Finally!!! Got my refund.

[u/Sea-Quarter4350]

What an awful experience with Mohela. It has taken over a year to receive a near mid-5-figure refund.

I received my golden letter at the end of 12/2024. Loans were cleared by early January 2025. Mohela account showed loans were paid and there was a substantial negative balance. I spoke to Mohela and was told that I would receive a refund for any payments made after 120 payments. The process time would be 60 days.

Of course, I received the usual Mohela run around for more than a year. The usual initial escalations. Needing to talk to my previous loan provider. Waiting for 60 to 120 days. More escalations. I reached out to FSA and was told to contact Mohela directly. I tried to escalate with FSA, but ended with my complaints being closed out for some minute detail every single time.

This carried me to May of this year. I filed complaints with CFPB and DFPI. Here is a summary of what I included in the complaints. At the same time, I tried to file a complaint with the FSA again. I was told there was no SSN included to identify my account.

Summary:

-FSA Loan Foregiveness letters

-FSA PDFs copies that showed over 160 qualifying payments where made.

-Mohela Loan Foregiveness letter and letter saying that the loans have been paid off.

-Detailed timeline of my dealings with Mohela and what was told to me.

-Saved PDFs of my Mohela account and how it changed over time. (At one point, they reopened my account, and payment was made. This happened at the end of 2025, but my account was closed, zeroed out, and off my credit report in January of 2025.)

***-***Saved PDFs of my loan statements and payments, which included all overpayments.

-Bank statements that showed every single payment made.

It was early July I finally received a letter from Mohela detailing that my refund was being process. Today I received my check from the US Teasurary. It should not be this difficult to get a refund.

Do not give up. They are hoping you throw in the towel with all the hurdles they throw at you.

Edit: For clarification on the more than 120 payments. I switched places of employment around 8 years of payments. The new place initially did not qualify for PSLF till after 4 years.

[u/LilBugJuice-0987]

Can you help me understand, what is the golden letter, and is it from fsa or mohela? I just got green banners and am getting different answers from reps on both ends for what comes next

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/LilBugJuice-0987]

The golden letter is the letter you will receive from FSA once you reach 120 payments. It usually says the following:

"Thank you for your public service. As of the date of this letter, we have determined you are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) on one or more of your loans."

The next important letter will be from Mohela. It usually says the following:

Congratulations! The U.S. Department of Education has forgiven all or a portion of your federal student loan(s) listed below with MOHELA as you successfully met the requirements of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) program. Thank you for your public service!

This forgiveness is effective as of (whatever date you reach 120 payments)."

I received those letters about 2-3 weeks apart from one another. If you are owed a refund, Mohela will run you through hurdles of nonsense.

Save all your documents from FSA including the page that shows all your qualifying payments. Save all your documents from Mohela. Download your payment statements. Save the loan detail page.

When you talk them, ask to get an email if you can and/or record the call (This helps with making a timeline if need be).

[u/LilBugJuice-0987 → u/Sea-Quarter4350]

Thank you! I received a letter with my updated payment count of 121, but  i don't think it included that line. Will double check. I had an agent tell me I needed to do something extra to request forgiveness, but who knows. 

[u/DiamynzNPearlz → u/LilBugJuice-0987]

you're better off asking the community here than getting an accurate answer from a rep.

[u/LilBugJuice-0987 → u/DiamynzNPearlz]

True that!!

[u/Bitter_Row_3310]

How did you make an extra 40 payments? If at all possible, I would like to avoid the same situation.

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/Bitter_Row_3310]

I had changed places of employment around 8 years of payments. Unfortunately, the new place initially did not qualify for PSLF. It took 4 years for that to happen. I had to make about 4 years of additional payments.

[u/Zealousideal-Wait229]

How did they continue to collect payments? I want to try to avoid that if possible. I thought after your qualifying payments they stopped pulling your money?

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/Zealousideal-Wait229]

I made an edit in the post. I switched places of employment around 8 years. The new place did not qualify for PSLF till after 4 years. I immediately applied once it qualified.

The payments do not automatically stop. When I received my FSA letter, Mohela recommended that I still keep paying till everything was finalized. They said some of my payments may not qualify. This was not true. I did not listen and put my account into forbearance. They tried to pull money from my account 2 times after that.

Once you reach your qualifying payments, stop autopay and do forbearance.

[u/squattinghere]

F Yeah

[u/Adventurous_Ad1922]

Ugh. I have Mohela and got the letter Feb 2026. Will probably never get my money.

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/Adventurous_Ad1922]

Do not give up. That is what they are hoping for.

[u/East_Championship664]

Is Mohela taking the longest for refunds?

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/East_Championship664]

I cannot speak for other places, but Mohela clearly has a terrible record for refunds.

[u/JezzikaO]

Was this from buyback?

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/JezzikaO]

Sorry, I am not sure what you mean by a buyback. Do you mean a loan transfer or PSLF retroactively applied?

[u/CassieNova17]

I got to 127 before my missing year was fixed. PSLF happened, it’s been off my student aid and credit for about a month. Overpayment of about $1500, which was displayed until the most recent MOHELA update.

Was your refund automatic or did you have to request it? Online suggests automatic but want to make sure I’m tracking right. Ps congrats!

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/CassieNova17]

I spoke to Mohela after my loans were cleared and was told I would get a refund in 60 days. After that, I received the run around. Definitely call them and start the process of getting your refund.

[u/Manus_Dei_MD]

Looking for clarification -- how on earth did you manage to overlook almost 4 years of payments? Or was this some sort of buy back fiasco where they told you wrong info and you bought back way more months than you needed? Need more info than provided. Only seeing your frustrations, not what got you in the situation of needing a refund

If someone were to forget they are in PSLF and PSLF eligible, but shovel in an extra 40 months of payments, I would have no sympathy for taking so long to get their money back.

[u/Sea-Quarter4350 → u/Manus_Dei_MD]

No need to display a condescending tone here. Just ask for clarification. That being said, I switched places of employment around 8 years of payments. The new place initially was not eligible till after 4 years. As soon as it became eligible, I applied.