were revoked, every single time we get over the problem they give me a different excuse. It seems as if Great Lakes is working directly against my rights as a Federal government student loan recipient. Now lets say that I was enrolled in a two year program prior to XXXX, which I was not enrolled in PRIOR to but concurrently as you can see on the NSLDS picture attached. The subsidy would still NOT be revoked if I transferred to a longer program, the new program would be used to determine the new 150 % threshold and you can see that from the diagram attached that is a direct screenshot of the great lakes website stating so. Therefore, regardless of the situation there is absolutely no possible scenario derived from the proof attached and given that my subsidies should have been revoked. I do not understand how Great Lakes as a government loan provider does not understand this.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-11-05

Mem, TN

Incorrect information on your report

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

Information belongs to someone else
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-11-05

Berthoud, CO

Incorrect information on your report

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Account status incorrect
Complaint: STUDENT LOANS SERVICERS IGNORE PHONE CALLS, EMAILS AND ATTEMPTS TO REPAY THE LOAN EXCEPT IN FULL.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-11-01

Detroit, MI

Attempts to collect debt not owed

Debt collection: Credit card debt

Debt is not yours
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-11-01

Rochdale, NY

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Complaint: This company never sent me statements. I asked for copies of monthly statements. They failed to provide them.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-31

NH

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: My loans went into repayment in XX/XX/XXXX. I applied and was approved for an income-driven repayment ( IDR ) plan in XXXX and made regular payments on that plan. I was informed mid-summer XXXX that I would need to re-certify for IDR. I was given a deadline of XX/XX/XXXX to complete the re-certification. I completed the application to re-certify my IDR plan on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a message from my loan servicer in my online message center on the loan servicer 's website on XX/XX/XXXX. It said " You're Approved for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan. '' It also said that I would " receive your payment schedule detailing your repayment terms, scheduled monthly payment amounts, and due dates 45 days before your first payment is due. '' Today, XX/XX/XXXX I logged in to my loan servicer account portal and one of my loans had a payment amount of over {$1000.00} due XX/XX/XXXX. All other payment due amounts had been for {$60.00}. That loan is on autopay and if the full amount was taken out of my bank account it would overdraw my account. I immediately called Great Lakes - my loan servicer and asked them to explain why, despite the approval for continued IDR, I had a payment due of over {$1000.00}. The representative responded that my IDR application had not been processed until XXXX and had only been approved on XX/XX/XXXX. She then told me that because the application was processed after the XXXX deadline that the payment had increased but should eventually go back down. I was then chastised as she explained " this is why we tell people to be sure they fill out their re-certifications on time. '' She said in her system she could see that I had filled out the application on XX/XX/XXXX but could not explain to me why the application was not approved until XX/XX/XXXX. She also did not have a copy of the message that I received and could not explain why I had received a message which apparently misrepresented that I was approved as of XX/XX/XXXX. She also could not tell me when I would get a new pay schedule. I then asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor explained that my new IDR application could not be processed until twelve months had elapsed from when I started making payments. She said this was why my re-certification application had not been processed until XX/XX/XXXX. She then said that payment schedules " generate over the weekend '' and that my payment schedules could not generate until after the 12 months had elapsed, the application was approved, and then the schedule generated on the weekend which could happen this coming weekend, XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX or even next weekend XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX. This is obviously not 45 days before my " first payment '' on the " new '' IDR is due, XX/XX/XXXX. She apologized that she could not provide any payment amount information at this time and could not account for why I was told that payment schedules would be provided 45 days before the payment was due. At this time all I know is that I am approved for an IDR Plan but I have payments due on XX/XX/XXXX and I do not know how much I owe on that date.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-30

NC

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: In XX/XX/2018, I received an email stating I needed to renew my " Income Driven '' repayment plan before XX/XX/2018. I went online, completed application and realized I had check a wrong box ( I could not access my spouse 's income information ) on the application. I called Great Lakes on the same day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to ask what I needed to do. I was told to just send in my spouse 's most recent pay check stub and they would handle the rest. After that I received 2 emails, one XX/XX/XXXX stated they received my application and the other on XX/XX/XXXX stated my application was approved and that I would received repayment information 45 days before due date. I called XX/XX/XXXX because I hadn't received repayment information. I was told I wouldn't be receiving an email for repayment because I didn't have anything to repay. I asked, " why? '' I was told it was because I didn't have any income. I told them this information was incorrect and I sent in my spouse 's pay check stub. Agent responded, " I see, we have that information but we didn't use it for your application '', '' Would you like to have your application recalculated? '' I stated " yes ''. I ended the call but called back to file a complaint. I was basically told they could not change my application and that I had to complete a " married '' application ( basically correcting the information, '' I can not access my spouse 's income information '' ). I asked " why wasn't I contacted if there was an error '' ... '' I sent in a tax return stating I was married and my spouse 's pay check stub ''. Agent stated, " I understand that but your application says you were married but you could not access your spouse 's income ''. Now, I am waiting for my spouse 's approval for FSA ID. This process could take 2 to 3 days.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-30

Chatsworth, CA

Incorrect information on your report

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

Account status incorrect
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-30

Beaux Arts, WA

Struggling to repay your loan

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Can't temporarily delay making payments
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-30

Charlotte, NC

False statements or representation

Debt collection: Federal student loan debt

Attempted to collect wrong amount
Complaint: In XX/XX/2002 I was called by a company stating that they were Greatlakes, ( Greatlakes told me it was not them ), stating that if I paid XXXX dollars that it would be put towards my student loans and paying them of, and from there the loans will go into a forgiveness act that I may go back to school if I needed. I spoke with Greatlakes today and they stated that this was a private company who charged me for paperwork to do what I could do myself which is consolidate my loans. They did not help with the problem, but put me in more debt causing me to pay money that I intended to go directly towards my loan and interests. I don't know what to do from here, but I was given your information stating that you could help me.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-29

Ft Myers, FL

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

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

Investigation took more than 30 days
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-28

Cordova, TN

Incorrect information on your report

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Account information incorrect
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-26

Lake Charles, LA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Back in XX/XX/XXXX, my student loans with the U.S. Department of Education was handed over to Great Lakes Lender in the amount of {$33000.00} and some change. I was never contacted regarding this decision or even asked if I wanted a different option for my loans. To date, I have never received any loan/lending papers/statements from Great Lakes informing me of what/how they are handling my loan. I began repaying my loan and after almost 4 years, my principle balance has gone up to {$37000.00} as of today. ( no matter how much I pay over the amount due every month ) Upon reaching out to Great Lakes numerous times via email and phone. I have learned that they always have a different reason to tell you for why your balance has not gone down. I have a fixed interest rate at 5.375 yet they can not tell me exactly how much money has been paid to interest from one day to the next. I called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX, she told me that she can not tell me how much I paid in interest with my XXXX payment of {$200.00} even though she told me that my monthly interest is {$170.00} and some change. I was told in XX/XX/XXXX, that in order to apply an overage payments to the principle that I needed to " allocate '' the percentage of the overpayment to be applied to the principle. So, for my XXXX payment, I did just that. I payed {$200.00} and allocated the overage of {$30.00} to my principle. To my dismay, the only amount of money they put towards my principle was {$4.00}. When I asked XXXX why, she said because I had to meet the interest first. But, I did. All {$170.00} for the month. She could not explain to me why the interest suddenly became {$190.00} for XXXX ... I then talked to a manager by the name of XXXX that had to put me on hold numerous times to be able to give me a solid number for the amount of money that I needed to pay each month to meet my interest obligation so that I would know how much extra I needed to pay to hit the principle. Her final answer was {$180.00} per month as of XX/XX/XXXX because it changes everyday according to her!! And that even if pay more than that, the overage goes towards " paying ahead ''. AND, that IF I am to pay extra, I have to do it on the due date. Because if I pay at any other time ( even a day after the due date ), that payment will go towards the next payment due NO MATTER WHAT I TELL THEM IT IS FOR. I then requested to have monthly statements mailed to my home. I found out that they do not mail out statements to customers. ( if I request something about my account from a bank they should be required to hand this over to me to show what I've paid into this ). I also requested an amortization schedule for my account and was told that they do not do that either. I researched online on XXXX and noticed that Great Lakes is doing this same thing to so many people. I truly feel like they are scamming customers and stealing money by lying about the interest and then NOT allowing the customers to apply any over paid monies to the principle balances. With a daily interest accruing on the accounts, how is anyone every going to pay off an ever growing loan? This is something that needs to be reviewed and investigated. I will be continuing to push this and will not stop until this company has been outed for what they are doing to people ( ESPECIALLY PEOPLE THAT DID NOT CHOOSE TO HAVE THEM ). I am currently working on finding a lender that is not a crook and actually works like a legit banking/lending service provider that is transparent with their services. I have kept all of my emails to Great Lakes asking them for explanations and reasons for these issues as well as all of my requests for papers/statements on my account.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-22

Ft Belvoir, VA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I graduated from law school in XX/XX/XXXX. At the time, I had around $ 120k in student loans through XXXX, which was later bought out by Great Lakes. I began working for the Federal Government in XX/XX/XXXX, with the understanding that loans would be forgiven in 10 years because my employment fell under the PSLF program. I was told my loans qualified by XXXX/Great Lakes. It wasn't until early XXXX I realized my loans were not properly consolidated as Direct loans, at which time I consolidated my loans and began making payments under IBR. The loans were serviced by multiple contractors ( including at least XXXX and XXXX ). In XXXX my loans were transferred to XXXX for loan servicing. I asked for an accounting in XX/XX/XXXX so I knew how many payments I have left to make. To date, XXXX has refused to provide that information, despite repeated phone calls every 4-6 weeks ( every time I call they say " it'll be another 4-6 weeks '' ). According to their website, I have only made 24 qualifying payments!!! So, 1 ) I was lied to initially that my loans qualified by XXXX./Great Lakes ; and 2 ) XXXX can not or will not provide an accounting of the payments I made through Federal loan contractors through the years.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-18

Norfolk, VA

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Private student loan

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I had my loans through GreatLakes.org initially. It has recently transferred to XXXX. It's been 10 years since graduation and I have been paying faithfully every month. At no time was I told about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program by my lenders and they never mentioned consolidation of my loans until I phoned and asked. About 5 years ago, I tried to apply for PSLFP with Great Lakes and was told I did not qualify. They did not offer to consolidate my loans of inform me of any of the terms of the program. I thought it was a scam! Recently it came up in our office again and I reapplied and got my application forms filled out by my employer and sent to XXXX XXXX. When I followed up with a phone call they told me I needed to consolidate and this would set the clock for 10 years from now! I am nearly finished paying my loans, but it would have been nice to have that information 10 years ago when I graduated. Hope this helps.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-17

Ft Myers, FL

Incorrect information on your report

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

Old information reappears or never goes away
Complaint: Great Lakes student loans 3 x XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX loans old old please remove from report trying on obtaining a home loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-17

Ft Myers, FL

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: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-17

Bloomington, MN

Struggling to repay your loan

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-16

OK

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-11

Plymouth, FL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: My complaint that I submitted earlier on XX/XX/2018 on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was NOT A DUPLICATE, CFPB! If a human actually reads these complaints, then you should've SEEN that! I submitted that complaint in reference to the INCOMPLETE INFORMATION THEY SENT TO ME. Please reference the complaint ID in the 'fair resolution ' section! They sent me documents that DID NOT REFERENCE THEIR COMPANY as " proof '' that I have a loan with them! I never signed a consumer agreement with them -- and they must provide a scanned copy of the original consumer contract WITH THEM ( not a copy ; in its original form ), bearing my actual signature. If they can not DO that, then they must delete the account ( s ) reporting on my credit reports. Nor did they verify or validate the addresses in the documents as 'mine ' and provide the method of verification for everything. I requested this from the beginning and did not get this EITHER. IN ADDITION, they sent me bills, statements, and itemized lists of disbursements, all of which DO NOT qualify as proof that an account belongs to a consumer! CFPB, you are being complicit in their negligence. If this continues to be denied, then I will see to it that YOU all get reported to the institutions who have control over YOU. This is NOT right!
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-11

AR

Communication tactics

Debt collection: Federal student loan debt

You told them to stop contacting you, but they keep trying
Complaint: GREATLAKES AND XXXX KEEP CALLING MY CELL FOR XXXX & XXXX, SKIP TRACING FOR THEM. PLEASE FURNISH ME ALL YOUR NUMBERS USED TO CALL ME SO I CAN BLOCK NUMBERS ON MY CELL PHONE.
Company Response: Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-09

TN

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX Contact Information ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX Great Lakes XXXX is double charging me on interest and the total amount of {$8100.00} consolidated loan Consolidation Loans U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Balance {$8100.00} In repayment This loan was consolidated already on XX/XX/XXXX with Consolidation Loans U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Balance {$62000.00} In repayment I have contacted this loan servicer and discussed the issue of them not paying off and ( continuing to charge me interest ) the {$8100.00} that is already included in the {$62000.00} consolidated loan. They explained to me that this was a computer glitch and they would clear it up by XX/XX/XXXX. They are very aware on their system not showing this already paid off consolidated loan. They have left the balance of {$8100.00} on my account with a payment date due on XX/XX/XXXX and this balance is already included with the {$62000.00} loan. They Great Lakes refuse to take off or show that the {$8100.00} loan is paid in full within the {$62000.00} loan. Therefore, this loan servicer is double charging me for the consolidated paid off loan and will not remove or show that this smaller loan is paid in full. They assured me that this issue would cleared up because of their known computer glitch system that affect many of their customers. This loan servicer is also not updating and reporting my account to the credit bureaus correctly. I recently took out a another student loan in XX/XX/XXXX U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Stafford Loans EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Balance {$6700.00}. This loan is not what I am making a complaint about it is this loan ( Consolidation Loans U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Balance {$8100.00} In repayment ) In school until XX/XX/XXXX These are the correct balances before the XX/XX/XXXX consolidation. This does not include the new XX/XX/XXXX2018 Stafford loan. Overview Balance {$54000.00} Highest Balance {$55000.00} Monthly payment {$0.00} Opened XX/XX/XXXX ( 7 yrs, 3 mos ) Overview Balance {$8100.00} Highest Balance {$6600.00} Monthly payment {$0.00} Opened XX/XX/XXXX ( 6 yrs, 7 mos )
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-08

Hinsdale, IL

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: My student loan servicer, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, is not acting ethically in the way my extra loan payments are allocated. They have mandated that my payment is due on the last day of my " billing period '' each month. As a result, there is only one day, out of each and every month, that I can make an extra payment and have it applied directly to the loan token/loan number, of my choosing. As an example, my payment is due on the XXXX of the month, which they have determined to be the last day of my billing period. If I schedule an extra payment any time after that, they tell me I have not yet met my payment for the " new billing cycle. '' They take that extra payment and break it up across all my loans ( which is allowing them to take my monthly payment 29 days in advance and still making sure they are controlling where my money goes. ) As a result, any time before or after my payment is due ( XXXX of the month ) they control where it is applied. They have refused to change my billing payment period or my payment due date.I can not be the only student frustrated with this process. Student loan debt is out of control due to heavy handed tactics such as this. I have spoken to Great Lakes representatives numerous times and they always insist that this is their policy with EFT ( Electronic Funds Transfer. ) I do not want to change out of EFT because of the additional incentive they provide, that is a reduced/discounted interest rate for those signed up for EFT.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-05

CT

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I have a consolidated student loan ( U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Balance {$250000.00} ) serviced by Great Lakes, that was under an Income-Driven Repayment Plan. I use auto-payments, have never missed a payment and have always re-certified when notified to do so, on time. However, this year, Great Lakes failed to meet their federal requirement as a loan servicer to notify me of a recertification deadline approaching and send me an application and instructions regarding documentation. I did not receive an email notification, or a letter in the mail, or any other correspondence regarding this. Further, there is nothing about recertification in the message center on Great Lakes ' customer portal, despite all other important notifications being located there. As a result, I missed a recertification date of XX/XX/XXXX. I only became aware that the deadline passed when I logged into the website XX/XX/XXXX because I had my own personal reminder to check on recertification status in XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX was the date of my first payment after recertification and my understanding is that recertification occurred every 12 months, not 11. I had no way of knowing that my recertification application was actually due on XX/XX/XXXX, and was never notified of the approaching date, or that I was late. When I realized I needed to re-certify, I immediately completed an application on that day, XX/XX/XXXX. I received a notification via email from Great Lakes that my application was received on XX/XX/XXXX. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email notification from Great Lakes that unpaid accrued interest had been capitalized, added to my loan principal, resulting in a nearly {$60000.00} increase in my principal. Upon receipt of this email, I called Great Lakes Customer Service and spoke to a " supervisor '' - XXXX - at extension XXXX. She alleged that a notification to re-certify was sent on XX/XX/XXXX, that it was the only notification that they send, 99 days prior to the date of recertification. Aside from being incredibly unethical and questionable in terms of motivations to only send one notification 99 days ahead of a recertification deadline, I never received this notification. I contend it was never actually sent. I maintain a record of all important emails from my servicer, with special attention to recertification applications. I can produce these as needed. When I asked for her to provide me with proof it was sent, she could not do so. When I asked her why things like tax form notifications and other important notifications were in my customer portal message center ( see attached ), but this alleged notification to re-certify does not appear there, she did not have an answer. She repeated to me that she could not do anything because the " capitalization is a federal requirement. '' As an attorney and borrower, I feel that my rights are being violated by this servicer. I requested a review of my account and loan be taken immediately, pursuant to the guidelines established for disputes in these matters. She informed me that she would " call me back in a few days once it is reviewed. '' I requested that the results of this review be put in writing, and she did not respond to this request.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2018-10-04

Medina, NY

Dealing with your lender or servicer

Student loan: Federal student loan servicing

Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: I XXXX from XXXX College in Maryland ( now XXXX University ) in XXXX and from University at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX. I have a loan from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) that has been serviced by Great Lakes since at least XX/XX/XXXX. I am in a standard repayment plan, with monthly payments of {$350.00}. Over the years, I have diligently made extra payments on the loan in an effort to repay it earlier. Great Lakes never gave me the option of applying 100 % of those extra payments to the principal of the loan in order to reduce the principal and thus the amount of interest being charged. Instead, even while I made the automatic monthly payment of {$350.00}, they applied a portion of each extra payment to principal and a portion to interest, considering me to have " paid ahead '' on the loan. I did not wish to " pay ahead '' but to reduce the principal beyond the amount that the monthly payment did in order to make headway on repayment. Finally I took advantage of the fact that I am paid ahead to XXXX, and I stopped monthly payments sometime within the past year due to some income issues in my family. I started making monthly payments again this month, but now the amount of interest outstanding is over {$1000.00}, and all of the repayments are applied to that interest amount first. Great Lakes practices seem out of step with normal loan servicing practices and hurt consumers like myself who are simply trying to rid themselves of student loan debt burdens. I am not able to provide my account history. Great Lakes only provides statements for the past year, and since I was not making payments, there is little information available to me. I would be happy to work on reconstructing the history based upon my bank account and other records, but it would take some time and effort.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation

Timely Response