vent...not wedding related

t12ubeauty

Sorry I just wanted to let out some frustation. I'm in China right now, and they block most forms of US social media..except the Knot and Pinterest. lol

So I have humongous student loans, and the majority of it has been consolidated under the federal direct loan program. ANYWAY...i have been under an income based repayment plan because I don't make enough money right now to pay the standard amount ($300 a month vs $1800). It has to be renewed every year. Well they sent me a notice saying that my IBR is expiring and will go into standard repayment unless i submit my most recent tax return within 30 days. I'd been really busy so I didn't do my taxes right away...but i was getting to it! 

Well I had already made my $300 payment for March. Then a week later I get another bill saying that I owed another $1500. (I still had 2-3 weeks left from the date of the notice). So I immediately called and they said blah blah my IBR expired so I'm now in standard repayment. Well I pointed out that it had not been 30 days from the date of the notice. I JUST did my taxes and was ready to fax it. She said blah blah that was the 2nd notice they sent me... which is totally BS, but it shouldn't matter because expiration date was 30 days from the date of the letter. So then she said there's nothing they can do about it except put me in a temporary deferment until I fax my taxes and they process it. So I said yes please do that and she says "oh you're already in deferment through April." She told me if I faxed the papers in that day, it would be processed before April and I would be ok and not need to make any additional payments until April. So I faxed everything that day. This was the end of February before I left for China.

Last week I emailed them to confirm my deferment and receipt of my paperwork because I have no access to long distance calls right now.  It took days to respond, but they responded and said they received my papers and are processing it. No reply about deferment. Emailed them again wihtout response. Well now I just got another bill for April AND i'm now past due for March so now I owe like $3400!!!!! 

argghhhh I hate dealing with the government!!!!  sorry this was so long. 

redheadfsu

Usually they want last year's tax forms, not this years as they are not due yet.

But since they got them, it should be fine.

Queen Jane

I've found that it takes awhile for the paper trail to update. The notices may be sent before information gets entered in the system. Definitely check on it, but my guess would be that you're fine.

MJandDL

Student loans are the WORST! I hate dealing with it. Can't wait to have it paid off!

slga12

I had a similar situation happen to me.  I originally applied for the IBR plan in May (first time), after I consolidated my loan.  Nothing happened; however, since I was still in school and technically in a in-school deferment status.  Well, I graduated and in August, and I contacted them about the IBR plan.  I was told that the consolidation department did not share information with the servicing department, so I would need to fill out the form the IRS.  I said no problem, and promptly submitted the information (a second time).

Around November, I called to follow up and they stated that they no longer requested tax information directly and that I needed to send in my most recent check stub.  I did this.  I was originally told it would take about 7 days.  After 7 days, I called back and was told that they were backed up.  It was now taking months to be processed.

At the end of January, I get a letter and low and behold, the letter states that they need a recent check stub!  I call to see what was going on, and they stated that the check stub I sent in was outdated.  I informed them that it was not outdated when I sent it in!  It was only outdated because it took them soooooo long to process it.

I got the same "there is nothing we can response."  So, I went into my file and faxed the information to the number on the letter.

Fast forward, and in February, I got a statement saying I owe "xyz".  At this point, I'm highly upset. I called the direct loan servicing number and they are not very helpful at all.  The lady tells me, they never received the fax.  I have the confirmation sheet!

Instead of arguing, as I ask her if she could hold while I grabbed my file.  At this point, I have faxed in my tax return and will be sending that in, in lieu of my check stub (I had some business losses that I was able to take!), which lowered my AGI.

She said yes, i put her on hold to fax in the documents and returned to the phone.  I asked if she could check to make sure it had been received.  The lady told me"No, faxes go to the correspondence department and we can't check with them because they are a non phone division, they do not accept phone calls."

Are you serious!  I asked to speak with a supervisor, who came to the phone with an immediate attitude.  All she could say is that they could put me into forbearance and I would have to wait another 30 to 45 days to have it processed!

In essence T12U, I feel your pain. 

t12ubeauty

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_ventnot-wedding-related?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:43183c0c-b9ce-4dda-ab32-75e28528f99dPost:5305a044-f53e-439a-9c7b-b45ee4787e6b">Re: vent...not wedding related</a>:
[QUOTE]Usually they want last year's tax forms, not this years as they are not due yet. But since they got them, it should be fine.
Posted by redheadfsu[/QUOTE]

<div>Ahh one would think. I already had this problem with them when I first consolidated my loan at the end of 2010/early 2011. They wouldn't take the previous year's tax return even though taxes weren't due yet. So I already used my 2010 tax return for this past year's IBR. </div><div>
</div><div>UPDATE: So now they're telling me that my last forbearance was from March to April 2011.  Basically the lady on the phone did not know how to read dates and incorrectly told me I was under forbearance. arghh So I'm still past due, but don't worry they won't report me to the credit bureau for 90 days. arghhh</div><div>
</div><div><a style="background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-color:#ffffff;border-style:initial;border-color:initial;border-image:initial;font-size:12px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:underline;color:#579bc3 !important;font-family:Arial;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" href="http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/default.aspx?membershipid=5940664713571004&plckUserId=5940664713571004" target="_blank" class="username_knot">slga12</a>: I'm sorry you had to go through that as well. I thought I was the only person having problems with this Federal Direct Loans business. I consolidated through them because I'm trying for the 10 year loan forgiveness thing, but I'm starting to question whether it's worth it dealing with them. </div>