Trapped in forbearance
So, here is my situation. I was on track to get PSLF loan forgiveness in January 2026. I was placed in the SAVE forbearance in June 2024. Because I was so close to forgiveness, I thought it would be better to move to a different plan and just make the final payments. So, in February 2025, I applied to be moved to a new payment plan. Seven months later my application had still not been processed. I received an email advising me to apply again because it would be faster, so I did.
In November 2025, I received notification from MOHELA that I had been approved for a new plan and my repayments would start on December 21, 2025.
As of March 2026, however, no payments had been deducted from my checking account (I'm on autopay.) I called MOHELA in early March. I was told I was still in a forbearance (I believe she may have said it was an administrative forbearance) but she said my payments would restart on March 21, 2026.
As of the beginning of April, no payment had been deducted. I called MOHELA again on April 13, 2026, and was told that I was still in a forbearance but that they would push my account so I would be out of the forbearance and it would take 10 days.
I called yesterday (May 13, 2026) and was told I was still in the forbearance. I spoke with someone in resolutions and she said she didn't know why I was still in the forbearance. She said she sent an email to management that I wanted out of the forbearance and it would take 10 days.
I'm now completely demoralized, and I don't know what to do. I think I'm going to go ahead and apply for buyback. But obviously that may take years. I feel like the common advice for people is to just go ahead and switch payment plans and make the final payments. But MOHELA won't move me out of the forbearance so I can start making payments.
TLDR I was put in the SAVE forbearance and tried to switch to another plan rather than go the buyback route. But I've been trying to get onto another plan for over a year and I am still in a forbearance and not sure what to do.
Any advice on any actions I can take? Thanks in advance for any advice or responses.
Edited to correct dates and include TLDR