Payroll, RealEstate & Finance · Student Loan Servicer · Regulatory action
MOHELA
Headline
As millions of borrowers prepared to resume payments after the COVID-19 pause, MOHELA quietly updated its website terms to prohibit borrowers from sharing screenshots of their OWN account information, publicising basic…
As millions of borrowers prepared to resume payments after the COVID-19 pause, MOHELA quietly updated its website terms to prohibit borrowers from sharing screenshots of their OWN account information, publicising basic loan-repayment information MOHELA itself had given them, or sharing account information with anyone - language advocates warned could be read to cover government regulators and consumer protection officials. The Student Borrower Protection Center and AFT formally warned the CFPB, FDIC and OCC that this may violate borrowers' federal right to obtain financial services free from deception and abuse; AFT's president called it corporate misbehaviour at its worst. This is a categorically different harm from the privacy findings that dominate this tracker: a company using its own terms of service to stop customers from documenting or reporting the company's alleged misconduct. AFT's suit alleges MOHELA failed 6.5 million borrowers, and a January 2026 amended complaint cites Education Department call data showing MOHELA's speed-to-answer and call-abandonment metrics were 'considerably worse than the other federal student loan servicers'.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-08-04
Primary source. protectborrowers.org/mohela-was-caught-lying-to-student-loan-borrowers-and-now-it-is-quietly-forcing-them-to-waive-their-rights/ — Verified - primary source confirmed.
Terms
Arbitration
Not independently confirmed this pass for a formal arbitration clause — but see the ToS restriction above, which functions as a DIFFERENT kind of rights-limiting mechanism (restricting what a customer can even DISCLOSE about their own account) rather than the more typical dispute-forum restriction.
Data sharing
PERHAPS THE SINGLE MOST STRIKING TERMS-OF-SERVICE FINDING IN THIS ENTIRE TRACKER: as millions of borrowers prepared to resume payments after the COVID-19 pause, MOHELA quietly UPDATED ITS WEBSITE TERMS OF SERVICE to prohibit borrowers from SHARING SCREENSHOTS of their own account information, publicizing basic loan-repayment information MOHELA itself provided to them, or sharing account information with ANYONE — which advocates warn could be read to include GOVERNMENT REGULATORS and consumer protection officials. The Student Borrower Protection Center and AFT formally warned the CFPB, FDIC, and OCC that this could violate borrowers' federal right to obtain financial services free from deception and abuse. AFT President Randi Weingarten called it 'corporate misbehavior at its worst.'
Fees and billing
MAJOR LITIGATION (pending as of the Jan 2026 amended complaint; later status not re-verified as of Oct 2026): the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sued MOHELA (July 2024), alleging it FAILED 6.5 MILLION BORROWERS through incorrect/misleading information, MISCALCULATED payments, and 'call deflection' tactics that make it difficult to resolve problems — an amended complaint (Jan 2026) cites new federal government data showing MOHELA's call speed-to-answer and abandonment metrics were 'considerably worse than the other federal student loan servicers'. MOHELA has separately been criticized for MISHANDLING the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program specifically, per a Senate hearing led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Contacts
Privacy contact. Not recorded.
Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
| Claim | Kind | Support | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. As borrowers prepared to resume payments after the COVID-19 pause, MOHELA updated its website terms. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 2. The terms prohibit borrowers from sharing screenshots of their own account information, publicising repayment information, or sharing account information with anyone. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 3. Advocates warned the language could be read to cover government regulators and consumer protection officials. | fact | unknown | none recorded |
| 4. The Student Borrower Protection Center and AFT formally warned the CFPB, FDIC and OCC. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 5. They warned this may violate borrowers' federal right to obtain financial services free from deception and abuse. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 6. AFT's president called it corporate misbehaviour at its worst. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 7. This is a categorically different harm: a company using its terms to stop customers documenting or reporting alleged misconduct. | characterization | n/a | none recorded |
| 8. AFT's suit alleges MOHELA failed 6.5 million borrowers. | fact | unsupported | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 9. A January 2026 amended complaint cites federal data ranking MOHELA's customer service worst among five major federal servicers. | fact | unsupported | 1 (0 confirmed) |
1 of 9 claims have a confirmed source of their own.
Sources
| Source | Claim | Tier | Status | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| court · 2026-01-15 protectborrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/D.D.C.-24-cv-02460-dckt-000050_000-filed-2026-01-15.pdf | Claim 8 | Unassigned | confirmed | “traps more than 6.5 million borrowers in a system of its own design” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| court · 2026-01-15 protectborrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/D.D.C.-24-cv-02460-dckt-000050_000-filed-2026-01-15.pdf | Claim 9 | Unassigned | corrected | “considerably worse than the other federal student loan servicers” Quote basis: not recorded. |
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy mohela.com/DL/help/privacyPolicy.aspx (specific URL not independently confirmed this pass) | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Terms of service mohela.com/DL/help/termsOfUse.aspx (specific URL not independently confirmed this pass) | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://protectborrowers.org/mohela-was-caught-lying-to-student-loan-borrowers-and-now-it-is-quietly-forcing-them-to-waive-their-rights/ Verification: Verified - primary source confirmed | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No HQ state on file, so no state statute applies by headquarters.