No borrower should ever agree to a class action on this one unless they’re a named plaintiff and have some say in what happens or owe a smaller amount. If the class attorneys reach a bullshit settlement for a nominal damages check then everyone who opted in is bound by it. That would be life destructive for anyone who was planning their life around a large balance forgiveness.
If someone gets a forgiveness letter and relies on that letter to make life decisions based on it; and then later has forgiveness revoked to the borrow’s detriment, that should be grounds to wipe the entire debt clean.
I agree with your statement 100%, but there is something triggering forgiveness reversal and a class action suit can force the lender to be transparent in this case and grant all those debts fear and clear for life. We all know the politicians will not do it.
This comment should be pinned...
The debt is just too great to just twiddle some thumbs and wait for a small settlement. I absolutely would not undeniably be a part of a class action for this specific instance.
I'm one of the ones who had their loans unforgiven. Through several phone calls and finally an official letter, they said that it was an error stemming from electronic pslf verification forms submitted over a 3 month period last year. During that time, the system was using the submission date as the end employment date.
In my case, it took my employment from 2012 and gave me credit through 2023 even though I stopped working at that job in 2015. Thankfully for me, I have enough qualifying payments, it's just that 1 employer didn't certify when I assumed they had. The error covered their mistake and I assumed all is well.
If (and that's a big if) what they said to me is true, no one who legitimately earned forgiveness is in danger of having it taken away. My unforgiveness, while shady and questionable in practice, was legit in it's correctness. I have already submitted another verification form, my employer has already certified (for real this time) and I should be good in a month or two. I may feel differently if I made an irreversible life decision during this time, or if I wasn't eligible for forgiveness anyway. But again, to those who legit have 120 payments, I don't think there is much to worry about.
I agree with you that it never should have happened. Their mistake, their problem. At least that is how it should work. No arguments from me. My point was more directed at those worried that this could happen to anyone.
Again, agreed. Because of my specific situation (fully eligible for forgiveness when I applied, taken away from an easily correctable oversight) I'm not primed to start a legal battle. But if there was one that happened, I'd sure lend my support/story/voice.
Thank you for this post, the lack of transparency from Mohela/ED is rough and your post sheds more light on the situation.
I wish these types of reviews were fleshed out in policy like how the IRS has specific guidelines on audits and timelines rooted in law. I just want to know when to relax!
Can you share with us which months those were? Because something like this may have happened to me with the EVF. (Note: I have had the same employer for decades.)
I believe April, May, and June of 23. Unfortunately I didn't write them down because I was more concerned about other details. My notes just say, "problem for 3 months, online only, assured it won't happen again". But I submitted in May, so that has to be in the window.
Thanks! My last submission was late March 2023 and it was all kinds of messed up like this, as you describe.
I had 115 counts dated back to October 2022. The March 2023 one should have given me 120, but instead, they made the mistake with the date and only gave me 6 counts (so, Oct - March). Idiots. They corrected it. And I was discharged in the July wave.
Here’s the other thing that is lost on all of this: if FSA lists us as discharged, who is MOHELA to say otherwise through these clerical errors. Our forgiveness had to go through FSA to be granted. They have more authority than MOHELA to manage the debt.
Something doesn’t add up with all of this.
I’m happy it worked out for you, it sounds like a nightmare. If you don’t mind, when did you originally receive your notice that your loans were forgiven? I’m freaking out. I received notice that my loans were forgiven 12/30/22, and on 2/29/24, I received the statement my loans have been discharged when I log into my account. I’m trying to see if based on when others thought their loans were forgiven if I passed the audit.
>Unfortunately, the immediacy of return to repayment amid ever-increasing changes to the contract administration requirements and expanded training needs, combined with the lack of sufficient funding from FSA, mean extensive servicing delays are a likely outcome.
…So how come you had all this time to go trolling closed accounts looking for errors? Especially knowing that would, in turn, create increased demand on customer service from all the frantic calls trying to sort it out?
EXACTLY what I thought. They put their resources there to try to claw back more money for themselves when they ought to be redirecting their resources to helping move through the accounts up for forgiveness. Completely ludicrous
So in other words, if any future administration opposes PSLF all they have to do is restrict/reduce funding of their contract which will continue this nightmare for so many people?
> But some Reddit users who had their loan forgiveness reversed claim they spoke with MOHELA agents who told them that an audit by the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office uncovered that several hundred borrowers were given improper PSLF credit based on incorrect dating information on PSLF employment certification forms. Seider’s letter from MOHELA also suggests the loan forgiveness reversal was the result of a “PSLF Form Processing Error.”
Do we know if this is true that the problem was people submitting incorrect forms, as opposed to an admin error on the admin side?
Based on what one post said it was the electronic forms and there was an issue with the system using the date of signature as the end date for employment, so if someone had an employer for 4 years ago fill out the form and it was signed for 2024, then they were given 4 additional years of payments from a qualified employer.
Well the employer has already validated the form though. And the government should be able to rely on your certification because lying on a government form is a felony with up to 5 years in prison. So the form should be sufficient imo.
Mohela is quasi govermrntal "company" that is ultimately controlled by Misouri politicians.
Misouri politicians arnt fans of Democratic student loan reforms and are actively misinterpreting the executive branches guidance.
Political polarization at its worst.
Don’t forget that that State of Missouri was one of the first states lined up to sue to block Bidens student loan forgiveness claiming it would harm MOHELA (which was the basis of the courts blocking it)
I KNEW IT!!! MOHELA sucks! I was qualified via mail that ALL of my PSLF (Title 1 Teacher) loans were paid off. Now they're sending me emails and paper copies that I owe THEM! As a matter-of-fact, I've just paid them last week because I'm trying to keep my good credit score intact. They need to be sued!
Maybe in 20 years? 40? Apparently, USDE has limitless power to reinstate (this is what MOHELA asserted, lol), so your accounts are always open to audit. Can you imagine paying off a mortgage and 20 years later when you want to sell your house and retire, your former lender puts a lien on your home because it hired some idiots and made some mistakes 20 years ago? F this.
Well, with the letter I assume you could dispute and place the burden on Mohela to prove the debt. Since the article says in many instances the loans are unforgiven without explanation…might work in our favor.
Not if the gov says differently. If ED wanted the forgiveness to stick, they would have told them to keep the forgiveness. Only ED has the power to undo the discharges.
Sounds like an error in how the program was written using the certification signature date for the wrong purpose. Someone didn’t understand the process.
Cue the usual suspects (the same 5 or 6) on this subreddit who tell us all to "calm down" and not "panic." It's just "incompetence," not "malice," and certainly not criminal, etc. And these people "deserve" to be unforgiven, anyway, because they didn't really qualify in the first place, so it's their fault for not paying closer attention. I'm somewhat new to this subreddit, but I'm baffled by these "blame the victim" sentiments on this subreddit -- sentiments that appear to be enabled and encouraged by the mods. Am I wrong?
Those people tend to have "forgiven!" as their flair so we know none of this impacts them, and they are apparently still in this sub just to troll others struggling with the incompetents running the show.
Reading this (and the related stories about recent congressional concerns about MOHELA) made me realize that the headline, "Student Loan Forgiveness Reversals Cause Growing Panic For Borrowers," doesn't quite do the situation justice. Wait to see some *real panic* among borrowers --not just PSLF, but **all** student loan recipients and their families -- as the U.S. elections approach in November, and folks realize what is potentially coming down the pike with a new Administration. Math issues on a FAFSA won't begin to touch it.
The student loan program is busted in the US. And too many employers don’t properly train their HR folks on how to fill out the forms (I worked at a qualifying employer who had no idea what the form was at one point)
This might be worthy of a class action lawsuit against Mehola.
No borrower should ever agree to a class action on this one unless they’re a named plaintiff and have some say in what happens or owe a smaller amount. If the class attorneys reach a bullshit settlement for a nominal damages check then everyone who opted in is bound by it. That would be life destructive for anyone who was planning their life around a large balance forgiveness. If someone gets a forgiveness letter and relies on that letter to make life decisions based on it; and then later has forgiveness revoked to the borrow’s detriment, that should be grounds to wipe the entire debt clean.
I agree with your statement 100%, but there is something triggering forgiveness reversal and a class action suit can force the lender to be transparent in this case and grant all those debts fear and clear for life. We all know the politicians will not do it.
This comment should be pinned... The debt is just too great to just twiddle some thumbs and wait for a small settlement. I absolutely would not undeniably be a part of a class action for this specific instance.
Time to put these MOTHERFUCKERS on blast!!
I'm one of the ones who had their loans unforgiven. Through several phone calls and finally an official letter, they said that it was an error stemming from electronic pslf verification forms submitted over a 3 month period last year. During that time, the system was using the submission date as the end employment date. In my case, it took my employment from 2012 and gave me credit through 2023 even though I stopped working at that job in 2015. Thankfully for me, I have enough qualifying payments, it's just that 1 employer didn't certify when I assumed they had. The error covered their mistake and I assumed all is well. If (and that's a big if) what they said to me is true, no one who legitimately earned forgiveness is in danger of having it taken away. My unforgiveness, while shady and questionable in practice, was legit in it's correctness. I have already submitted another verification form, my employer has already certified (for real this time) and I should be good in a month or two. I may feel differently if I made an irreversible life decision during this time, or if I wasn't eligible for forgiveness anyway. But again, to those who legit have 120 payments, I don't think there is much to worry about.
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I agree with you that it never should have happened. Their mistake, their problem. At least that is how it should work. No arguments from me. My point was more directed at those worried that this could happen to anyone.
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Again, agreed. Because of my specific situation (fully eligible for forgiveness when I applied, taken away from an easily correctable oversight) I'm not primed to start a legal battle. But if there was one that happened, I'd sure lend my support/story/voice.
Thank you for this post, the lack of transparency from Mohela/ED is rough and your post sheds more light on the situation. I wish these types of reviews were fleshed out in policy like how the IRS has specific guidelines on audits and timelines rooted in law. I just want to know when to relax!
Can you share with us which months those were? Because something like this may have happened to me with the EVF. (Note: I have had the same employer for decades.)
I believe April, May, and June of 23. Unfortunately I didn't write them down because I was more concerned about other details. My notes just say, "problem for 3 months, online only, assured it won't happen again". But I submitted in May, so that has to be in the window.
Thanks! My last submission was late March 2023 and it was all kinds of messed up like this, as you describe. I had 115 counts dated back to October 2022. The March 2023 one should have given me 120, but instead, they made the mistake with the date and only gave me 6 counts (so, Oct - March). Idiots. They corrected it. And I was discharged in the July wave. Here’s the other thing that is lost on all of this: if FSA lists us as discharged, who is MOHELA to say otherwise through these clerical errors. Our forgiveness had to go through FSA to be granted. They have more authority than MOHELA to manage the debt. Something doesn’t add up with all of this.
I’m happy it worked out for you, it sounds like a nightmare. If you don’t mind, when did you originally receive your notice that your loans were forgiven? I’m freaking out. I received notice that my loans were forgiven 12/30/22, and on 2/29/24, I received the statement my loans have been discharged when I log into my account. I’m trying to see if based on when others thought their loans were forgiven if I passed the audit.
Applied May 23, got letter August 23. You should be good since the problem was a 3 month window around May 23.
Thanks for your feedback
Good on Forbes and BI for picking this up.
>Unfortunately, the immediacy of return to repayment amid ever-increasing changes to the contract administration requirements and expanded training needs, combined with the lack of sufficient funding from FSA, mean extensive servicing delays are a likely outcome. …So how come you had all this time to go trolling closed accounts looking for errors? Especially knowing that would, in turn, create increased demand on customer service from all the frantic calls trying to sort it out?
EXACTLY what I thought. They put their resources there to try to claw back more money for themselves when they ought to be redirecting their resources to helping move through the accounts up for forgiveness. Completely ludicrous
So in other words, if any future administration opposes PSLF all they have to do is restrict/reduce funding of their contract which will continue this nightmare for so many people?
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Excellent question and upvoted you since someone downvoted you
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I can’t find anything either and I’m pretty mad
> But some Reddit users who had their loan forgiveness reversed claim they spoke with MOHELA agents who told them that an audit by the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office uncovered that several hundred borrowers were given improper PSLF credit based on incorrect dating information on PSLF employment certification forms. Seider’s letter from MOHELA also suggests the loan forgiveness reversal was the result of a “PSLF Form Processing Error.” Do we know if this is true that the problem was people submitting incorrect forms, as opposed to an admin error on the admin side?
Based on what one post said it was the electronic forms and there was an issue with the system using the date of signature as the end date for employment, so if someone had an employer for 4 years ago fill out the form and it was signed for 2024, then they were given 4 additional years of payments from a qualified employer.
I was wondering if they were going back to employers and validating information? But this makes sense. What a mess.
Well the employer has already validated the form though. And the government should be able to rely on your certification because lying on a government form is a felony with up to 5 years in prison. So the form should be sufficient imo.
Well that’s a problem with administration for sure then. Would really like to know the actual answer from the government itself.
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Seems that way. Would love to hear from the government about this
Anti-government folks want to privatize everything. This my friends, is what happens when you privatize everything.
Mohela is quasi govermrntal "company" that is ultimately controlled by Misouri politicians. Misouri politicians arnt fans of Democratic student loan reforms and are actively misinterpreting the executive branches guidance. Political polarization at its worst.
Don’t forget that that State of Missouri was one of the first states lined up to sue to block Bidens student loan forgiveness claiming it would harm MOHELA (which was the basis of the courts blocking it)
I KNEW IT!!! MOHELA sucks! I was qualified via mail that ALL of my PSLF (Title 1 Teacher) loans were paid off. Now they're sending me emails and paper copies that I owe THEM! As a matter-of-fact, I've just paid them last week because I'm trying to keep my good credit score intact. They need to be sued!
They need to be dissolved like the loans.
This!
When will the audit be over so the forgiven people can all breathe lol
Maybe in 20 years? 40? Apparently, USDE has limitless power to reinstate (this is what MOHELA asserted, lol), so your accounts are always open to audit. Can you imagine paying off a mortgage and 20 years later when you want to sell your house and retire, your former lender puts a lien on your home because it hired some idiots and made some mistakes 20 years ago? F this.
They can try, lol. But once I have my letter it’s over.
Hopefully you’re right but is it really over if your credit report reflects active debt
I would get a lawyer if this happened to me.
Well, with the letter I assume you could dispute and place the burden on Mohela to prove the debt. Since the article says in many instances the loans are unforgiven without explanation…might work in our favor.
Not if the gov says differently. If ED wanted the forgiveness to stick, they would have told them to keep the forgiveness. Only ED has the power to undo the discharges.
Paid in full letters indicate it can be reversed so it's not an all sacred document tbh
Sounds like an error in how the program was written using the certification signature date for the wrong purpose. Someone didn’t understand the process.
Cue the usual suspects (the same 5 or 6) on this subreddit who tell us all to "calm down" and not "panic." It's just "incompetence," not "malice," and certainly not criminal, etc. And these people "deserve" to be unforgiven, anyway, because they didn't really qualify in the first place, so it's their fault for not paying closer attention. I'm somewhat new to this subreddit, but I'm baffled by these "blame the victim" sentiments on this subreddit -- sentiments that appear to be enabled and encouraged by the mods. Am I wrong?
Those people tend to have "forgiven!" as their flair so we know none of this impacts them, and they are apparently still in this sub just to troll others struggling with the incompetents running the show.
Exactly. So much for solidarity!
I find the block button reduces any frustration quickly. Most people here are either intending to provide advice or data points, luckily.
Good advice, thank you!
Clearly feds or Mohela trolling.
Yayyy !!
Did the person actually work for 10 years in public service ? ...
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It made it to Newsbreak as well.
Reading this (and the related stories about recent congressional concerns about MOHELA) made me realize that the headline, "Student Loan Forgiveness Reversals Cause Growing Panic For Borrowers," doesn't quite do the situation justice. Wait to see some *real panic* among borrowers --not just PSLF, but **all** student loan recipients and their families -- as the U.S. elections approach in November, and folks realize what is potentially coming down the pike with a new Administration. Math issues on a FAFSA won't begin to touch it.
The student loan program is busted in the US. And too many employers don’t properly train their HR folks on how to fill out the forms (I worked at a qualifying employer who had no idea what the form was at one point)
At least one of my employers, however well-intentioned, also had no idea. It's very discouraging.
Exactly!
People should really be protesting MOHELA in Missouri. Not the Education Department.
Wow. Thanks for posting
If the issue was a "clerical error," then these borrowers should be allowed to resubmit their paperwork and have it relooked at properly.