U.S. Department of Education
Reviews and Complaints

I totally agree. So now I guess Department of Educations has you sign a wavier that if you accept money from them, that you can not sue them. Basically they can screw you and there is no recourse. Congress needs to put an end to this!

DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY MONEY ... EVER.

In addition, if you choose to contact the Ombudsman group, be sure to get a hold of Joyce DeMoss and mention the following name,

ALBERT LORD. Mr Lord is a 66 year old executive who just in the past 5 years has paid himself 50 Million dollars in compensation while having provided no services or even having completed any work.

If the purpose of an "Ombudsman's" Office is to provide some independent oversight or at least a disinterested party in this process, I would think Ms. DeMoss first order of business would be an investigation into how and why the Federal Government's name and the Department of Education have been paying an individual such extravagant amounts of compensation.

Oh and by the way, Sallie Mae, directly states on their website that they are not in any way shape or form associated with the United States Government but yet all indications are that they are providing a service which is backed by the "FEDERAL" government hence the name Federal Student aid.

Basically the entire scam is one large ponzi scheme where a make believe bank makes up make believe contracts on make believe notes, pays it's executives large amounts of compensation and then makes believe they either do or do not exist and they either have or have not actually paid out these monies into executives bank accounts which has then been used to amass large fortunes and amounts of property.

In short, the entire system is one of the largest bank scams ever perpetrated on the American Public. It puts Madoff to shame.

Zero Accountability, no ability to research the issues at hand, no contractual responsibility, no CONSIDERATION for having entered into any supposed "contract".

Blatant invasion of privacy and harassment. Double Speak like you wouldn't believe.

One sided documents that have absolutely no valid legal effect due to the fact that they are not "Agreements" and are for the most part entered into by parties under Duress.

A complete joke. Don't give these folks or anybody associated with them a nickel and MAKE SURE in the upcoming election you express to the powers that be that you want every single one of these charlatans out of a job.

TIME TO GET OFF THE GRID PEOPLE.
...START DELETING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET...PEOPLE ARE MAKING MONEY OFF YOUR NAME AND INFORMATION. THIS IS HOW THE BOTTOM FEEDERS FIND OUT ABOUT YOU.

1. STOP ORDERING PIZZA FROM YOUR CELL PHONE...YES THEY SELL THAT NUMBER TO INFORMATION PROVIDERS WITH YOUR CELL NUMBER AN ADDRESS THANKS TO YOUR LOCAL PIZZA COMPANY. JUST STOP BY AND GET IT YOURSELF. WE NEED TO STOP BEING LAZY.
2. GET OFF THE SOCIAL SITES THEY ARE CREEPING ON THERE TO FIND OUT STUFF ABOUT YOUR LIFE. "BIG BROTHER" ORSON WELLS WAS RIGHT...ITS COMING TO THAT.
3. ON THE SOCIAL SITE THEY ARE STEALING YOUR PICTURES TOO. RIGHT CLICK THE PHOTO AND IT WILL TELL YOU WHEN, WHERE YOU TOOK THE PICTURE. THEN GOOLE THAT WITH THE GRID LOCATION...NOW THAT IS SCARY STUFF.
4. FOR EVERY HOUR I SPENT ON THE INTERNET, I TAKE ONE DAY DURING THE WEEK TO GOOGLE MY NAME AND SEND EVERYONE WHO HAS MY NAME ON IT TO OPT OUT AND DELETE. THIS WILL TAKE TIME BUT I DID IT ALL. I STILL DO IT ONCE A WEEK BEFORE IT GETS INTO THE ICCP WEB CRAWLER. WHICH TAKES 30 DAYS TO GET IT OUT OF THE INTERNET. ALSO PEOPLE ARE MAKING MONEY TO DO JUST THAT. SOME ONE ALWAYS COMES UP WITH A PETTER MOUSE TRAP.
5. USE A POST OFFICE ADDRESS THEY ARE CHEAP TO HAVE AND THAT WAY STOP PUTTING YOUR ADDRESS ON THE INTERNET. THIS IS ALL IN THE NAME OF "PERSONAL SECUTIY AND PROTECTION" IF UNCLE SAM CAN USE IT WHY CAN'T WE. ITS CALLED USE OF DOMAIN...XXXX.

Also:

Send a letter to Equifax, Transunion and TRW, Experian...they will not get off there lazy butt to send them a request for documents to prove you made or signed any documents for loan conslidation. DL took this upon there self. NEVER GIVE THEM AN ACCOUNT NUMBER. ADVICE: CLOSE OUT THE BANK ACCOUNT YOU GAVE THEM AND SEND THEM MONEY ORDERS THE OLD FASHION WAY. THEY CANNOT PROVE ANY LOAN DOCUMENTS YOU GAVE THEM NO MATTER HOW LONG AGO THE LOAN WAS TAKEN OUT. THE BOTTM FEEDERS JUST HAVE THE ACCOUNTS THEY BIDDED ON TO GET THE 5 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR FOR THE STUDENT LOAN ACCOUNT. YES IT IS THERE JOB TO KEEP YOU PAYNING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE ON THE STUDENT LOAN, DOUBLE CHARGE AND ALSO MAKE DOUBLE NOTATION IN THE CREDIT FILE FOR THE SAME LOAN, , , , , , , MAKING IT APPEAR YOU HAVE 100, 000 IN OUT STANDING LOANS. GOOD LUCK WITH A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JOB.

SEND COMPLAINT AND LETS STOP THE ABUSE

Joyce DeMoss serves as the Ombudsman for Federal Student Aid (FSA) at the U.S. Department of Education. Joyce returned to Federal Student Aid after 6 years in the Office of the Ombudsman at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including 5 years as the TSA Ombudsman where she served the needs of the agency’s 60, 000 employees. Joyce was one of the original members of the FSA Ombudsman Group from its earliest days when she helped set up the Group, and served as its first Associate Ombudsman. She has a broad background in the federally-guaranteed and Direct Loan programs, working in loan servicing operations, guaranty agency compliance, and servicing contractor oversight. Her experience working in an external-facing Ombudsman office at FSA, and as an internal (employee-focused) Ombudsman at TSA means Joyce is well-versed in providing a neutral, independent, data-driven voice on behalf of the recipients of an agency’s services. She is also an active member of ombudsman professional groups, including the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and the Coalition of Federal Ombudsman (CoFO).

The Ombudsman Group was established on September 30, 1999, with a highly skilled team of Ombudsman Case Management Specialists charged with the responsibility to assist in resolving complaints from individuals who bring federal student aid disputes to the attention of the Ombudsman. Although the primary office location is Washington, D.C, case specialists also operate out of remote locations in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas. Additionally, a special team of Federal employees in the Chicago Service Center assists with cases brought to the Ombudsman Group. The Ombudsman Group addresses individual complaints in coordination with institutions of higher education, lenders, guaranty agencies, loan servicing agencies and other participants in the federal student aid programs. Although the Ombudsman Group keeps a record of all complaints, inquiries are sometimes referred to groups outside the Ombudsman Group to better assist in getting a proper response for the specific situation. Further, the Ombudsman Group relies on the expertise of designated agency ombudsmen to facilitate individual problem resolution and identify trends that suggest how program or operational changes can prevent recurring problems.

Run far & fast from this company. Warn your friends, families, & random strangers on the street. I tried to include 2 additional loans into my already-existing consolidation with them; I didn't know they weren't eligible. Instead of stopping there, informing me of that & keeping my account as-is, they RE-CONSOLIDATED MY CONSOLIDATION. They included my already consolidated loans into the consolidation. Don't understand? Yeah, me either. I asked them to reverse the process & they threw Terms & Conditions in my face, saying they don't do that. I filed 2 BBB claims - they never responded to either. An ombudsman is working on the case now - they don't get back to her either. My monthly payment has went up by $50 a month & I'm essentially paying the same loans twice. I told them that must be illegal & the guy said "probably, but you signed away all rights to suing us when you entered into a contract." I'm basically stuck, miserable & in even more debt then when I started out. Not to mention, their interest rates are outrageous! Customer service is the pits too. STAY AWAY!

Dear borrowers,
Do not get suckered into the "public service loan forgiveness" mess. I was misled by a rep on the phone that I was under the standard repayment plan that qualifies for this forgiveness. I was not. Then to find that im only eligble for two repayment plans that are qualify for forgiveness. Guess what? both plans have giant monthly payments that go up with my income and end up paying off the loan before ten years! catch 22. there is NO forgiveness for public servants. Its a gimmick scam!

I am currectly in the process of trying to find someone to talk to at Direct Loans, but "no managers are available."
Like others, I received a letter on Monday telling me that my application was approved. When I looked at my original application this morning, the interest rate went from 4.875 to 5.125 and the payment about 6 bucks higher. The interest rate turned me off so I called to tell them I wasn't intereseted. Well, the letter was dated 10/8/10 so the last day I could have called was Monday...the day I received the letter. I plan on putting a call into my lawyer to see if there is anything they could do, but I doubt it. A class action lawsuit is probably what needs to happen in order to get their attention. I am really thinking of taking this on because the government should not be taking advatage of taxpayers this way and I have some time on my hands. With that said, I have been doing some research on starting this suit and the main thing is numbers. You gotta have a lot of people complaining. If you would like to get involved and show your support. Please send me a quick email at belizeanskeewee@gmail.com.

Recently the Department of Education bought two of the three loans I had from Wells Fargo. One was a subsidized loan and the other was an unsubsidized loan. You can imagine they already messed it up by lumping both loans together on my statement and charging interest on both loans.

I have an E-mail into the Dept of Ed to see why this was done and how to fix the account and the interest that has been charged since I am currently in school and should not be paying interest on the subsidized loan.

These are the problems we get when government gets involved in what should be done by the private sector! I will not be authorizing automatic payments as they have already shown me they can mess up simple stuff such as basic record keeping.

I received a letter from Direct Loans stating they were going to start taking approximately $90 out of my account starting in August because I signed up for some type of electronic draft. Only thing is my student loans have been paid in full for over 3 months and I never had a loan with them. The letter had my name and address on it. When I called the 800 number on the back, they asked for my social security number and then said it was not in their system. They asked if there was an account number on the letter. There was a 9 digit account number with only the last 4 digits and the rest x's. I gave them the number and they said that was the social, which I said it was not. They then verified my name and address again and said that was all they needed and told me to send the letter back to them so they could figure out who it was for!?!

Obviously there has been some type of data breach, massive data corruption or these guys are good social engineers. I'm still not sure which...

It's a nightmare. Same thing happen to my. I paid off my first 2 student loans each for $1, 250 i got over 25 years ago, My 2nd student loan, I worked for the county, and they paid thor 4 off, we'll 2 amd I paid the other 2, shortly after I graduated from nursing school. 6 years later my credit report was so low when I was going thru a messy divorce, and tried to refinance and pull money out to pa my bum ex husband off. Ended up losing my home, cause i was unable to pull out equity because of my credit, due to paid off loans. Leaving my 3 sons and I homeless. During this time I thought maybe I missed a loan, and I paid one off, again. Few months ago I found my orifinal promissary notes, loan documents, in old tax papers. And have the proof, and evidence that 4 of these loans are in fact, as I been telling them all along are not mine. Not only are they seizing money from me to pay off someone else's student loans, I just found out they also took the 2 loans from my first student loan I paid off over 25 years ago, i dont know who, but someone and I'm almost certain it was AES/PHEAA, reaged and sold them in May 1995, to Direct Loans who defaulted them June 6, 1999. And in 2010 AES/PHEAA included my first 2 loans i paid off, with 3 other loans that arent even mine, and somehow consolidated-them and sold them quickly to DIRECT loans. So my first 2 loans for $5, 000 total I paid off, and other 4 loan's total, $10, 500 (my 2nd loans totalled 6, 500, so not even my loans) and today after they have seized over $12, 700 from me, not counting the first $5k i paid 325 years ago paying off my 1st student loans, these 8 loans are 2 loans, total Balance $15, 500, after $12, 000 paid, plus $5, 000 so after $17, 000 paid/seized from me the Balance owed is over $20, 000.

And we all are reading how the federal government is suing themselves, aka federal trade commission suing us dept of education, unable to solve anything, what hope do any of us have to resolve ours?!?! If one department of federal government can't even agree with another department of the federal government?!

You people are out of your.minds.they pay us by the call. So we have to hurry to make money or we get fired. And most of the questios you ask is ###ed and stipid. Listen to what we say anx then wewould not have to repeat ourselves. Also dont call us and yell and scream and cuss ts us or we will hang up on you.You people need to underatand we talk to hundreds of people witht the same stupid questions...yet no one ever says thank you. All anyone does is complain even when its your fault. Dont yell at me because you too out a loan and cant pay for it. Grow up people. Im doing my job and all you can do is complain. Act like college educated people for a change not whinny cry baby brats.

I realized activities reported by Equifax about changes in my accounts of Direct Loans. Then I reviwed the federal student loan's online page and realized I owed nothing, the full amount I owed was paid last month. I have not idea what is happening. I remember last month I asked for information at www.studentloanconsolidation.com, but I never signed any agreemet.
Has anyone had any situation like that? what should I do?

Hi back in the 80's i took out a loan and now it is paid off in full and i spoke to someone and they said to me that if i didn't graduate i should not have to pay it back but i had all ready started paying it back so i contacted direct loan to ask for my refund and they gave me the run around saying that US FUNDS had my money so i contacted them law and behold they didn't have me in there system although i gave them my social security # NOTHING THERE FOR ME I CONTACTED DIRECT LOAN AGAIN AND NOW THEY SAID GO TO NEL-NET-SALLIE MAE NOTHING IN NEITHER PLACE NOW I CONTACTEDTHE TREASURY DEPARTMENT NOTHING SO I CALLED BACK TO DL AND THE REP SAID TO ME THAT I NEEDED A TRACKING # IN ORDER TO GET WHAT IS MINE THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE LAST YEAR OF 2011 SO CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHERE AND THE HELL IS MY MONEY BECAUSE I NEED IT NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

PSA Re: Direct Loans. They are an abysmal, incompetent bureaucracy that engages in regular acts of what may be (and at least what should be considered) consumer fraud. I have been assigned a federal case worker who now follows all my actions with them, I submit all correspondences through my Congressman's office, need delivery confirmation for all my postal mailings to them, make duplicate copies of everything, and have a call into the Attorney General's office as well as a major national newspaper because:

1.) Without any changes reported by me and without my annual proof of income being overdue, they arbitrarily increased my monthly income-based repayments without any justification or explanation to date. My payment amount was supposed to be permanent unless income change was reported. Not a single person at Direct Loans, including supervisors, could tell how the new number was calculated or why.

2.) Before this, they claimed to have "never received" ANY of 6 (that's right, SIX) successive communications from me all sent via different routes - fax, website, and postal mail. One of these was income-based documentation in October 2011 that should have actually decreased my payments. Their lack of "receiving" my income decrease forms allowed them to keep collecting payments from me that were at least double what they should have been under my new income. I gave up after the six failed communications for various matters and was still paying my same amount until recently when they increased my payment, demanded the annual update and claimed I was about to be overdue for my income reporting (see below.)

3.) In August 2011, Direct Loans sent me a letter with all my account and contact info on it, claiming I was overdue for sending in my "Income Contingent Repayment" income info. I was NOT and HAVE NEVER been on Income Contingent Repayment, only Income Based, which is a completely different repayment plan. When I called and asked, a rep told me it was entirely a system error that I was not due to send in Income Based documentation either - mine was completely up to date for another 5 months. 4-5 months later, when I called to check on it again, another rep told me it was "way overdue" and I should have updated it "back in 2009." Keep in mind, I didn't even have a Direct Loans Consolidation account until Feb. 2011 (which required sending in all the income-based documentation at that time in order to have the income-based repayment I've had since consolidating).

3.) Last year's consolidation debacle: multiple Direct Loans employees told me my Health Professions loans were left out of my consolidation without prior notification because they were "not eligible." They were listed right on the Direct Loan Consolidation website as being eligible. When I alerted them to this, they still insisted those loans could not be consolidated, without any explanation for what was written on their website. I called and fought with 17+ people over the course of three months, including supervisors and people in the Dept of Education, before I finally got one random rep that said, "Of course they're eligible." (Her name was Iris, I will never forget her, and she apparently had more brain power than all other reps there combined. She was the only effective one I ever got, and I've dealt with dozens of them by now.) My consolidation then had to be re-done.

4.) Right before that, Direct Loans kept claiming they "never received" payoff amounts from one of my original lenders, even though that lender had it documented in my record that they had sent it weeks earlier. They ended up sending it 3 (that's right, three) MORE times (including by fax) before Direct Loans finally claimed to receive it. The lender who kept having to re-send told me they had this same problem with Direct Loans (and only Direct Loans) very frequently. Because of this delay and the giant Health Professions error, my consolidation didn't go through until February 28, 2011 even though I submitted the complete application on Dec. 15, 2010. I would have saved literally thousands of dollars over those three months, had the application been processed without multiple errors.

5.) I did a (what could be simpler?) online update of my changed bank account # on the Direct Loans website in November 2011. The changed info showed up under myedaccount online instantly. But... a month later, no automatic debit occurred and I was consequently "late" on my payment. They insisted that "no one else" had reported ANY problems with their website and that I must not have signed the electronic promissory note, even though I knew I had...they recommended I repeat the online request. I did. A month later, again, nothing was debited. Direct Loans at that point claimed a.) it takes 45 days to process ( no process time I could find was ever listed on their website) and they WERE having problems with the website. A different rep that same day told me it takes 2 days to process. Both were apparently wrong anyway..."Processing" a simple updated bank account number took literally almost three months...my original submission was on Nov. 19, 2011 and the first automatic debit from that account occurred on Feb. 21, 2012.

5.) Just recently, on January 22, 2011, I got a letter from Direct Loans stating that if my income-based repayment documentation (the one I sent and they "never received" over three months prior in October 2011) was not "RECEIVED" within 30 days of the date of their letter, my account would revert to a standard (non-income based) repayment plan that would literally quadruple my monthly payments. Within about 2 weeks of receiving this, and after much consulting with the Congressman's office, I RE-SENT the forms via postal mail, and faxed 3 copies (one through the Congressman's office, one to a specific supervisor at Direct Loans, and one to their general fax as listed on the forms). A couple days later (which was still almost 2 weeks before the "deadline"), they claimed they HAD indeed received it. HOWEVER, a rep told me because it would likely take more than 2 weeks to "PROCESS" (note: NOT the same as "RECEIVED", which is what their letter stated), I might still get booted to the standard plan with the $2000+/month payments. I'm still waiting to see what happens, as it is completely out of my hands. And all the nasty, horrible rep told me snidely was "Well, I'm sorry you don't like the way our letter is worded." WOW.

6.) In general, through all of these INSANE DEBACLES, I've had "customer service" reps that were either a.) complete airheads ("Oh, really? Hmmmmmm, that's soooo weeeeird. I have NO idea why that happened...it might be because ) OR they've been downright obnoxious and nasty, INSISTING the problems are somehow (inexplicably, of course) my fault and taking no accountability for their over-the-top screw-ups. Iris was literally the only exception.

MORAL OF STORY: if Direct Loans gives you trouble, don't think twice about filing complaints against them. If enough people do it, maybe something will change. But it's beyond pathetic how they operate now...even the Congressman's office told me they are "at a loss" when it comes to Direct Loans. The worst part is that they're not just causing inconvenience and headaches. They are literally jerking the strings and impacting people's finances and lives with their ineptitude and misdeals. It is completely wrong.

I have just begun my nightmare with the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. I have made a total of 4 payments: October, November, December 2011, and January 2012. All have been applied to my account properly except my December 2011 payment. I mailed my December 2011 payment on December 16, 2011, the US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION cashed it (electronically - through Wells Fargo) on December 19, 2011 and cleared my bank account on December 20, 2011 but... has yet to be applied to my account through the US Department of Education! I called and spoke with several customer service representatives and two managers. All of them have different stories, or should I say excuses! They admitted to having my money (payment) but they just can't seem to apply it to my account. I am wondering if they applied it to the wrong account and just can't find their mistake or are they just out to sabotage my credit? All of them apologize and tried telling me it won't be held against me and it won't effect my credit. I think they are full of ###! One of the customer service representatives tried to talk me into forbearance on my account. Are you kidding me? This is not my problem...it is their problem! I have worked very hard and have excellent credit. I am not about to let this company ruin my credit! Get your act together US DEPARMENT OF EDUCATION! I will not let this rest! I am starting with my state representative. Any other advice?

For some reason the department of treasury sent direct loans a payment that was actually supposed to go to ACS. Coincidently there was another account holder with the same name as me so they felt they should apply the payment to his account! Since then, or (9Months later) I have spoken to countless reps, 6 supervisors, 2 managers and the GM but I am definitely not getting anywhere. They say the only way they can contact the accounting department is with email, and they cannot contact them directly. Now I know they are full of crap but does anyone have any advice?

I am going through similar situation with Department of Education. Attended school over 20 yrs ago. Received 1 ($4, 000.00) student loan and paid it off. School assured me they will reactivate my Vietnam ERA G.I. Bil to offset loan and espenses. Later dropped to part time and worked for Norfolk & Southern RailRoad and American Red Cross who reimbursed the school. Conclusion: 20 years later Department of Education says I owe $23, 000.00. They have seized my tax refund of $10, 000.00. What a mess. Agencies spread across country who are contacting me which I think it is set up that way so we cannot ever resolve the matter. Pls, if this type of situation is happening to you contact me (zmoses@comcast.net). I am writing 100 letters per month, posted Youtube and sent every agency a link so they could view how they destroy people's lives. If you need help with Department of Education's addresses pls contact me, have them all. I have found it a waste of time to deal with collection agencies the Department of Education hires. Go straight to the source DOE.

I've just recently gone through Direct Loan to consolidate my loans I had serviced through Great Lakes (who are amazing and I'm looking into moving my consolidated loan back to them!). I got confirmation that they had received the information from GLs and my loan information and what payments would be, etc. The document from Direct Loan said that when my loan was paid off to Great Lakes and consolidation complete I would receive information on what my loan payments would be and when they would be due. I never received this, nor any emails or phone calls. But yesterday I got a statement saying I was one month late and owed them the previous months payment and the next month. I double checked all of the notices I've received in the mail, the emails Great Lakes sent me with their end of the process (they have such great customer service, I wish I hadn't left them...) and I never received my final billing/payment information. I am afraid of my loans defaulting and therefore eliminating me from qualifying for the re-payment scheme if I ever get a job that offers it. So far, my relationship with Direct Loans has started off rocky, and I'm afraid this is just a glimpse of what the next 20 years will be them.

Agree with these complaints. In exchange for the money to pay off my loan in a lump sum, I committed the rest of my life to a thankless unpaid servitude. That is how much I took responsibility for my debt. The lump sum was huge and I sent it to ConServe in NY after they assured me they contacted US Dept of Ed to get a final payoff for ALL my loans. That amount by the way is hidden on the US Direct Loan website, The people at ConServe made it seem very official by connecting me with various ever-higher levels of supervisors. The final supervisor over Ms. Holmes assured me I would owe nothing more to the US Direct Loan or Dept. Of Education. A year after paying the debt i got a notice from ACT saying my payoff didn't pay the entire debt to US Direct Loan. They don't realize they have killed me. Persons with good, honest intentions are being hood-winked.

My information was compromised and signed contract was made that was clearly brown please see attach file.

Last month (the first month back to repayment) my payment was 72.36, I paid it early. This month my payment is now 92.80. I tried to call and their wait was very long, so I tried to get a call back which was offered, but they said it was not available at this time. I would like an answer how my payment goes up 20 dollars in a month.