Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation

Review: I am extremely aggravated because a few months back, I was told that my account was in deferment for a year due to bankruptcy. I received a call tonight saying my deferment was for only 60 days. When I was about to file for bankruptcy, my attorney passed away, and was appointed a new one per the state. However, the money that I paid my previous attorney is tied up in the state and it could be a few months before I can even file as my present attorney can't start filing until full payment has been received.

Now while telling the person on the phone about my bankruptcy, she passed me on to a bankruptcy specialist, and that specialist told me there is nothing they can do until I actually file, so I asked her so I was passed on to you for nothing? and her answer simply was yes. Now where do I go with this?Desired Settlement: I would like a deferment for another extended period of time

Business

Response:

May 16, 2014

Review: I filed a complaint on January 9, 2015.

I was unable to request forbearance in time due to car accident, and resulting heavy medication. I was assured that they would cooperate with me, sending an immediate positive response, but unfortunately promises were not fulfilled.

I did what they requested in follow up correspondence, but never heard back.

I then contacted the persons who wrote me, Terry Bowes, and Ben, but the told me to "call customer service."

I REPEAT THAT THE INITIAL RESPONSE WAS POSITIVE, BUT THEY DID NOT DO WHAT THEY PROMISED.

I have been grated a forbearance by all other student loan providers, even this company grated me a forbearance, ON ALL OTHER LOANS.

I am therefore submitting another complaint.Desired Settlement: Forbearance.

Business

Response:

Review: My student loan went into repayment in June 2013, I contacted the company to set up my repayment plan as well as receive a payment due date, it is now September 2013 and I still have neither of those things. I have called every 2 weeks for the past four months and keep getting the same response, "We will put a code on your account so this gets taken care of". This morning I called and the representative was rude and told my "these things take time" and after restating it had been four months she replied "you need to be patient". As a customer I shouldn't have to fight to make a payment and I believe four months of calls has shown more than patience on my part.Desired Settlement: I would like my payment plan to be set at the "Extended Level" and have a payment due date set on my account.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of [redacted] and for providing us the opportunity to

address her concerns in regard to the repayment plan for her loan.

I sincerely apologize to Ms. [redacted] for the frustration she experienced during her

communications with Great Lakes. We take pride in providing exceptional customer service, and

we appreciate the opportunity to learn of new ways we can improve. We value our customer

feedback and use it to provide additional feedback and training for our staff.

I am happy to advise that Ms. [redacted]’s concerns have recently been addressed by a Great

Lakes Manager.

I again apologize for the frustration Ms. [redacted] experienced. Moving forward, I am confident

that Great Lakes will be able to meet all of her future customer service expectations. Ms.

[redacted] should feel comfortable to contact our Borrower Services Department at ###-###-####

with any additional questions or concerns regarding the repayment of her loan.

Sincerely,

Review: I am the parent of a 27 year old daughter who had graduate school loans. We were not a co-signer, and do ot have ay information about these loans. Great Lakes charged us for a payment for this loan last week (approximately $650) even though my daughter had already made a payment. They said she authorized her to use our bank account to make a direct debit payment. Wells Fargo is contesting, and Great Lakes says it will take weeks to "figure it out." They took our bank information from her undergraduate loan application from 5 years ago. Different school. different loans, nothing the same. The most bizarre thing is they charged our account and her on the same day. They agreed they vharged us both but refused to reverse the charges, saying it would take time.Desired Settlement: Immediate refund and apology for using unauthorized access to our bank account. Apparently student loans providers go after parents any way they can. That is what the bank told me. They say they were "authorized" to use our bank account because it was in a prior loan. How can this be? The bank has told us our account is compromised because Great Lakes has it all over the place now and we have to change our account number. Why is the onus on us to correct this. This is like stealing and they chould be charged.

Business

Response:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of Ms. [redacted] and for providing us the opportunity to address her concern regarding the $644.56 payment withdrawn from her bank account on March 30, 2016, which she states she did not authorize.According to our records, the aforementioned payment was submitted by Ms. [redacted]’s daughter, [redacted], through her mygreatlakes.org (MGL) account. After reviewing our records, we can confirm that the bank account information used to submit the March 30, 2016 payment was not obtained from an undergraduate student loan application as Ms. [redacted] referenced. The bank account used to make aforementioned payment was saved to [redacted]’s MGL account on August 9, 2013 under the name “[redacted].” This also happens to be the date an $8,275.12 payment was submitted through [redacted]’s MGL account to pay off her undergraduate student loans that were disbursed by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the University of Miami between May 17, 2010 and January 10, 2011. These loans were transferred by ED to Great Lakes on June 4, 2013 from [redacted]’s previous loan servicer, Direct Loan Servicing Center.From Great Lakes perspective, it appears that [redacted], the borrower, scheduled the August 9, 2013 payment and saved the bank account to her MGL account, since technically she is the only person who should have access to her MGL account. Please also note that only a borrower has the ability to save bank account information to their MGL account, Great Lakes cannot. Additionally, when a payment is scheduled through a borrower’s MGL account, Great Lakes is unable to identify and determine whether or not the bank account information provided belongs to them. However, if we subsequently receive notification that a payment was unauthorized, as Ms. [redacted] indicated, the bank account used to submit the payment is blocked so that the borrower is no longer able to schedule payments from it. Similarly, we have deleted the bank account saved under the name “[redacted]” from [redacted]’s MGL account.With regards to the refund Ms. [redacted] requested, on April 4, 2016 we submitted an expedited refund request to Pay.gov, the clearinghouse used by ED to process online payments. These requests are typically refunded within 7 to 10 business days. Unfortunately, on April 6, 2016, Pay.gov notified us that a stop payment had been placed on the transaction by the bank account holder due to it being unauthorized. As a result, the refund request submitted April 4, 2016 was canceled to avoid both Great Lakes and the financial institution from refunding $644.56.Complaint ID: [redacted]I hope Ms. [redacted] finds the information provided helpful and would like to apologize for any frustration she has experienced. If she has any questions or concerns, she may contact our Borrower Services Department by phone at ###-###-####, by email at [email protected], or by mail to the address below:Great LakesP.O. Box 7860Madison, WI 53707Sincerely,[redacted]Supervisor – Contact EscalationGreat Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: Once again Great Lakes has royal messed up my account. They are so sneaky and conniving. I have 4 accounts with them. Three of those accounts have the same payment mailing address and which had three separate account reference numbers. So, I send three separate checks, for three separate amounts, with three separate payment coupons with their respective check numbers on them. Each check has the same amount I have paid on those accounts for the past year. Nothing changed to my knowledge. Then about a week after a sent my monthly payment, I received a new statement, one that they made ALL my accounts under the same reference number. Concerned Great Lakes was screwing with my accounts once again for their gain, I called to confirm proper allocation of my funds. I was told they received my payments and where distributed as described. Imagine my surprise/anger when I logged onto their website and it shows a BLATANT MISAPPROPRATION OF FUNDS. I don’t know how more plain I have to be. Even if Great Lakes changed the reference number, there should still be record of the old reference numbers; numbers that where WRITTEN on the checks. However, IF they didn’t anymore, they CANNOT cash checks written for one account that no longer EXIST! I should have been notified!!!!Desired Settlement: I want the payments to be allocated the way they were written on the checks and payment coupons. I want any interest applied to my principal due to the fact the correct amount was not applied when it was supposed to (I over pay to reduce my principal, to help reduce the overall interest; by their not applying my funds appropriately, they unjustly increased my overall total interest to be repaid). For their continued misappropriation of my accounts I want double the interest returned and again to STOP messing with my accounts.

Business

Response:

Review: After hearing devastating news from a jerk Great Lakes customer service agent in June 2015, that my balance AFTER consolidation was more $24K AFTER 16 months of payments, I demanded a payment history from Great Lakes. I am furious! During the 38 months prior to consolidation in February 2014, I borrowed $12,500 from VSAC in June 2010, paid 38 months and $5,000 loan forgiveness, leaving less than $5000 to consolidate with GL in Feb 2014. I borrowed $21,477 from Great Lakes in June 2010. In that same time frame of 38 months of payments (Dec 2010 to Feb 2014), I discovered that GL's 38 months of payments of $121.86 on a loan of $21,462, totaling $4630 in payments, resulting in only $21.86 TOTAL being applied to principal in 38 months off $21,477!! That's .001% pay down! My balance didn't even MOVE for 3+ years with Great Lakes but paid down substantially with VSAC, even though interest was the same, I paid full payments to both lenders separately and no forbearance/etc was ever in effect! How can that be?! Especially since, in the last 16 months since consolidation with both loans now at Great Lakes, the new balance beginning in March 2014 was $26,261 ($4070 paid, $2218 to interest, net loan principal reduction of $1852) and 16 months later, it's down to $24,291! That's .07% paid down, in 1/2 the time (16 vs 38 months), and 70% higher than previous 38 months to GL! I've tried contacting Great Lakes and the guy was rude and pushing other products on me. I got my entire payment history sent to me after I fought him. He tried pushing me into forbearance (I said no) and he pushed me into sending app for IBR, which I don't want. I just want to know WHY only $21.86 in principal came off my original Stafford Loan with GL (june 2010-Feb 2014) in 38 months, when the same time period VSAC had drastically different outcome and, SINCE consolidation with GL, there's been a drastically different outcome! Help me! Please investigate!Desired Settlement: I want all of the correct interest rate to be applied to the loan during those 38 months of Dec 2010 to Feb 2014 payments and the correct interest payments and principal payments applied. $21.86 off a principal balance over 38 months of payments is an outright fraudulent lie.

Business

Response:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of Ms. [redacted] and for providing us the opportunity to address her concern regarding how payments are applied to her Direct Loan Program Consolidation loan with the [redacted].After reviewing our records, it appears that Ms. [redacted]’s concern was addressed during communications she had with our Complaint Resolution Team on August 4, 2015. For review, I have attached the referenced communications and related correspondence sent to address Ms. [redacted]’s concern.If Ms. [redacted] has any additional questions or concerns, she may contact our Borrower Services Department by phone at ###-###-####, or by email at [redacted].

Consumer

Response:

Per Revdex.com reviews 90% of customers have a negative experience.

Per Revdex.com reviews 70% would not recommend Great Lakes for a loan.

Why?

1. VARIABLE % RATES - ACCRUED DAILY! Can you imagine what these rates will look like when our economy recovers?

2. You cannot move your loan to anyone else. You are STUCK with Great Lakes and your VARIABLE % RATE that ACCRUES DAILY. You cannot file chapter 13, etc. NO WAY OUT.

3. Customer Service Reps INTIMIDATE & LIE to customers. When you complain to Great Lakes they send you generic apologies.

4. Great Lakes has pulled money WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION out of my checking account and my daughters!!! That is way too much power for a loan company!

RUN AWAY!!!

Review: I created an account at the company website to view my billing account and current transactions. Paper copies of transactions were stopped and I was able to view my billing statements through their website. The company has since cancelled my account and I am no longer able to view billing statements and account information. I was told by the customer service rep that they terminate/cancel accounts that is not used for a period of time. Since they terminate/cancel my account why didn't they send me paper copies of my billing transactions and account information.? I believe this company is doing something underhanded by not allowing me access to my account or sending me paper copies of my transactions after the y cancelled my account. The company's solution is that I go back to their website and create another account.Desired Settlement: Option 1: If the company cancel an online billing account they should send paper copies of the transactions.

Option 2: If an account is not accessed for some time they can ask account holders to verify their correct identity information but not cancel or terminate their account.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

Revdex.com of Wisconsin

Complaint ID [redacted]

Great Lakes ID [redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of [redacted] and for providing us the

opportunity to address his concerns in regard to accessing his account on our website.

I sincerely apologize to Mr. [redacted] for the frustration he experienced during

communications with Great Lakes. We take pride in providing exceptional customer

service, and we appreciate the opportunity to learn of new ways we can improve. We

value our customer feedback and use it to provide additional feedback and training for

our staff.

If a borrower does not access their account through our website for more than 15

months, it is our policy to delete their login information. Mr. [redacted] may create a new log

in by visiting our website mygreatlakes.org. Setting up a new login would take Mr. [redacted]

a few minutes by following the below procedures:

- Click on the “Sign Up for Account Access” link in the blue box on the left side of

the page

- Create a User ID and Password

- Create a Personal Identification Number (PIN)

- Select an Identity Image

Although Mr. [redacted]’s login information was deleted, we still continue to email monthly

billing statements if a valid email address has been provided. If Mr. [redacted] would like to

begin receiving monthly billing statements by mail we simply need to remove his email

address from our system.

I again apologize for the frustration Mr. [redacted] experienced and any inconvenience this

has caused. Moving forward, I am confident that Great Lakes will be able to meet all of

Mr. [redacted]’s future customer service expectations. Mr. [redacted] should feel comfortable to

contact our Borrower Services Department at ###-###-#### with any additional

questions or concerns regarding the repayment of his loan.

Sincerely,

Review: On 7/10/13, I spoke to [redacted] Office because I received a letter from my school regarding courses I had dropped. I advised [redacted] that I had dropped a couple of classes and asked if she had documentation from the school. [redacted] instructed me that she had no documentation, but she would change the dates on my account. I asked [redacted] several ways and several times what "STATUS" would that put my account in. She absolutely refused to answer but kept saying "I will change the dates on your account." I asked to speak to a supervisor; was told none was available and was transferred to an unknown person's voicemail.

On 7/11/13 at 12:16 pm, I called and spoke to [redacted]. Again I explained that I had dropped a couple of courses and asked if there was any documentation from the school and again I was told there was none. I asked [redacted] what was my status and was told that on 7/10/13 I went into repayment status. I made several attempts to explain to [redacted] that I did not want to be in repayment status, but that fell on deaf ear. [redacted] refused to acknowledge me but responded "it already taken care of" and was in a hurry to dismiss me. I again requested a supervisor and was again told there was none and transferred to an unknown person's voicemail.

On 7/12/13 at 4:18 pm a female who refused to identify herself called. When asked who she was she said "I am returning your call" and was not at liberty to say who she was until she knew she was talking to [redacted]. I terminated the call.

A few minutes a female called again and again refused to identify herself but was very aggressive and argumentative without allowing me to speak. Since the conversation was one sided I again terminated the call.

On 7/19/13 I received a letter from Great Lakes showing my account in repayment status.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome is to have my account in deferment, IF NECESSARY, from the school clearinghouse date versus the date the CSR decided to change my account.

To have the necessary changes completed immediately.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

Review: This company has used deceptive and manipulative means by which to obtain personal information, even though I am a customer with accounts in good standing and have 2 valid and reliable methods on file with which to communicate. Two days prior, I spoke with a rep who asked for an updated mailing address, and I declined, explaining that I would rather have electronic communications than paper mail. This seemed to be understandable and acceptable with the rep. This evening, however, an unidentified rep decided to call my mother at home after hours, demanding my telephone number (inexplicably, since Great Lakes already has this on file) and other information about me, which my mother declined to give. Both she and I were afraid that this was a bogus phishing scam or even a crazy ex-lover! No, it was Great Lakes, in its paranoia and desperation for an updated mailing address for me, feels it necessary to resort to such underhanded harassment of my poor mother to obtain information they could readily get from me just by calling and asking. Creepy comes to mind. Neither a customer service rep nor her manager were able to tell me how this happened or why, saying at first that they did not have my mother's contact information and then claiming it was deleted from their system. The fact that my accounts are not in collections and that Great Lakes may reach me directly at any time only underscores the bizarre and extreme methods it will apparently go to to get information it deems critical.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome from this would be for Great Lakes not to contact my friends, family members, or associates without a valid and legitimate reason, such as if I were unreachable and my accounts had fallen into poor standing. Otherwise, this type of practice by them is harassing, devious, intimidating, and completely unnecessary. Such sneaky, underhanded and manipulative tactics by Great Lakes towards its customers must stop.

Business

Response:

June 19, 2015

Review: This company requires you contact them when you make an additional payment in order to have it applied to certain loans (higher interest). No where on their site does it tell you how long it will take. However when I email them to request the change they reply saying they'll respond within 48 hours. They are not constantly NOT replying withing the time frame and when they do it's to tell me that it will take 2 weeks to change! This was not what they had been doing and very suspicious that it would take that long to apply a payment. Recently I re-emailed when I had not heard anything and had specific requests in my email for more information (including to be contacted by a supervisor or manager) and what I received in response was copy and pasted information that's already available on their website. They are completely ignoring my requests and we're talking about 20k debt that I'm trying to actively and appropriately manage. They are holding on to my debt and not providing me with any assurance that it's being handled correctly or efficiently. This is extremely frustrating and it's causing me emotional distress.

I make ONE additional payment per month and this is NOT something that should be so difficult to apply and confirm with me.Desired Settlement: I would like someone in Management to handle my account and my completely reasonable requests from this moment on. As someone who worked for many years in customer service, theirs is atrocious and we're talking about a considerable amount of money they are controlling. I have no confirmations that my payments are being applied as I requested and as per their website.

Business

Response:

Please see the attached letter.

Review: I am currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in [redacted] program and will graduate in about a year. I recently completed an A.S. in [redacted] and transfered from a community college to complete my bachelor degree. Despite being aware of my current full time enrollment in a baccelaureate program, Great Lakes is demanding that I start repayments on my student loans. Since i'm in school these should be deferred. I have attempted to resolve this multiple times, but they're simple unwilling to address the issue.Desired Settlement: I want Great Lakes to correctly place my student loan in deferment due to current fulltime enrollment plus the 6 months that I am eligible for when I graduate in 12 months.

Business

Response:

Review: I have two undergraduate loans serviced by Great Lakes. I am currently in school, and my loans are in deferment. When I pulled my credit reports in October I noticed an 8 month period in which Great Lakes reported my loans 120-days+ late. This information is incorrect. I have tried disputing this with them, and they are unwilling to fix the reporting error. I received an email from Great Lakes on 5/25/13 where I was approved for a forbearance on both of my student loans. I did not receive any other emails after that, until June 2014, which stated that my student loan payments were late. In the middle of June 2014 I again applied for forbearance on both of my loans, and received an email on 6/26/14 approving my request. The next and last email I have received from Great Lakes was on 10/11/14 in which both of my student loans were approved for deferment status as I am now enrolled in school. I DID NOT receive notification via postal, email, or phone, that my student loans were coming out of forbearance in December 2013. If I had known that my loans were coming due, I would have made my payments, or would have applied for another payment option. This 8-month stretch of 120 day late reporting has a huge impact on my credit report, and it is imperative that I get this resolved.Desired Settlement: Remove the late payment information that was made in error from all three credit reporting agencies immediately.

Business

Response:

December 10, 2014

Review: On October 25th I updated my bank account on their website to a new bank account. When looking at my account this is clear for me to see that it was updated on Oct. 25th. However, on November 27th they posted an automatic debit for my monthly payment to my old bank account I do not use. Sometime between changing my bank account information on Oct 25th and the erroneous debit to the wrong account, this company did a complete overhaul of their website and showed both my bank accounts listed. My new account was the only one I could select to make a payment from, which makes sense. But, my old account, was listed under a NEW listing of auto pay account. When I made the change to my account, there was only ONE bank account category to change and it was indeed changed. I was not informed any way that I would have to make this change twice nor would I have expected to. I tried to inform this company that I had deleted my old bank account and added my new one on October 25th but they have so far ignored that change and only see the SECOND time I changed it on November 29th (both dates are listed on my account). I proposed they credit me the overdraft fee my bank charged ($30) due to my overdraft being their fault for charging the wrong account but so far they have denied responsibility for charging the wrong account. In short, I updated my account information and then they changed their system and didn't carry over my changes as they should have.Desired Settlement: I want the company to admit responsibility for not carrying over the changes I made to my account to their new system correctly and credit back to my bank account the $30 fee my bank charged me.

Business

Response:

December 10, 2014

Review: I am not sure if this is the correct Great Lakes or not but I have student loans through Great lakes found at this web site https://www.mygreatlakes.org/educate/knowledge-center/home.html and this is who I am filing a complaint with.

When I graduated from college I had 6 months to start paying on my student loans. I decided to pay with auto pay where Great Lakes can take the money right out of my bank account. The 1st month I owed the bank money the payment never came out of my bank account. I called Great Lakes and asked why the money didn't come out of my account. They told me that it was because I did not have sufficient funds. I knew I had enough money to make the payment but didn't question their answer and asked the customer service rep to pay my bills. This went on 3 times over the next three months. I check my account - call the bank - customer service rep tells me insufficient funds - I ask the bank to make the payment over the phone. After the 3rd month I got fed up with the process and talked to a supervisor. The supervisor informed me the issue was not with insufficient funds but with my personal bank (Gen Fed Credit Union) routing number. I gave Great Lakes a new routing number and it worked fine.

My issue is with those 3 months I had to call in to make my payment over the phone. The Customer Service reps for whatever reason payed for all my loans but one. So when I called in to Great Lakes I would say "please make a payment on all my student loans" give them my debit card information and they would say "all your student loans are payed for the month". This was not true. For some reason they did not pay on one of my student loans. Even though I called in and verbally asked them to. If you look at the issue from my perspective there is no way I would call in and ask Great Lakes to consistently pay for all of my loans but one.

Since my routing number issue has been resolved I have never missed a payment and payed off one of my student loans completely.

Since this issue has been resolved I have also been calling into the bank non stop trying to get them to remove the 90 day delinquency that was out of my control short of me doing their job for them. This 90 day delinquency has tarnished my credit.

I call Great Lakes and they say they have removed the delinquency (they actually give me a huge run around that has lasted for months). I call the credit bureau and they say Great Lakes sends the bureau a delinquency on my behalf every month.

Please note, I have called Great Lakes many times and they have a way of lying and distorting the facts. If you look at the issue from a customer perspective I have been loyal and did my due diligence to make all my payments up to date and even payed off one of my very small loans I took out with the company. Their CU service is a joke with very poor knowledge of issues or integrity to any customer matter.Desired Settlement: 1) MOST IMPORTANT: I need the falsely reported delinquency removed from my credit, NOW. not in a few months not in a year.

2) I want a letter and e-mail confirming my credit should not have had a 90 day delinquency on it.

3) If possible I would like all my interest that I have been paying since I reported this issue to them (since June 2014) until the issue is resolved to be reimbursed. This company is putting out false claims about me that is visible by my employer and others and I am not able to get any credit putting me in plenty of financial pinches.

Business

Response:

October 13, 2014

Review: My student loans were assigned to Great Lakes in 2012, I have contact them numerous times asking for account information. Instead I have received no information about my account number, payment processing, or tax forms as rewired by the IRS. I have been bullied into sending money with no account number and have no idea if it has been processed. I have no tax forms as I should and need. I have sent multiple requests in writing and with payments requesting to be contacted via USPS with this information. The most recent certified letter (# your system will not let me enter here) was sent on 2/7/14 arriving at Great Lakes with proof of signature on 2/10/14. Yet I continue to be ignored. Please help me get my account number and tax forms.Desired Settlement: I would my account number. account activity, and tax forms sent to me as required by law and decency.

Business

Response:

March 10, 2014

Review: Great Lakes Higher Education has called my cell phone several times using an automated system, seeking the individual who had this phone number before me. It has never been a live person who has called, always a recording asking me to contact them to discuss my account. When I called them back to let them know they were calling the wrong number, I was advised that, since I didn't have the name of the person they were trying to contact, they could not take my number out of the system despite the fact that they had just called me on it. The woman I spoke to said that it was impossible to strip the phone number out of the system without knowing the name on the account, and that what I should do is the next time their organization called me was to let the person on the other end know that I was not the person they were trying to reach. When I said that a live person had never contacted me, but it was always a recording asking me to call back, she just repeated that I would need to tell the person that called.Desired Settlement: I want my phone number to be stripped from their system, because if they put it in there, they can take it back out. I want acknowledgement from Great Lakes that my number has been removed and I will never be called by them again.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

Revdex.com of Wisconsin

Complaint ID [redacted]

RE: [redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of [redacted] and for providing us the

opportunity to address her concern in regard to removing her cell phone number from

our system.

I sincerely apologize to Ms. [redacted] for the frustration she experienced during

communications with Great Lakes.

I am happy to advise that we have identified the account and removed the number that

is now Ms. [redacted]’s cell phone number from our system to prevent future calls.

I again apologize for the frustration Ms. [redacted] experienced and any inconvenience this

has caused.

Sincerely,

Review: I was unemployed in September 2014. I did not find work until September 2015. I asked for my Student loans to be deferred and I was denied.Desired Settlement: I would like my credit reporting information to be corrected from September 2014 to September 2014

Business

Response:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of Mr. Jonathan [redacted] and for providing us the opportunityto address his concern regarding his U.S. Department of Education (ED) Stafford student loanaccount being in a repayment status from September 2014 through September 2015. Accordingto his inquiry, Mr. [redacted] states that he was unemployed and for this reason, his account shouldhave been deferred, but when he applied, he was denied.Based on the Mr. [redacted]'s request, it is important to first point out that as his federal student loanservicer, we are required to comply with all federal guidelines, Which are set forth by ED, thatgovern his loan. In relation to his inquiry, please note that deferment eligibility requirements areoutlined within the aforementioned guidelines.Since Mr. [redacted] has a federal loan, the deferments available to him are federally regulated. Thismeans that in order to qualify for deferment and have it applied to his account; he must completea deferment application and provide any documentation necessary to confirm that he meets thedeferment's eligibility requirements. In addition to being outlined in the federal guidelines, adeferment's eligibility requirements are also detailed on the deferment application itself.In an effort to assist, we reviewed Mr. [redacted]'s account to confirm the date he submitted hisdeferment application, the type of deferment he applied for, and the reason his defermentapplication was not approved. According to our records, the only deferment relatedcorrespondence we received from Mr. [redacted] was in a fax dated December 17, 2015. Within thefax, he referenced his desire to apply for the Economic Hardship Deferment, but did not return theactual deferment application. As previously referenced, the deferment application must becompleted to have the deferment applied to the account. For review, we have attached a copy ofthe correspondence we received from Mr. [redacted], as well as a copy of the Economic DefermentApplication.If Mr. [redacted] believes that the Economic Hardship Deferment is still applicable to his circumstancesand would like to apply, he may complete and return the attached application with any requireddocumentation. Please note that with the application, borrowers must include documentation toshow proof that they meet one of the deferment's eligibility requirements. To qualify for theEconomic Hardship Deferment, Mr. [redacted] must meet one of the following eligibility requirements:• Provide documentation showing that he has a separate Direct or Perkins Loans currentlyin the Economic Hardship Deferment.• Provide documentation that reflects he is currently receiving federal or state publicassistance.• Send documentation, in the form of a recently dated official letter on letterhead, showingthat he is currently serving in the Peace Corps (letter must include his dates of service).• If he works 30 or more hours per week and his monthly gross income is less than thepoverty level based on his family size (He may provide pay stubs, which must show grossincome, pay period, and the amount of hours worked, to show proof of this).Even though Mr. [redacted]'s account is currently in forbearance, which has temporarily postponed hispayments until June 2, 2016, it is important for him to know that the federal regulations know thatborrowers can, during the life of their loan(s), encounter financial situations that can prevent themfrom making their scheduled payments. Therefore, assistance options such as deferments,forbearances and alternative repayment plans exist to suspend payments or provide borrowersthe opportunity to lower their payments, preventing them from defaulting. In view of that, weencourage him to contact us to review the aforementioned repayment and assistance options toensure that he is utilizing the most beneficial option based on his current circumstances. Wewould be happy to assist him with finding the option that best fits his current situation.With regards to the information Mr. [redacted] requested be removed from his credit files, we reviewedour past credit reporting and have confirmed that it is accurate. Because of this, we areunfortunately unable to make any adjustments at this time. This information was provided to Mr.[redacted] in the enclosed letter, which we sent him on December 29, 2015.I understand this is not the answer Mr. [redacted] was hoping for and apologize for any frustration hehas experienced. If he has any additional questions or concerns, or if he would like to review hisaccount in greater detail, he may visit our website, mygreatlakes.org, or contact our BorrowerServices Department at ###-###-####, [redacted], or the address below

Review: I fell behind on my student loans and ask they be put in forbearance, and they were not. I didn't not know Themis and I filed bankruptcy. Once he bankruptcy was complete I enrolled and successfully completed the rehabilitation program and was told that all negative remarks would be removed from my credit report. They have not the to accounts are 5th3rd GLHEC and SLXPS/ GLESI. I have remained current and I am expected to do so, but they have not stayed true to their word.Desired Settlement: all I ask is all negative remarks be removed from my credit report immediately.

Business

Response:

Thank you for contacting us on behalf of Mr. [redacted] and for providing us the opportunity to address hisconcern regarding his loan that is serviced by Great Lakes. Mr. [redacted]’s concern as we understand it is thatany delinquencies reported to the credit bureaus prior to his loan default be removed from his credit report.Great Lakes is required by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) to report the status of allserviced student loan accounts to the nationwide Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). Additionally, the FairCredit Reporting Act requires that this information is reported accurately and objectively. Please also notethat we are audited to ensure our compliance with these requirements.It is important to note that the credit reporting benefit Mr. [redacted] received upon the successful rehabilitationof his loan was the removal of the default status from his credit bureau report. Any delinquencies reportedprior to his default were not to be impacted by the rehabilitation.With this in mind, we reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s account to verify the accuracy of the information we reportedtoward his credit files, and to ensure no errors were made that would lead to, or result in, inaccuratedelinquency reporting (such as misapplication of payments). This review confirmed that no such errors weremade and that the information reported to the CRAs by Great Lakes is accurate. For this reason, eventhough we empathize with Mr. [redacted]’s situation, no adjustments will be made to our past credit reporting.Although we are unable to make any adjustments to the information reported toward Mr. [redacted]’s creditfiles, please make note that Myfico.com indicates that individuals who were delinquent in the past are ableto improve their FICO score by paying their loans on time, and the longer an individual pays on time, themore their FICO score should increase.I understand that this is not the answer Mr. [redacted] was hoping for, and apologize for any frustration he hasexperienced. If he has any additional questions or concerns, he may contact our Borrower ServicesDepartment by phone at ###-###-####, by email at [redacted], or by mailing:

Consumer

Response:

Review: Never received any notification that Great Lakes was attempting to reach me concerning my loan..... Until my Job told me on the 22nd that there was notification about wage garnishments

I have called back several times since then and I never get a phone call back within the same day or week!!!!

I started off with Candace telling me in correct information (per the other agents). I called and spoke with her as soon as the job notified me of this garnishment attempt.. She told me about the payments and I told her that I had act with in the timely limit and she telling me about setting up arrangements but, I would have to mail in my taxes and other documents... I did everything she request and she also, asked for my checking account information to set up the payments... She was told to take them out either the last working day of each month or the 1st day of each month... According to the other reps she attempted to take a payment out the day I gave her the information....

I have talked with others and they have not been helpful including (Sue and Gene)... More on the harassing type.

I have request documents since July and just received them around the 19th of Oct. I emailed a request for a hearing back in July and NEVER had one scheduled, in fact they had me to resend in the paperwork again...Desired Settlement: garnishment should be stopped... I contacted them in time and the agents did not follow up with what I request there for delaying payments

Business

Response:

Dear

Mr. [redacted]:Thank

you again for contacting us on behalf of Mr. [redacted] and for providing us the

opportunity to address his concerns regarding his loan that is guaranteed by

Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation (Great Lakes) and formerly in

Administrative Wage Garnishment (AWG). Your request has been forwarded to our office

for review and response. Mr. [redacted]’s concern as we understand it is that he

is having payments taken via AWG. We

are happy to report that Great Lakes’ Collection Support Department has been in

contact with Mr. [redacted] and they are working directly with him toward a

resolution. In fact, they report that the

AWG has already been ended. We encourage Mr. [redacted] to continue working with

Great Lakes. We

again thank you for contacting us and for giving us an opportunity to be of

assistance. If additional information is required, please by all means, contact

us. You can reach our office between 7:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday

at [redacted] Sincerely,[redacted]Ombudsman Specialist Great Lakes Higher Education