I just cannot. Planned maintenance will end today 11am September 27th. The incompetence is expected. FSA and correct dates are seemingly impossible

Hi all!

Getting ready to apply for PAYE and transition off of the SAVE administrative forbearance. I was working through the online FSA IDR Request Application and got to a field asking "Do you want to leave your loans in deferment or forbearance?" with a caption stating "If you leave your loans in deferment or forbearance, you won't make payments under your IDR plan until the deferment or forbearance ends."

If I say "Yes, leave my loans in deferment or forbearance." would my PAYE monthly payment be calculated now and then only be enforced once FSA moves me off of the SAVE administrative forbearance? I ask because currently my most recent tax return on file is from 2024. My concern is if I voluntarily remain in forbearance then my future PAYE monthly payment will be calculated using my 2025 return/a paystub from 2026 and therefor be more expensive.

More generally, what are the upsides and downsides of leaving my loans in the SAVE administrative forbearance after I submit an IDR request application?

I recently received two documents in my Mohela inbox. The first letter said that I have to pay 228 on 11/22/28. The second letter detailed a payment schedule for the next 195 payments. It said for a year starting from 10/2026 I would pay 228. Then for 166 payments, it will be $600. And for the last 8 payments, it would be $300. This is confusing to me as I am on pslf and already have a 91 payment count. It’s very frustrating because if it wasn’t for the forbearance, I would be 5 payments away from 120. Has anyone else received a letter like this?

Hi all,

I could use some advice. I have been working in an eligible job since 2016, have always submitted my employer certification forms each year, and earlier this year I met my 10 years of work. I was on the SAVE plan for 15 months of this time (I was automatically put into SAVE after the REPAYE plan was eliminated). I submitted my buyback request for the 15 months back in June and that is obviously still pending. I was required to choose a new plan by September 1 so I am now in the new RAP plan (I’m ineligible for PAYE based on when I took out student loans), and my first payment of over $1,000 (!) is due in 10 days. I submitted a general forbearance request about two weeks ago and I received an email from the US Department of Education on Friday saying there is a delay in processing general forbearance requests, that it could take 90 business days to process, and I am expected to make all payments until there is an application decision. I can’t afford to devote $1,000/month while this is general forbearance request is pending. Does anyone have advice as to what I should do?

Rant portion: I know this goes without saying, but if they just processed by buyback request, I could pay that amount (which would likely be much less than $1,000/month over the 15 months) and I could be done with this entire ordeal.

I'm so confused...

For background, I made regular PSLF monthly payments (enrolled as soon I started my nonprofit job) starting in 2017, but then didn't pay during the pandemic (like most of us!) When SAVE came around I enrolled and continued to not make payments as the system told me it was in legal limbo, but then when Trump won, I assumed it might be held against me, so I switched back to a regular IDR and started making payments.

So now I'm seeing this "ineligible" for random months, where one month is listed as "ineligible" and then the next month is fine...and this is the error message I get "Reason(s) for Ineligible Status:Forbearance on Due Date."

But it's so confusing.. for example.why would a July 2024 payment be eligible, then the Aug 2024 is not, and then Sept 2024 is?? I guess my question is...why are random-ass months ineligible due to forbearance?

I feel insane...like how are random months being counted against me, when nothing changed in how I was tracking/working?

Hey everyone! Just posting bc my loan servicer is EdFinancial, and my PSLF app has been in limbo since May of this year when I first submitted it…my pay stubs were finally certified mid-August (over 2 months ago now), and I’ve heard nothing since. Customer service said to expect a max of 4 weeks of processing time and it’s been twice that. I’ve been given the runaround by their customer service…

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this loan servicer and what I should do next to try to get my PSLF set up? I’m pretty sure this is the last step I need, and my payment is overdue now and I don’t want to pay yet since it won’t go towards PSLF…thanks!

Another week passes by with no update to the PSLF tracker. What do we do at this point? I’m close to 120 and getting frustrated because nothing is happening and we are being told empty promises. Anyone have any new info?

I know there’s been some fear and talk about automatic payments not going through on weekends so I just wanted to share some good news that my (new) 120th payment was posted today, Saturday. I have Mohela. I’ve been waiting for buyback for nearly a year and decided to keep paying and hit “120” today. Wish I could celebrate but hoping someday soon I will. Hang in there everyone. It’s been one moHELLa of a ride.

I am not close to 120 yet (about halfway including save purgatory), but I did submit to buy back these save forbearance months. This got me thinking, what happens if you spend so long waiting on buyback that you reach 120 without buyback? Like if my buyback months would have been at 80 a month for two years, and instead I pay $400 a month for two years because buybacks don't get processed, am I just out that $7600 extra? Or do they acknowledge that instead of $9600 I should have only had to pay $1920?

Timeline Below -

April 2026:

Discovered I have qualifying PSLF payments.
Submitted employment certification to StudentAid.gov.

May, 2026:

Received confirmation: 131 of 120 qualifying payments were processed.

June, 2026:

Received official PSLF forgiveness letter.
Forgiveness retroactively effective October, 2022.

July, 2026:

MOHELA processed forgiveness of 77K.
Balance: $0.00 ✅ Green Banners/Ribbon.

July 2026:

MOHELA tradelines updated to Paid/Closed Never Late on all 3 credit bureaus.

September 18, 2026:

Escalated to MOHELA CEO Scott Giles ([scottg@mohela.com](mailto:scottg@mohela.com))
CC'd Department of Education ([borrowerrefundinquiry@ed.gov](mailto:borrowerrefundinquiry@ed.gov))

Attached my forgiveness letter and confirmation letter showing 131 qualifying payments were made.

October 6, 2026:

MOHELA account updated to: PAID IN FULL / PAID BY DISCHARGE AND/OR WRITE OFF ✅

October 8, 2026:

Called The Treasury Department to see if they received a payment authorization from MOEHLA, they had not!
Treasury phone number: 1 (855) 868-0151

Since I had no response to my 9/18 email— next I called MOHELA and asked for a "Tier-2 Specialist" who has access to more detailed account information.

After waiting on hold for almost 90 minutes for a Tier-2 specialist, Latoya had questioned whether my payment reversals were "returned payments."🤬

Put me back in the queue (with NO warning) after I pushed back against her ridiculous assertion - I hung up, wasn't staying on hold again!

Sent urgent follow-up email to CEO (put Department of Education on the cc) letting him know what just happened with "LaToya" included PSLF legal citation (20 U.S.C. § 1087e(m)) reminding them it's the LAW that they must refund qualifying payments made in EXCESS of 120!

Filed a constituent services case with my U.S.
Senator's office against Dept.of Education/MOEHLA.

Had LaToya not given me incorrect information and put me back in the call queue, I would not have escalated further.

October 9, 2026:

Sent follow-up email to CEO, CC'd Dept. Of Education again with payment reconciliation PDF report I created and screen shots of the "payment reversals" from my Account History. I also included the email address of my Senators Legislative Director on the cc!

October 14, 2026:

Senator's office confirmed case officially opened and they contacted MOEHLA & Dept. Of Education on my behalf ✅

Named constituent services representative assigned to me with direct email and phone number.

October 16, 2026:

Received MOHELA secure message where they wrote the following:

- On September 23, 2026, we processed a refund which will take 2-4 weeks to receive — only 5 days after CEO email ✅

- On October 7, 2026, we processed the remaining refund which will also take 2-4 weeks to receive ✅

- refunds are issued within approximately 90 business days from the date the forgiveness is processed by MOHELA. 90 business days from July 6, 2026, is November 9, 2026.

Key lessons:

MOHELA representatives may not know what's happening in their own system AND/OR they provide INCORRECT information, including the Tier-2 Specialists!

Escalate early:

Email CEO: [scottg@mohela.com](mailto:scottg@mohela.com)
CC: [borrowerrefundinquiry@ed.gov](mailto:borrowerrefundinquiry@ed.gov)
Contact your U.S. Senator's constituent services.

Document everything — create a payment reconciliation spreadsheet, if you are owed a significant amount, where you list when payment was made, when cashed/posted to your Account History! Take screenshots of your Account History, any secure messages you receive. When they send you a PDF letter, download a copy and save it in your files!

Your payment reversals ARE your refund — don't let anyone tell you otherwise ✅

Using the ‼️** emoji in your subject line doesn't hurt 😄✅

When my checks arrive I will update this post — but they say they're coming, and I have it in writing! My Senator's office will stay engaged until I actually get my money.

To everyone still waiting — don't give up. Escalate, document, persist. 🥳💙

MANY THANKS to this AMAZING Sub🥰‼️

Has anyone successfully had an ECF processed recently? Missing counts aside, what was the approximate timeline?

So I'm on PAYE plan with Mohela. My annual IDR recertification date was in January 2027; but I wanted to submit IDR recertification application earlier. So, I submitted one a few days ago and got a message / documentation that it has been approved. This is the message I got, but I'm confused:

"What Happens Next?

There is nothing you need to do at this time. We will send you your new Repayment Schedule after your current 12-month period expires."

Does this mean they'll send me my new repayment schedule AFTER January 2027 (after my current 12-month period ends) and continue current monthly payment at same amount until then? So do I still have to recertify again in January 2027? Or will my annual ID recertification anniversary date reset to October now that this new IDR recertification has been approved?

Hey all,

Like so many of you, I too am having PSLF tracker issues. My ECF that I uploaded on October 5, 2026, still has yet to be processed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/s/hTM9HGf4u8

My tracker was last updated on September 17, 2026. The backdoor NSLDS api was last updated on October 13, 2026, at which time my eligible payment count increased. I last made a payment on September 21. My due date was October 1.

I know that this isn’t very helpful, but it’s all I know at this point. 😔

I got my green banners back on August 6 after my July payment was processed. I waited two business days before submitting my ECF requesting for discharge of my loans (2) and placing my account in forbearance to avoid making further payments, because I was done with making payments.

A week-ish later, I got the "congratulations" email and In it, it said it can take up to 5 weeks to process the discharge of my loan. No problem.

It's been closer to 10 weeks now and there is still no update on my discharge.

I am now getting email notifications from MOHELA that my IDR recertification is coming up and my account still hasn't updated nor have I received any further communication stating that my account has been zero'd out on the StudentAID website.

Can anyone give me some insight as to what's happening? Did I miss a step anywhere? Am I supposed to call in and wait on hold for many hours before getting this resolved by a human?

FWIW, I'd like to share screenshots, but this sub won't let me. The option to do so is greyed out.

Due to a mixup on the government's side (mixing up my loans with my husband's), I am so frustrated I'm ready to suck it up and go for another year and pay PSLF. Unfortunately, when I tried to find a new plan (I was on graduated extended), there is no PSLF-eligible plan available for me. How can this be? Help!

I am theoretically at 120/120 qualified payments, but it only shows 116/120 because of the system error. Do I keep paying, or stop payments and wait for the count to get fixed?

Or do we have zero legal standing, even if PSLF counts are delayed for years and years? Credit scores are damaged, major purchases like home are delayed ect.

Can you apply for buy back if you reached 120 months of employment but the tracker is still messed up?

I am dreadfully finally a part of the two different payment amounts from mohela. Received a message in response to my email that is $500+ and an automated notification stating the same amount that was reported in my PAYE certification letter last year. I am NOT interesting in forbearance while they figure it out because half my loans hit 120 in December and the other half in January. Those of you that didn’t stop payments, which amount did you pay? TIA.

I have 88 months of qualified IDR payments.

I will have 5 payments on RAP between Nov 2026 - March 2027. This will give me 93 months of qualified payments.

I have 27 months of SAVE forbearance that I can request for buyback which puts me at 120.

My Plan

March 1 - make final payment

March 8 - recertify employment, let them update the count (which will be under 120 payments), and request forbearance. With this step, I know they will say I don't meet 120 payments.

March 23 - submit reconsideration for PSLF citing buyback and wait several months for a determination.

The way I'm thinking is that even if buyback takes two years to process, it'd be cheaper than paying at my current rate. Before SAVE my payments were around $170, but now my payments have doubled to over $350.

I've read about there being some weird issue with doing forbearance on RAP and not having it count towards PSLF, but I'm not quite sure that it pertains to my situation because I don't expect to need it to count.

Questions

Does my plan make sense or am I cuckoo bananas? Is this reasonable? Are there other people in similar predicaments? Has this worked for others? How are y'all tackling the overpayment situation?

I got a email today saying my next payment is in 3/2027 and that it’s $2500. This is a huge increase and I’ve been consistently paying monthly. Does this have to do with me being due for income recert this year? I’m on the PAYE plan.

Hey all,

I’ve had autopay on my loans for the last 9+ years without problems, but since the July 1 rules, today is my first autopay happening on a Saturday and I’m paranoid. Usually I see the withdrawal of my autopay in my bank app first thing in the morning on my due date—but I don’t see anything now. Is this normal for a weekend autopay? Can someone else verify that their autopay on a weekend date still went through and backdated correctly? Or should I make a manual payment? (Though today sounds a crazy time to make my first manual payment in 118 months lol). Thank you!

I know several people have probably already mentioned this, but my PSLF payment count hasn’t updated since June. Every time I call, I’m told to just keep checking back. So we’re expected to resume making payments, but they can’t even keep our payment counts updated? It’s honestly pathetic.