GREAT LAKES
Consumer Complaints
There are over 1568 complaints on file for GREAT LAKES. Dated between 2019-12-12 and 2012-03-26.
Complaints Page 32
2017-10-19
AZ
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't temporarily delay making payments
Complaint: I graduated with my XXXX in XXXX. Because of the rigorous nature of the program, I had to take out loans both for tuition, but also for medical supplies and living costs. Because of this my debt is now over $ XXXX. I am on the XXXX plan and because of my low first-year salary as a resident ( $ XXXX ) my current payments are {$0.00}. However, given the nature of the XXXX plan, I will have to pay taxes on the remaining balance, which means I will have to make a monthly payment plus put a certain amount of money away each month in order to pay that tax burden in XXXX. This amounts to {$1200.00} a month for the next 20 years. When I get my raise next year for my second year of residency ( $ XXXX ), this amounts to 24 % of my income which is not ideal nor sustainable. My repayment plan is as ideal as it can get for my situation ; refinancing is not an option because I need the reassurance that I will only have to pay a fixed amount of my income should my financial situation change drastically for any reason. My school is not doing due diligence to lower tuition and other costs to assure that students are able to pay back loans and succeed in their field.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-18
Tampa, FL
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
2017-10-17
Atlanta, GA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: My Subsidized loan from XXXX bank is serviced by XXXX XXXX XXXX and recently transferred to Great Lakes.
My interest rate with XXXX was 1.25 % with incentive program utilizing direct draft with on time payments for XXXX years. My loan was transferred to Great lakes without notification from XXXX by email or by letter correspondence. When I spoke to XXXX they told me they did not have any way of verifying a letter was sent.
Because my direct draft was not set up with Great lakes upon transfer I was unaware I was missing payments until I was 3 months late. Great lakes has now removed my incentive and my current interest rate is 2.87 % because of delinquent payment.
Once I realized what happened I contacted Great lakes and made payment in full and set up direct draft. However I was told that I was no longer able to receive any incentive and my interest rate will stay at the higher rate.
I feel this is considered student loan consumer fraud for service providers to transfer loans back and forth knowing that a few consumers will not recognize the direct draft is cancelled and allowing the new providers to charge a higher interest rate for failure to make payment. In my case more than double.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-17
Lewisville, TX
Incorrect information on your report
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Account status incorrect
Complaint: MY STUDENT LOANS IS WITH GREAT LAKES. IN THE YEAR XX/XX/XXXX, I MOVED FROM XXXX TO MISSOURI. I NOTIFY GREAT LAKES OF THE ADDRESS CHANGE AND I ALSO REQUEST DEFERRMENTS ( FINANCIAL HARDSHIP ). THEY SAID OVER THE PHONE, NO PROBLEM THEY WILL PUT THE ACCOUNT IN DEFERR. NOW THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHONE CALLS NOR THE DOCUMENTS THAT I HAD TO FAX. THEY HAVE MULTIPLE LATEPAYMENTS SHOWING 90,120,150 DAYS LATE. TOTALLING THE ENTIRE YEAR OF XX/XX/XXXX. UNDER THE FAIR CREDIT BILLING ACT, THEY MUST PROVIDE ME RIGHTS WHEN A CHANGE OF ADDRESS OCCUR. UNDER THE FCRA I HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISPUTE ANYTHING ON MY CREDIT REPORT FOR ACCURACY. SO I DISPUTED WITH THE CREDIT BUREAUS AND THEY SAID THE INFORMATION WAS ACCURATED, SO I DECIDED TO CALL THEM DIRECTLY AND THE LADY REFUSED TO FILE THE DISPUTE WHICH IS A VIOLATION OF THE FCRA. I TOLD HER IT WAS A VIOLATION, SO SHE SAID HOLD ON AND SHE CAME BACK ON THE PHONE AND SAID HAVE YOU MOVE, I SAID YES, SO SHE SAID ITS NOT OUR PROBLEM, AND TO LEARN HOW TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-16
Southern Pnes, NC
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Private student loan
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
2017-10-16
PA
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Complaint: No matter how many payments I make in addition to the extra I give them each month my balance does n't move. They say that the extra will be applied to the principle but it is n't. It 's a rip off! I had a hardship and needed to reduce my payments but can not do so because it 's based solely on my income. They knew I could n't afford to pay this loan when they approved me for it. Just like the mortgage companies with the preditory lending. These loans are designed to keep us in this long term repayment system!! I 've tried to pay but can not and they refuse to work with me in getting some type of payment each month.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-16
Fort Myers, FL
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
2017-10-14
OH
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: In XXXX, when the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX program started, I called Great Lakes and asked if my loan consolidation qualified for this program. I explained that i was employed in XXXX XXXX since XXXX and wanted to be sure I was eligible for this forgiveness program in 10 years when I could apply for it. I was assured that I was definitely qualified that all I needed to do to qualify was to have a consolidation, which they informed me that I had the consolidation done in XXXX and that I would be fine and able to qualify for the forgiveness. At some point XXXX acquired my student loans. This year in XXXX, I applied for the public service student loan forgiveness as I made my payments on time every month for the past ten years and remained in full time public service. I promptly received a letter telling me that my loan consolidation did not qualify for this public service forgiveness. I am thoroughly enraged about this and believe I was misinformed by Great Lakes about the type of consolidation and eligibility for the public service forgiveness. Now, I have another five years to pay on this loan or more to have it paid off.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-13
Bedford, TX
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
Complaint: I consolidated all of my student loans with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX services my new loan. They are still reporting a previous default loan that is over 7 years old. The credit bureau can not remove it, and XXXX sent me a letter accusing me of fraud when I disputed the age of the negative mark on my report. The information is a duplicate as of now, because I have a new loan not in default because of consolidation and the information they are reporting on my previous default is from 11 years ago and per the statute of limitations on student loan reporting once the loan is sold the delinquent information can only remain on my report for 7-10 years.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-13
Phoenix, AZ
Attempts to collect debt not owed
Debt collection: Private student loan debt
Debt was paid
Complaint: This is a complaint from XXXX XXXX ( consumer ) against Great Lakes for XXXX XXXX failure to provide requested information for the debt. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, consumer ( through legal counsel ) responded with a written request for documentation, as this debt was included in a consolidation by XXXX.
It has been nearly a month and a half since this request, and we have received no response. In addition, Great Lakes has began attempting to collect this debt via a third party debt collector since the date of the letter. Creditor 's failure to respond to a consumer 's good faith request for documentation makes it impossible for the consumer to make an informed decision regarding the debt alleged. This is a violation of USC 1692, and other federal acts which require lenders and debt collectors to act in good faith and refrain from unfair deceptive or abusive acts.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-13
CA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: On XXXX XXXX, 2017, I signed in to my Great Lakes account to make a payment for the month of XXXX. Because it was after XXXX XXXX, my account had fallen " past due. '' I made a payment for the full amount owed for that month ( which was just under {$500.00} ) and my account still remained " past due. '' It did not have any information supporting that a payment was made and was being processed. Instead, it said " please make a payment for your past due account. '' I decided to wait until the following day to see if my account status changed. The next day, the website still said " your account is past due, please make a payment. '' I checked with my bank and no charge was initiated or pending, so I believed the first payment had not gone through. The website should have stated " payment processing, '' or " payment received, '' or anything to indicate that, while the account may still be in a past due status, a payment for XXXX was no longer owed as this one was being processed. Instead, it was misleading and asking for an XXXX payment. As such, I made a second payment of almost {$500.00} for XXXX, only to realize days later that both payments went through. Great Lakes stated that I would need to wait a week for the payment to fully process and then could request a refund, which would take about 45 days. I believe their website is intentionally set up that way to mislead people into making additional payments when they are not necessary. I feel cheated out of an additional {$500.00} that I had not budgeted for this month. Great Lakes made no acknowledgment of the unreliableness of their website and I do not believe they will make any changes to make their payment collection more simple and less misleading for those who are trying to pay back their loans. I logged back in today, two days later, and my account still says I owe a payment for XXXX.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-12
Cleveland, OH
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
2017-10-09
Rochester, WA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: My student loan is through Great Lakes. I had been struggling with making payments. Last month I used their online repayment program explorer. I selected " explore my repayment options ''. It clearly states that for a payment of {$520.00} I would have the loan paid off within 70 months. I called to set this up and was then told that it would be payment of {$850.00} a month if I wanted to pay it off in 70 months. I explained I was looking at my account and it clearly stated {$520.00}. I was told this was not accurate. I have since then looked at my account to explore repayment options and it still states this amount. I have attached screenshots from my account.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-09
PA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Complaint: I 've been receiving calls from : XXXX XXXX XXXX https : //XXXX Direct Line : ( XXXX ) XXXX Fax : ( XXXX ) XXXX Processing Dept : XXXXXXXXXXXX Customer Service : XXXXXXXXXXXX Customer Service : ( XXXX ) XXXX She attempted 4 times to reset my FSA ID and requested me to give her my password and login information, when I told her I felt uncomfortable giving this information, she said " I have no desire to steal your identity '' ...
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-07
Winton, CA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-05
United States Military Acade, NY
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2017-10-05
Cochituate, MA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-04
Santa Ysabel, CA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: Several loans should have been discharged due to my total and permanent XXXX courtesy of The Department of EdXXXX. However, they are still active and open many reporting incorrect payment account histories that have been disputed.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-10-03
Fairgrounds, LA
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
2017-10-03
Houston, TX
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
2017-10-03
Avondale, AZ
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
2017-09-29
KY
Communication tactics
Debt collection: I do not know
You told them to stop contacting you, but they keep trying
Complaint: I have been getting repeated calls from callers saying they are with XXXX XXXX for YEARS. I used an app on my phone to block the calls, but I switched to a new phone and now they are coming in. Every day they call, 3-6 times per day. For years I never picked up because the calls were blocked by the app, but they would leave messages saying they were from XXXX XXXX.
I finally picked up this week. I told them that I did n't have any past due debt. They told me they were collecting for a debt owed to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, but the person on the phone would not give me any more details about the debt. I checked my Great Lakes account and called them, and both online and on the phone they confirmed that my student loan debt was paid off years ago and there are no problems. I asked the person on the phone to stop calling and sent XXXX a cease and desist letter. I have of course never received any written information about the debt and they would n't give me any details on the phone.
Company Response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error Closed with explanation
2017-09-27
Grosse Ile, MI
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: I have submitted an application for Income Based Repayment plan ( twice now along with mine and my husband 's W2 's ( current year ) and my paystubs ). Great Lakes now has XXXX applications, XXXX paystubs and a copy of mine and my husband 's W2 's. I have received confirmation that these faxes have successfully been transmitted. Yet Great Lakes continues to send me emails saying they can not process my Income Based Repayment plan because they still need mine and my husband 's W2 's and paystubs. I have done everything on my part to ensure Great lakes has received my documentation. I 'm unsure as to why my Income Based Repayment plan is not yet processed?
Great Lakes XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, WI XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-09-26
Black Hawk, CO
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-09-26
Tarzana, CA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Bank checks issued payable to Department of Education to fully pay off my parent loans with Great Lakes.
XX/XX/XXXX- U.S . Postal Tracking confirmation that the checks were received by the Department Of Education ( XXXX.XXXX XXXX, XXXX, GA XXXX ).
XXXX Both checks were cashed on this date.
TO THIS DATEXX/XX/XXXX my account has not been updated with the payoff payments I have made.
Been speaking with XXXX, supervisor at Great Lakes and she advised me that the checks were sent to XXXX in error.
How did that happen if the Payoff Statements downloaded from Great Lakes website were attached with the checks mailed.
The checks were issued to the Department of Education and referenced to Great Lakes.
How long will it take Great Lakes to rectify the situation?
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation