Consumer complaint received 2021-10-13
Company: Summit Horizon Financial Services
State: MI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
XX/XX/2021 I was contacted by a male with an accent who identified themselves as " XXXX XXXX '' though federal student aid department of education. He stated that I am eligible for the public service loan forgiveness program through the federal government program to provide student debt relief. 

I was then forwarded to another female also with an accent who identified herself as " XXXX XXXX '' as a personal student loan agent through federal student aid department of education. I was given a number that I was told was the direct line to her as my personal agent XXXX which I called and was no longer in service. The emails and documents that were sent to me through " XXXX '' no longer appear on my XXXX  service. ( I only have them since they were forwarded to my XXXX ) She stated she had reviewed my file and that I qualified for this public service loan forgiveness program and could have my student loans forgiven and she would be able to facilitate this process. I have not received any other correspondence from this person. 

This person had my all my personal information and was able to reset my password on the student aid.gov website. She went through the application process on student aid.gov and finished a loan consolidation process under the expectation that I was going to get this public service loan forgiveness program. She had my employer and assured me that my employer qualified. 

I was then sent a contract to sign through " Summit Horizon Financial Services '' and a charge for {$900.00} that I was told was part of my loan payment. 

The next day I was sent an email that there was suspicious activity on my studentaid.gov account. 

I called an agent through the ombudsman department of Federal student aid, she stated that no third party should have access to my account and that all actions on loans should be done through directly through the department of education. I should not have been charged a fee for this process as that it is completely free through the Department of Education. My employer is a corporate for profit hospital that does not even qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. I was advised to file a complaint through Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agent that I talked to told me they have no affiliation with this Summit Horizon Financial Services and there is no XXXX XXXX at the Department of Education. I currently have a claim complaint # XXXX through the Department of Education. 

I call Summit Horizon Financial Services XXXX and they said that my application was correct and that the information given to me was correct. They were unable to provide any information or help with resolving this matter. They said that the consolidation process is complete and there would be no refund. 

Everything about this process was suspicious and inaccurate. This mysterious person had all of my information and claimed to be part of the Department of Education which was false. They claimed that I should consolidate my loans since I qualified for this Public Service Loan forgiveness program which was false. They claimed that the I needed to pay {$900.00} dollars and was told it was part of my loan payment which was false.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation