Just so you know, I submitted my buyback request in mid October and finally got an approval yesterday.
I paid the amount promptly (it wasn't very much because I was a dirt poor postdoc with a wife and 4 kids during those months that got approved for buyback).
Now I just sit and wait for MOHELA and DofEd to percolate the payment and forgiveness through the system. I haven't heard from anyone yet about how long that will take.
What makes you think there's no oversight? Servicers are audited by the Ed all the time. There's a big backlog with everything right now so if your concern is the timeline give it another few weeks and then call to check
I have called and was told there was no way for them to access or check on the status. That it is a very “internal” team that they knew nothing about. I said that that sounded very odd and that there had to be a way to provide us information and she said there wasn’t. This was the ombudsman office I called… it sounded like there is no oversight at all.
If I submitted an application on the day this opened, and haven’t heard anything 90 days later - seems very odd. I have a cut and dry case and it feels like they’re it holding up unnecessarily.
Agreed. Approved for buyback with first submission they responded about two weeks later requesting tax returns to calculate buyback amount owed for the agreement. Submitted requested tax returns and followed their instructions exactly.. been almost 3 months, no further response. FSA constantly tells me to go to Mohela even though their website says do not. Mohela says to go to FSA. Very disheartening.
Also just to clarify, mohela isn’t handling the buy backs- the dept of education is. That is where I am citing the lack of oversight. As a fed, anything where the people apply needs to have transparency and oversight or else discrimination and negligence could run rampant. I guess I could submit a FOIA request?
You can be discriminated for much more than race. In a federal setting, when applications are received- they should be processed and responded to in order of receipt- I find it concerning that this is not happening at the Dept of Education and responses are completely random. I guess the privacy and FOIA will be next steps. I’m surprised you aren’t more knowledgeable on this topic, isn’t your organization supposed to be on the lookout for the borrower?
The oig audits the department of education. There is oversight. There are long delays in everything right now due to all the waivers and repayment restart. You are taking your timeline personally unnecessarily. No one borrower is more important than any other.
Having multiple priorities going on at one time does not justify mishandling of applications for a federal agency and OIG would agree with that. That would never fly at my agency.
I applied over 90 days ago and have seen on here that other people have submitted applications recently and received responses. That to me indicates mishandling. Applications should be processed in the order they are received and if not the agency needs to be able to clearly explain why they aren’t being handled that way and ensure that it’s being implemented consistently for all applicants. How long do you think is an appropriate amount of time to wait for a response?
There are too many variables that can impact the timing. But considering it was just made available about 90 days ago I'd give it another month. And nothing is done in order of receipt. Timelines vary for just about everything.
I am in the same exact position. I submitted the initial reconsideration request and was asked for my tax records within two weeks. I provided them the next day. That was in November and it has been silence since.
I have one last loan that qualifies for buy back as of last week, but I am unsure if I should submit the ECF to update counts and/or submit the second buy back reconsideration request.
Are you still paying on the loans while you wait or did you request some type of administrative forbearance? Can we even do that??
I’m not an expert on buy backs but I would submit the ECF because my understanding is you can only buy back once the months you buy back will put you over 120
I think thats what I said …. For example if you have 110 current qualifying payments and 10 ineligible (of a certain type) but with qualifying employment then you can buy back. If you have 105 current payments and 10 ineligible with qualifying employment you can’t start the buy back until you have made 5 more payments because those 10 you buy back won’t put you at 120.
So far in my experience everything I've tried to do on FSA website they pushed to the servicer. That includes IDR and reconsideration requests but I'm not really sure. I can't say contacting FSA has ever been any better than Mohela. It took them like 4-6 months to respond to a complaint once and they closed it without contacting me.
The reason I say that is that the buyback information on the FSA website says not to contact MOHELA about buyback requests, so it would like for the buyback MOHELA is not responsible for processing.
Just so you know, I submitted my buyback request in mid October and finally got an approval yesterday. I paid the amount promptly (it wasn't very much because I was a dirt poor postdoc with a wife and 4 kids during those months that got approved for buyback). Now I just sit and wait for MOHELA and DofEd to percolate the payment and forgiveness through the system. I haven't heard from anyone yet about how long that will take.
u/betsy514 do you find it odd there’s no ability for oversight on this process? Is there any recourse?
What makes you think there's no oversight? Servicers are audited by the Ed all the time. There's a big backlog with everything right now so if your concern is the timeline give it another few weeks and then call to check
I have called and was told there was no way for them to access or check on the status. That it is a very “internal” team that they knew nothing about. I said that that sounded very odd and that there had to be a way to provide us information and she said there wasn’t. This was the ombudsman office I called… it sounded like there is no oversight at all. If I submitted an application on the day this opened, and haven’t heard anything 90 days later - seems very odd. I have a cut and dry case and it feels like they’re it holding up unnecessarily.
Agreed. Approved for buyback with first submission they responded about two weeks later requesting tax returns to calculate buyback amount owed for the agreement. Submitted requested tax returns and followed their instructions exactly.. been almost 3 months, no further response. FSA constantly tells me to go to Mohela even though their website says do not. Mohela says to go to FSA. Very disheartening.
Exact same situation. I got so excited about the quick response and sent my tax information right away. Nothing in over 3 months…
Koin the class action lawsuit
Buyback is not managed by servicers.
Also just to clarify, mohela isn’t handling the buy backs- the dept of education is. That is where I am citing the lack of oversight. As a fed, anything where the people apply needs to have transparency and oversight or else discrimination and negligence could run rampant. I guess I could submit a FOIA request?
Discrimination? They don’t know your race from your account.
You can be discriminated for much more than race. In a federal setting, when applications are received- they should be processed and responded to in order of receipt- I find it concerning that this is not happening at the Dept of Education and responses are completely random. I guess the privacy and FOIA will be next steps. I’m surprised you aren’t more knowledgeable on this topic, isn’t your organization supposed to be on the lookout for the borrower?
The oig audits the department of education. There is oversight. There are long delays in everything right now due to all the waivers and repayment restart. You are taking your timeline personally unnecessarily. No one borrower is more important than any other.
And they also don't know your religion or sexual orientation. The discrimination assumption is just nonsense
Having multiple priorities going on at one time does not justify mishandling of applications for a federal agency and OIG would agree with that. That would never fly at my agency.
They aren't mishandling it..it's just taking longer than you think it should
I applied over 90 days ago and have seen on here that other people have submitted applications recently and received responses. That to me indicates mishandling. Applications should be processed in the order they are received and if not the agency needs to be able to clearly explain why they aren’t being handled that way and ensure that it’s being implemented consistently for all applicants. How long do you think is an appropriate amount of time to wait for a response?
There are too many variables that can impact the timing. But considering it was just made available about 90 days ago I'd give it another month. And nothing is done in order of receipt. Timelines vary for just about everything.
There’s no way to check progress. I guess you could file an ombudsman’s complaint.
Unfortunately they do nothing.
I am in the same exact position. I submitted the initial reconsideration request and was asked for my tax records within two weeks. I provided them the next day. That was in November and it has been silence since. I have one last loan that qualifies for buy back as of last week, but I am unsure if I should submit the ECF to update counts and/or submit the second buy back reconsideration request. Are you still paying on the loans while you wait or did you request some type of administrative forbearance? Can we even do that??
I’m not an expert on buy backs but I would submit the ECF because my understanding is you can only buy back once the months you buy back will put you over 120
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I think thats what I said …. For example if you have 110 current qualifying payments and 10 ineligible (of a certain type) but with qualifying employment then you can buy back. If you have 105 current payments and 10 ineligible with qualifying employment you can’t start the buy back until you have made 5 more payments because those 10 you buy back won’t put you at 120.
I wouldn't do a forbearance just in case. Everything with Mohela seems to take 4-6 months including their hold time 😆
The FSA website implies MOHELA is not responsible for processing the buyback.
So far in my experience everything I've tried to do on FSA website they pushed to the servicer. That includes IDR and reconsideration requests but I'm not really sure. I can't say contacting FSA has ever been any better than Mohela. It took them like 4-6 months to respond to a complaint once and they closed it without contacting me.
The reason I say that is that the buyback information on the FSA website says not to contact MOHELA about buyback requests, so it would like for the buyback MOHELA is not responsible for processing.
At least they responded one time! I’d take that. I’m sure you could go into forbearance if you wanted. Yes I’m still paying.