A millennial paid off his $18,000 student debt load. 4 months later, the payment still hasn't processed and his balance is even bigger.

• Xiong Chang made an $18,000 payment on his remaining student-loan balance in June.
• But it hasn't been processed yet, and his balance has grown due to interest.

Xiong Chang, 38, wanted to be rid of his student-debt burden once and for all.

On June 9, he made a payment of $18,919.58 to his servicer Nelnet, and he received an email — reviewed by Insider — confirming his payment with a message that it would be posted to his account within 48 business hours.

But it's been over four months since he made that payment, and it still is not reflected in his account. In fact, his balance has grown due to interest that started accruing on September 1. According to his account, his balance now stands at $19,019.44 — with $96 in accrued interest.

"I'm starting to be worried because I was told this would be taken care of, but it still hasn't been dissolved and I want to know what's going on," Xiong, 38, said.

He now has a monthly payment of just over $200 due on October 15 that he doesn't want to make since he already paid off his remaining balance. But inability to reach his servicer for guidance is leaving him in a state of financial limbo, and he risks his account being marked as past-due despite not actually owing anything.

Over the past few weeks, millions of federal borrowers have been making the transition back into repayment after an over three-year pandemic pause. While some borrowers started making payments before their bills were due, others have been struggling as a result of a range of hurdles, including poor customer service and delays — and inaccuracies — with processing paperwork for repayment and forgiveness programs.

President Joe Biden's administration has acknowledged the hurdles on numerous occasions. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal, for example, previously told Insider that "student-loan programs are very, very complicated, and the servicers do not have the funding that we would like to give them to better serve borrowers."

However, there's nothing borrowers can do about a lack of funding, and with payments becoming due, the need for clear communication from servicers is all the more urgent.

"I've been trying to find an answer or solution, and it's crossed my mind to take legal action," Xiong said. "It could be too much of a hassle, but at the same time, is it going to be worth the time? Because that's quite a lot of money I paid off to just let it slide and wait until who knows what."

'Not much you can do except keep trying'

Aside from frequently calling his servicer, Xiong said he has also filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because "it's probably better than doing nothing and calling just to get the same answer."

It's an issue many other borrowers are likely familiar with. As Insider has previously reported, both the Education Department and servicers have said there are not enough resources to ensure a smooth transition back into repayment. Congress has the power to boost those resources by increasing funding for Federal Student Aid, but with Republicans holding a majority over the House, that boost is unlikely to happen.

That means hours-long hold times for borrowers to reach customer service, automated responses to email inquiries, and extreme delays processing paperwork. One student-loan company MOHELA even said in August that due to limited funding, it expects customer service delays to extend "well into 2024."

"There's not much you can do except keep trying," Xiong said. Still, the issues borrowers are encountering has both lawmakers and state officials concerned — a group of attorneys general recently called for all borrowers who are dealing with account errors to be placed on administrative forbearance, without interest growing, until the servicer addresses the issue.

"It does affect my current situation because me and my wife and I recently bought a house, and we were planning to do some upgrades," Xiong said. "But with what is going on, it's hard to plan those things. I don't know if we're going to proceed until we get this situated first."