Consumer complaint received 2017-01-06
Company: LendKey Technologies, Inc.
State: PA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Non-federal student loan
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about my loan

Complaint:
This is a loan I originally took out through XXXX XXXX but refinanced into XXXX with the XXXX XXXX XXXX New Jersey, who sold the loan to Lendkey/XXXX. Since being with LendkeyXXXX, I have been met with awful handling of my account, loan, and information. Almost every time I call, whether I call Lendkey or XXXX, it feels that I am always transferred to the other XXXX. Sometimes, I will be passed back and forth between the XXXX until XXXX of them figures it out! In XXXX of XXXX, I realized that this company had started to charge me double what I had been paying XXXX from {$220.00} to almost {$500.00}! ), without any notice whatsoever! When I called, they reminded me of my two year agreement that had just ended and could not be renegotiated. Ethically and morally, a loan company should want the success of their clients, and should inform them of any upcoming changes to the account. Anything less than this should be considered blatant predatory behavior, with an intention of malice. Being that LendkeyXXXX did not share this viewpoint, I was forced to put the account into forbearance until I was able to find a new company. This forbearance process ended up taking until XXXX to complete ( that 's four months XXXX, as their fax machine first would not accept my form and the employee I was in contact with stopped responding to my e-mails ( including the e-mailed forbearance form which I had no other way to send to them XXXX. 
When I finally found and set up a refinancing company ( back to XXXX XXXX, the payoff finally went through around XXXX XXXX, XXXX - the same day that Lendkey/XXXX added my next month 's XXXX XXXX 's ) increase. This left XXXX {$470.00} in the account, which I was not informed of. XXXX was also when my forbearance ended, but I was not informed that I still had payments to make. Again, this is where a company should want the success of their clients, not their failure. Fast forward to XXXX XXXX about XXXX3 weeks ago ) when I received a letter saying I was about {$100.00} past due. As a teacher, I finally had time to call to sort out this problem over my winter vacation ( last week, around XXXX XXXX ). I was told about the issue and that multiple notices were sent to my house, which I never saw until the XXXX letter in XXXX. I was also told that the late fees would not be removed but I could go back onto forbearance. Remind you, this conversation was last week. 
Today I called them because I wanted to pay {$75.00} towards the account balance, but could not figure it out on their severely outdated user account page. When I called, I was told that my account was sent to collections, although I had only received XXXX notice about a late payment and had just called less than 10 days ago about the account. After threatening to file a complaint, the costumer service representative was able to have his supervisor remove the account from collections and allow me to finally make a payment on it. 

This company has repeatedly shown a lack of professionalism and care towards their clients. They are the type of company that will lead to the continued crushing of our economy as students are continuously unable to use their income to help the economy grow as they are forever being held down by these inescapable loans. I, myself, am a college graduate who struggles to meet ends meet as a teacher, all because of my student loans. I have worked hard to contribute to the society around me and be a positive member of my community. Student loan companies such as this directly hinder any attempt at an honest, American life. It is a shame that companies like this are allowed to control the lives of generations to come and it is truly terrifying to consider where we will be only 20 years from now with no one who will be able to contribute to our economy.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation