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 49
2016-11-15
CO
Can't repay my loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't decrease my monthly payments
Complaint: I borrowed money in the form of " Parent Plus '' loans through the Federal government and Great Lakes for my son 's college tuition since the school said he did not qualify for loans based on his own merit. After graduating five years later, my son ( technically I ) had accumulated over XXXX in loans and interest spread out among XXXX different " government backed '' lenders who all wanted separate payments or I could consolidate the loans on an income based plan which would be a smaller payment my son would have to make through me since he still did not qualify to hold the loans himself. Maybe in the fine print somewhere on page XXXX of the novel of a loan agreement it said that the loan would no longer be a true school loan with all the low interest benefits, but I did not know that at the time of refinancing. Now we are paying 8 percent interest on a modified government backed loan. How is that justifiable morally. The price of his education at the Colorado XXXX XXXX XXXX did n't yield an income representative of the hugely inflated cost he is paying and to add insult to injury, my lower income makes it impossible for me to refinance the loan with a lower interest rate.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-14
Tucson, AZ
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-14
MO
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Complaint: Great Lake, the loan servicer, for Acct ID XXXX, has been charging and expecting interest payments for a Parent Plus Loan they I have that is for a daughter the is in her XXXX year of college.
It was my understanding that with this loan, I would not be REQUIRED to make payments until my daughter was SIX MONTHS out of college.
My credit report has been attached with Late Payment mis-information because of this.
My husband had the same issue/problem with Fed Loan Servicing, but they finally backed off and issued a deferment.
This issue needs to be clarified and corrected.
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MO. XXXX ID # XXXX
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-13
Irmo, SC
Can't repay my loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get flexible payment options
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-11
Federal Way, WA
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Having problems with customer service
Complaint: I had XXXX different loans under XXXX different accounts through Great Lakes. My beginning balance was {$26000.00} over those XXXX loans. I recently consolidated the XXXX accounts for ease of convenience in paying them off, and to adjust my interest rate. By doing so, my credit score took a XXXX point hit through XXXX. My loans are now being reported with a beginning balance of {$21000.00}, not reflecting the almost {$5000.00} I 've already paid down on them. My installment balances are now calculating at XXXX % of the loaned amount instead of giving me credit for paying down XXXX % of my loans. I believe they should still report the beginning balance as {$26000.00} instead of my current balance.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-11
Astrodome, TX
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with fees charged
Complaint: Based on information provided by XXXX I sought to seek enrollment as a fulltime student at the XXXX university to pursue a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Based on expected cost & information provided states tuition & fees ARE NOT billed at the cost per credit hour of {$600.00}. In addition, pre-generated predatory loans with XXXX though Great Lakes Borrowing based on Truth in Lending Act includes fees for the school application of which was previously settled months prior to enrollment. Total amount billed with Great Lakes include Cost of course/ fees for classes I as a student never enrolled, gained education, or scheduled.
Transcripts of prior courses were provided and approved by the institution before enrollment for credit adjustment to decrease original loan amount for cost of transferrable credit. While enrolled as a Full-Time student all Department of Education Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and Scholarships were applied to Tuition. It was advised if I wish to obtain additional funding for expected living/outside expenses private loans were required, as additional funds received by University would deflate institutional awarded scholarship that is non-cash redeemable.
With intensive recruiting by agent XXXX XXXX, there was an urgency to begin classes sooner than expected as all documents were secured with appropriate departments. Special structure of program allows access to classes taken online until arrival at the XXXX. After speaking with several other students who were not aware of the process it was determined many students originally failed the online introductory XXXX credit hour course, which is designed for campus resulting in {$1800.00} pay to retake fee.
Lack of independent accounting practice as done by XXXX and XXXX XXXX, has afforded XXXX to negatively impact student & parent consumers credit with students who are billed {$45000.00} for courses and a negligence to mention approximately {$17000.00} unmet need with Department of Education as expectation of private loans by parent plus or cosigner are to meet student living arrangements.
After addressing wishes to suspend having loans billed as I would not be attending classes XXXX XXXX continuously billed Great Lakes from XXXX with out approval.
XXXX XXXX, XXXX I received an email stating XXXX XXXX University reconciled records to determine a XXXX Refund Check was due in the amount of {$1.00} from loans disbursed to the University by Department of Education from Fiscal Year of XXXX for expected associate cost of obtaining a education while attending classes XXXX hours a day 6 days a week.
Many students ' graduates and those who were forced to withdraw due to lack of XXXX XXXX funding are stuck with the burden of poor quality education, un-transferrable courses and erroneous loans unable to make payment or obtain gainful employment.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-10
Knoxville, AR
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with fees charged
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-08
Addisleigh Park, NY
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Non-federal student loan
Don't agree with fees charged
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-08
WI
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: I have XXXX loans through Great Lakes that are in repayment, aquired while a student at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WI. I have been making regular payments on the XXXX of each month for a number of years. On XX/XX/XXXX I made an extra payment online. The website clearly stated that after regular payments are made I can specify funds minus outstanding interest to be allocated how I specified. However on XX/XX/XXXX when I logged in to my account I see that the extra payment was divided between my XXXX loans. I called the service representative who told me that the " billing cycle '' starts the day after the regular payment is made and any payments after that day are applied as regular payments first, then the remaining amount it applied as an extra payment. She informed she could not change how my payment was applied. I requested to speak to a supervisor, which I did. The supervisor again reiterated that their policy is that the " billing cycle '' starts the day after the regular payment is scheduled and any payments made after that day are applied as regular payments first, applied to both loans, then any remainder is applied as an extra payment. Despite my insistence that my regular payment was not due for several more days and so the extra payment should be applied as such she informed that their policy had change recently to reflect the current " billing cycle '' policy. She informed me " no one can change the policy '' or change how my payment was applied. She also stated she had received multiple complaints regarding this policy.
I would like to note I am aware that extra payments are applied to interest first. I am not disputing that the funds were applied to interest, but also applied to principal of the other loan.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-04
MN
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Complaint: Great Lakes received my certified letter XXXX/XXXX/2016 requesting the following information according to the FDCPA 807 [ 15 USC 1962e ] a contractual evidence bearing my signature AND marking my account dispute with the credit bureau. As of XXXX/XXXX/2016 Great Lake has not provided any proof or markings on my credit report.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-03
Manitowoc, WI
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-03
Palmerton, PA
Can't repay my loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get flexible payment options
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Shirleysburg, PA
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with fees charged
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Corona, NY
Can't repay my loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't decrease my monthly payments
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Sm, KS
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: I made a payment on the due date of my loan. For some reason, there was a technical issue with the company 's website which caused my payment to not go through. Instead of notifying me within 2-3 days of my missed payment, Great Lakes strategically waited until the XXXX of the next month to notify me, causing me a late fee on purpose. They should be required to notify you within 2 days if you miss a payment. This was caused by their system error, not me forgetting to make a payment.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Woodland, WA
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: I believe my consolidation loans have been manipulated to the benefit of the banks by approximately {$20000.00} over the life of the loan, contrary to what I would have agreed to.
I consolidated my loans XX/XX/XXXX. Originally serviced by XXXX XXXX XXXX, now Great Lakes. I honestly do n't know what the exact terms of the loan were at the time, I am trying to obtain documents but keep getting denied. I 'm guessing I would have set-up a 15 maybe 20 year loan. I started paying as soon as I could, I always paid as much if not more than they asked of me, but what I did n't realize is that I was barely covering interest each month : from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX an average of about {$65.00} towards principal vs {$300.00} interest. Using the interest rate and the payments I was being charged the duration of the loan would have been over 27 years. When Great Lakes bought the loan in XX/XX/XXXX they did n't change anything and in fact the first XXXX payments had a grand total of {$22.00} applied towards interest. XX/XX/XXXX I had a late payment ( my wife forgot to pay ) and at that point someone from Great Lakes contacted me and told me that my loan " would n't ever get paid off at that rate. '' I was just so shocked I said yes, change it and even made double payment the following month. At that point they structured the loan right at 20 years. This leads me to think that my original agreement would have been at 20 years.
So, more than 5 years into the loan I 've only paid down the principal by {$4300.00} ( excluding {$800.00} in extra payments I 've made since XX/XX/XXXX ). A simple loan calculator shows that a 20 year loan with these interest rates and no extra payments should have {$9700.00} of principal paid. Seems like this situation should be illegal ... I would n't have agreed to it and Great Lakes would have continued to benefit at my expense had I not decided to double check their work.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Jupiter, FL
Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Debt collection: I do not know
Debt is not mine
Complaint: I have received several calls and letters from the debt collection company Great Lakes. They have failed to state who the original creditor is but insists that I will be subject to wage garnishment. I received a letter from them stating that if I do not set up a payment plan with them then wage garnishment will happen by XXXX XXXX, 2016 The letter they sent says the amount owed but it does not state the reason or the company it came from. Great lakes is not listed on my credit report so I do n't why they are bothering me.
Company Response: Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding Closed with explanation
2016-11-02
Ivalee, AL
Can't repay my loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't decrease my monthly payments
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-11-01
Main Office, VA
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with fees charged
Complaint: I have a Parent PLUS Loans with XXXX DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION XXXX XXXX ) that is being serviced by Great Lakes Borrower Services. In XX/XX/XXXX I filed for XXXX XXXX Bankruptcy in XXXX Florida after my divorce. The terms of the bankruptcy were to repay all debt at 100 % of principal. Great Lakes filed a claim with the court {$17000.00}. The loan principal however was {$14000.00}. The bankruptcy court assumed that the amount the company claimed was the amount I owed to pay off the debt. As a result, Great Lakes was paid {$3400.00} more than what they should have been paid under the terms of the bankruptcy. My bankruptcy ended this past summer and all debts were fully XXXX by the courts in XX/XX/XXXX. Now Great Lakes is saying I still owe them {$2100.00} for interest on a loan that was paid off in bankruptcy and paid more than the terms of my bankruptcy agreement with the court. I contacted Great Lakes and they said student loans can not be XXXX in bankruptcy BUT this is a parent direct loan, they filed a claim with the courts and were paid more than what they should have been paid under the terms of the bankruptcy. I have contact my bankruptcy attorney and they are trying to understand what Great Lakes did before they can do anything. What Great Lakes is doing is trying to collect on debt that was XXXX by the courts and it is called XXXX
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-31
Eldorado, WI
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with fees charged
Complaint: I applied for XXXX loan forgiveness two years ago and was denied. I was upset and let it be for awhile. This summer ( two years later ) I looked back into XXXX loan forgiveness and called the loan provider. We figured out that I was denied because of a misspelling of my schools name on the XXXX XXXX. My loan provider told me to reapply with the misspelled name and about a month later I was granted XXXX loan forgiveness! So I, myself, did indeed meet the criteria to have my loans forgiven two years ago. I have been trying to get reimbursed for the two years I was wrongfully paying. The loan provider did a ombudsmen report and says they will not reimburse me.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-29
Harsens Is, MI
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: My daughter was attending the XXXX XXXX XXXX but they were closing there doors and only offering online classes to students for them to finish off in order to receive their degrees. We were not informed about the situation when she first started there. They then told us that she could transfer to the XXXX campus seeing as she would have difficulty with the online courses with her XXXX which are documented and were turned in. I informed them that she had doctors appointments and testing that needed to be done for her medications and asked if the following semester would be better. They told me no that it would be fine for her to start that semester it would be no problem at all. As it turns out, they said she missed to much time and kicked her out. they advised us that she could n't come back until she paid for that semester in which was already paid by fasfa and direct plus. We have talked the companies that hold the but nothing has been done so far and they keep wanting us to make payments. She has had to enroll at another college in order to continue her education that works with her XXXX, but her pell and other grants have been reduced due to all of this and XXXX was giving her classes that she was n't prepared for due to requisites not being followed or classes she did n't need. I feel that we should n't be penalized for the time she spent at XXXX.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-29
Soquel, CA
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: I had explored debt consolidation options from Great Lakes, according to them, XX/XX/2016. What I did n't know was that it triggered an automatic forebearance that kicked in for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. That meant that my automatic payments of {$660.00} were not payed for those two months, that no payment was made at all, and when it expired a recalculation to my account was made that dropped my automatic payments to {$160.00} and I actually saw my debt increase by {$220.00} due to the accrued interest. ( Debt XX/XX/2016 = XXXX, XX/XX/2016 = {$14000.00} ) I never even completed the process for the consolidation, as I was just doing research to investigate the process. I have no record of any notification of this forebearance and the impending recalculation. Compounding the issue was that these changes took place just as my XXXX email had expired since I had graduated a year prior, which they had as my primary contact. It would have helped for them to have a backup email, or to understand the school policies regarding emails, as this ca n't be a unique issue. When I spoke to them on the phone they said it was n't their fault and that there was nothing they could do about my accrued interest during the forebearance.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-28
MD
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Complaint: I have a federal Stafford student loan srevised by Great Lakes. I have the loan set up on auto pay and I have never missed a payment or been late for a payment. The online dashboard for my account shows me the amount I pay every month, how much I have left to pay ( principle and interest ) and my when I will be done paying off my loan. I have not changed payment plans or done anything that would change the last date of my payment. The site has consistently listed my last payment as XX/XX/2019, less than three years from now. I recently actually tually looked at the numbers on my remaining loan, the amount I pay every month and the last scheduled payment according to XXXX XXXX and something was off. Based on my calculations, I would still owe money on my loan after XX/XX/2019 So I called Great Lakes to get clarification. I talked to a customer service rep and he initially was very dismissive of my concern and assured me the last scheduled payment date was correct ( XX/XX/2019 ). I insisted that he listen to the breakdown of my math, at which point he put me on hold ( twice ). He came back on the line and confirmed it seemed wrong and that he would have to make a report and it would take time to get clarity. I asked when my last payment would actually be a difficult he said : " I do n't know. '' I explained that I had relied on the information they had given me as my loan servicing company to budget for major life decisions, that I had actually thought it would be possible to speed up paying off the loan when I thought that it had less than three years left on it. I got married this summer, and we are trying to plan our financial future including when to buy a house and when we can start a family. We had made calculations and goals and time lines for all of those things based on the false information Great Lakes had given me about when I would be done paying my loan. He basically said he did n't know what to tell me. I asked if Great Lakes would honor my last payment being on XX/XX/XXXX since it was their fault they had given me false information and he said no I 'd have to pay the loan even if they gave me wrong information upon which I relied to make material financial decisions. I asked to talk to a supervisor. The supervisor I talked to also seemed annoyed and dismissive. She said she did not know whether the last several scheduled payment date was correct and that it would take at least three to five business days to know. I asked how such a big mistake could happen, she said she did n't know know and that it was just a mistake. I asked whether mistakes like this were happening on a systemic level and expressed concern for others, even more financially vulnerable than myself, that relied on information like when they would be done paying their loan to plan out their financial lives only to learn they were planning in vein because they would have to pay the loan for years longer than what they had planned for. I am a responsible borrower and I have upheld my end with paying back my loan. How can a business whose job it is to service loans provide false information upon which borrowers rely and have no Consequences? Is this even legal? I think Great Lakes should be liable for any money still owed after what they told me was my last payment date. How can they get away with giving consumers false information upon which they relied to make financial and life Decisions? Where is the recourse?
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-28
VT
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about my loan
Complaint: I am currently out of work due to a XXXX and am trying to find ways to manage my debt. I decided to consolidate my loans through Great Lakes to lower my interest rate and also get my loans into a federal program in hopes of one day taking advantage of the service loan repayment program. On XXXX XXXX I received my XXXX Consolidation Summary from Great Lakes. The summary states my new interest rate would be 6.5 %, this was a weighted interest rate from all XXXX of my loans, however my loans through XXXX were at a much lower rate. Therefore, I sent them an email inquiring about leaving out my XXXX loans because I was getting a 3.75 % interest rate with them. They responded saying they did n't see a loan with that interest rate. I later found out that it is listed as 4.75 % through XXXX and the 1 % decrease is an incentive that XXXX offers for paying on time three years in a row. When I learned of this I contacted Great Lakes on XXXX via phone and spoke with someone regarding this interest rate and if they would honor this reduced interest rate. I was told to have XXXX send them the information and they would look it over. I then specifically asked if I should cancel this consolidation application until we got this information figured out. I was told that we had enough time, until the XXXX of XXXX. I then said, " Okay, because if the reduced interest rate is not honored I plan on leaving my XXXX loans out of the consolidation ''. I contacted XXXX the same day XXXX and they said they would send them documentation of my 3.75 % interest rate. I received a letter from XXXX two days later with what I believed to be a copy of the letter they sent Great Lakes. I then received an email on XXXX at XXXX am stating my loans had been consolidated through Great Lakes. I looked to see if they had reduced my interest rate and they had not. I had never signed anything or been made aware that they were going through with my consolidation. I called XXXX XXXX at XXXX and spoke with a gentleman who told me there was nothing they could do at this point and that it was not their responsibility to get in touch with me. I was very emotional. Not only are my student loans a huge financial burden, but now they had become a much larger one and I felt like I was tricked into this. With XXXX I felt I could trust them and they had my best interest in mind, and so far my experience with Great Lakes I feel taken advantage of and there " was nothing they could do about it ''. From there I contacted a supervisor by the name of XXXX at Great Lakes at XXXX and was told they had never received anything from XXXX and that because I never said to go ahead and cancel the application that there was nothing they could do about it. I stated that I was told I had enough time for them to review the updated information from XXXX and provide me with a new loan summary or make me aware that they would not honor the lower interest rate. I believed that I would have another opportunity to look over my consolidation before they went ahead and finalized. Again, I never signed anything. I told her my next step was to contact the Attorney General 's office for the State of Vermont. She said she would contact her manager and see if there was anyway to cancel the consolidation and she would email me, but that she believed there was nothing they could do. I then contacted XXXX and was made aware that they had sent me the only letter instead of Great Lakes and they apologized for any misunderstanding and were very helpful. I then contacted the Attorney generals office who referred me to the Dept of Financial Regulations who has referred me to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. At this point I am extremely frustrated that this could happen and hope it can be resolved, a 3.75 % increase is nothing I would sign up for.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2016-10-26
ME
Dealing with my lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are handled
Complaint: XXXX of my student loans was recently transferred to a different lender. The previous lender was XXXX and the new lender is Great Lakes XXXX XXXX XXXX. I did not receive a bill ( or any other correspondence ) from Great Lakes after the transfer. I tracked them down on my own after not receiving any bills for a couple months. They tell me they did not have any current contact information for me, and that is why I did not receive a bill. XXXX had a current mailing address, phone number and email address for me on file. Great Lakes wants to charge me a {$5.00} late fee because I missed one month 's payment. I refuse to pay it.
This is the second time that XXXX of my student loans has 'fallen through the cracks ' when one lender bought the loan from another. In the previous instance the late payments were reported to the credit bureaus, negatively impacting my credit rating.
Perhaps I 'm being cynical, but I wonder whether these lenders WANT borrowers to fail to pay so they make money on fees.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation