Complaint Review: Performant

 In April of 2014 I received calls from Performant regarding my defaulted Iowa Student Loans.  I verbally agreed to their Rehabilitation program, paying two payments of $100 and allowing $65 to be drafted monthly from my account, with the agreement that within 9 months my Student Loans would no longer be classified as Collection/Defaulted in my credit report.  In May of 2015, I applied for a home mortgage.  It was then that I realized that Performant had never updated my Student Loans from collection status. 

In may of 2015, I called Performant, spoke with Hanna Greene.  Hannah told me that my payment would need to increase in order for my loans to begin reporting correctly.  I completed two different docusign documents then never heard from her.  I called and emailed, she never replied.  All the while, Performant continued to draft $65 a month.

In September I called and spoke with Brian Johnson.  Allegedly, he needed the same documentation Hannah did, in order to release my loans from collection.  He alleged that if my payments increased to $112 a month, I would then be able to have my loans no longer show as a Collection. 

Obviously, I was livid.  1: after the inital 9 months, no one called to tell me that he loans had to be sold back to Iowa Student Loans and that my payment would increase, they just continued to draft the $65/mth.

I asked to speak with someone who could retroactive my account to the credit agencies, showing that I've been diligently making the payments, however Performant failed on their end.

After and bunch of unprofessional blind transfers I was connected with Cathy.  Cathy informed me that my account had NEVER been in a Rehabilitation program from the beginning.  I was in a Payment Agreement.  No one, and I cannot write that enough, no one, EVER contacted me after I agreed to allow $65 to be drafted to begin the Rehabilitation Program, contacted me to inform me that I allegedly did not qualify for that, but I was being placed in a Payment Arrangement.

Cathy informed me that if I would allow them to draft $112 a month, I would qualify for the alleged Rehabilitation Program, and after 9 months, my loans would then reflect as being current. 

I asked her if she thought I was insane, becuase surely only an insane person would agree to increase a payment for a service that they ALREADY believed they were on.

She informed me that she could discontinue my $65 a month draft, but then I would have my paychecks garnished.

Basically, this company has been drafting $65 a month, for over a year, under the pretenses of resolving my defaulted Student Loans, but has yet to even enter me into the alleged Rehabilitation Program.

There is no way this can be legal!  It is ludicrous to me that they are still in business when they're obviously scamming people. I have 18 months of payments that do not at all reflect on my credit report.

Ideally, I would like to sue this company for lying about their program and drafting money under false pretenses.