How to Make a Complaint About Your Student Loans

Under Washington State law, student loan servicers are required to meet certain requirements (for a full list, see RCW 31.04.405):

• Any fee assessed by a servicer must be assessed within 45 days of when it was incurred and must be clearly explained to the borrower within 30 days of when it was assessed
• Payments received must be accepted and credited within one business day
• The servicer must make reasonable attempts to comply with a borrower’s request for information about the student loan account
• Promptly correct any errors and refund any fees resulting from the servicer’s error
• If a borrower applies for a loan discharge or refund, the servicer must provide an explanation about any decisions made with respect to the application
• A borrower may submit a written request for more detailed information from a servicer, and the servicer must provide the information within 15 business days of receipt of the request.

If a new servicer acquires the right to service your student loan, the new servicer must notify the borrower no less than 45 days before the change and provide certain information about how to contact the servicer or obtain information about the loan.  The transfer of servicing will not affect any term or condition of the loan or any pending application to modify the loan.

For a complete list of the requirements for student loan servicers in Washington State, click on the following links:

• Requirements for student loan servicers - RCW 31.04.405
• Requirements for student loan modification servicers - RCW 31.04.415
• Requirements for student loan servicers – WAC 208-620-950
• Requirements related to responding to requests for information – WAC 208-620-960

If your student loan servicer has broken any of these laws or has provided false or misleading information, you may have grounds for submitting a complaint.

Before submitting a complaint, make sure you have information about your loan and any documents that support your complaint.  This includes:

• Any documents or communications that describe or summarize the problem
• Records that document what you have done to address the issue
• Any responses you’ve received from the loan servicer

For more information, check out the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Information Checklist to see what you should keep track of and report when filing a complaint.

The first step in submitting a complaint is to contact your student loan servicer. If you are not able to resolve the issue informally, you can file a formal complaint with your servicer’s Ombudsman.

After exhausting all available remedies through your servicer, if the problem is still unresolved you may file a complaint with one or more of the following:

• Washington State: for student loan issues protected by Washington laws (and not federal laws), fill out this form
• Department of Education: for issues with federal loan servicers or collection agencies, fill out this form
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: for issues with any student loans (including private loans), fill out this form.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): for issues with any third-party modification companies or a company that is not your servicer that you feel took advantage of you.

You should receive confirmation that your complaint has been submitted. If making a complaint to the Washington State Student Loan Advocate, please allow up to two weeks for a response.

If the person or department responding to your complaint requires additional information, you may be asked to send additional documentation to support your complaint. The more complete information you are able to provide, the better the person responding to your complaint will be able to advocate on your behalf. It may also be necessary for the person responding to your complaint to contact your student loan servicer for additional records.

Not all complaints may be able to be resolved. Assuming some resolution is possible, the amount of time it takes to resolve your complaint will vary depending on the circumstances.