More than 400K student loan borrowers wrongfully overcharged on monthly payments

More than 400K student loan borrowers wrongfully overcharged on monthly payments

I know that we have all been feeling the pressures of student loan payments coming for our pockets, especially with them starting back this month.

It feels like good news is rare when it comes to the fight to cancel these loans. Still, there is nothing I love more than when the feet of the people with the power and purse strings are held to the fire. This week the U.S. Department of Education held MOHELA, a student loan servicer, accountable for wrongfully overcharging more than 400,000 student loan borrowers on their monthly payments.

Some borrowers who switched to the Biden Administration’s latest income-driven repayment plan, SAVE, which bases borrowers’ monthly payments on their income and family size, were charged the wrong payment amount. The new SAVE plan replaced the former income-driven repayment plan, called REPAYE. In the transition, many borrowers under MOHELA were charged the wrong payment amounts.

We love accountability around these parts. Now all borrowers who paid too much will receive a refund from MOHELA.

Unfortunately, while the U.S. Department of Education found discrepancies with borrowers being overcharged, they also found that some borrowers were undercharged.

Read more: HBCUs have been shortchanged by $12 billion, cabinet secretaries tell governors

The U.S. Department of Education has now requested that customers of loan services like MOHELA, whose payments were miscalculated, be placed in administrative forbearance until the correct payment amounts can be calculated.

If your loan servicer is MOHELA or you have concerns about your student loan debt repayment plan, be sure to contact your loan servicer as soon as possible.

Read more about the miscalculations of student loan payments here.

Did you know Starbucks gives you a free drink on your birthday? Or that Sephora gives you a mini-set? Today I will be going around collecting all of my free birthday treats. I will be capitalizing on all of the free goodies, and I hope when your birthday rolls around you will too. Here are a few of my favorite places to get a free gift on my birthday:

  • Chick-fil-A – All members of the Chick-fil-A One program receive a free birthday reward.
  • Krispy Kreme – Their More Smiles rewards program means getting a free treat any time during your birthday month.
  • Starbucks – As a Starbucks Rewards member, you get a free beverage or food item on your birthday as long as you’ve made at least one purchase previously.
  • Ulta – Get a free gift on your birthday. And if you’re Platinum or Diamond, you get an extra birthday gift.

If these don’t tickle your fancy, here are 50 more places that will give you free stuff on your birthday.