All of my seven loans have been on IBR for two years (since 2013), and I’ve had $0 monthly payments during that time due to my low income. In fall 2015, I submitted my annual income verification. Although FedLoan continued to qualify five of my loans on $0 IBR, it mistakenly put two loans on standard repayment and billed me ~$200 due 1/6/16 (two days from now!). I’ve called several times over the last month, and they always assure me it is a mistake and is being taken care of. I finally received updated repayment terms a couple days ago with all my loans at the corrected $0 amount. HOWEVER, the updated repayment terms don’t kick in until February 2016, meaning my ~$200 bill due 1/6/16 remains unaffected.

Do I bite the bullet and pay the $200 January bill and enjoy $0 payments for the remainder of 2016? That bill is due to a clerical error, which they’ve admitted several times. Do I let my account slide into delinquency while I try yet again to ask them to correct the error? Do I pay the $200 to avoid delinquency and then fight for reimbursement?

THANK YOU!

They are sloppy, aren’t they? They added loans to my consolidation which I never authorized and it took nearly a year to fix. What they SHOULD have done is place your account in an administrative forbearance until the issue was resolved. Administrative forbearance does not capitalize interest one it is over and does not count towards the maximum amount of forbearance a you are allowed to take. I’d keep calling to get them to do that.they don’t report delinquency until I think 90days past the due date, but still I’d try to get it fixed asap. Ask to speak to a supervisor if you are getting nowhere

hart47 - 04 January 2016 12:32 PM

They are sloppy, aren’t they? They added loans to my consolidation which I never authorized and it took nearly a year to fix. What they SHOULD have done is place your account in an administrative forbearance until the issue was resolved. Administrative forbearance does not capitalize interest one it is over and does not count towards the maximum amount of forbearance a you are allowed to take. I’d keep calling to get them to do that.they don’t report delinquency until I think 90days past the due date, but still I’d try to get it fixed asap. Ask to speak to a supervisor if you are getting nowhere

Thanks for the advice. Today, 1/6/15, is the due date for my bill. I’ve called a few times over the last few days and have been told twice to NOT pay the bill. Apparently my complaint has been sent to Treasury Management (“top end management,” the operator clarified) and will be put on administrative forbearance while they sort it out. It sounds so simple and easy every time I call, but I’ve been let down a couple times already and am nervous that something won’t get processed correctly. I’ve been told that I have a 15-day wiggle room to pay my bill to still get it to qualify as an “on-time payment.” My hope is that they correct their mistake before that 15-day window closes. If not, I might just bite the bullet and pay? It’s also good to know that I have 90 days before they report delinquency.

Administrative forbearances are applied in 30-day increments, I think, and you cannot make a qualifying payment when it’s in an administrative forbearance, even if your payment is $0. If you are planning a $0 payment and want it to count, I’d call back and ask to speak to a supervisor to let them know you want a $0 payment to count for this month. If they have to take you off the forbearance to do so, then so be it, but don’t settle until you get a resolution. It’s their fault and you shouldn’t be delayed a month from making a qualifying payment, as a month will add interest… You are right not to trust them. With my situation, at one point I was showing a double balance for one of my loans, as one was outside the consolidation, and the same loan had been erroneously added to the consolidation. I was told a PSLF payment towards the consolidation should count for the loan that was outside of it because technically they were the same loan, but the PSLF people didn’t see it that way and didn’t count my payment. Infuriating!

I wanted to follow up on my post. I’m happy to report that, as of today, my problem is finally sorted out! The two loans have been put on the correct IBR plan like the other ones and the ~$200 outstanding balance is now zero. My advice to people experiencing repeated frustrations with FedLoan Servicing is to call and ask for a supervisor. Although the normal operators have always been friendly and helpful (most of the time), my conversations with supervisors seemed to have really moved the process along. I think they’re able to cut through the bureaucracy a bit better. Sometimes the system DOES work :) Big thanks to FedLoan Servicing and to you, hart47!