Consumer complaint received 2022-08-29
Company: Leif Technologies Inc.
State: SC
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I was a student at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, formerly known as XXXX XXXX. I started on XX/XX/XXXX. I signed an income share agreement whereby I would pay 17 % of my salary for XXXX years upon successfully accepting a tech job where I primarily used the skills I would learn at XXXX XXXX if I was making {$50000.00} or more per year. The income share agreement and the payments involved were handled by an intermediary, Leif. I was a student until XX/XX/XXXX, where I became a XXXX XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I had done when I first started. In XXXX I accepted a job from XXXX XXXX, a XXXXXXXX XXXX company, as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I worked for them until XX/XX/XXXX when I was laid off for non-performative reasons. During this time I began to pay into the 17 % of my salary per month as was required by my ISA, each payment in full and on time. I began to re-attend XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX as I had not completed the full program when I left. I earned my certification from them around XX/XX/XXXX. I was unable to find any work until XXXX of that same year, where I worked a XXXX week contract job as a XXXX XXXX XXXX  for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I again paid out a chunk of my earnings on time from the contract job even though it wasn't salaried. I briefly attended a tech-finance development program with XXXX, a consulting company that would train me and other students to work at financial institutions as a XXXX XXXX XXXX, and they paid me for the training, but not enough for me to have to pay Leif. The training did not result in any job placement, and they ceased communications with me XX/XX/XXXX. After this time, I was unable to find any other relevant tech work. I asked the CEO, XXXX XXXX, if there was any way to get out of my contract early as I had no interest in continuing to pursue web development when I felt I had been inadequately prepared by the school. He told me no and that I would have to wait until 5 years since I signed the contract before it would expire ( XX/XX/XXXX ), but I would be able to avoid payments so long as I provided proof that I was not using the skills they had taught me at any other jobs I would take. This year Leif was especially aggressive with me during tax season, requiring more proof of my income the previous year than even the IRA was asking of me, threatening that I would be in breach of contract unless I supplied documents that were difficult to get from a contract position. They were doing so partly on the basis of my LinkedIn profile, of which I had no idea they had access to, because I had forgotten to update my work history on there and they believed I was still working at SEO. I complied with the necessary documents, updated my XXXX, and they left me alone. They have asked me to update my income multiple times since then, which I have always done on time and truthfully. It's been easy because I've been living below the poverty line and entirely dependent of the financial support of my mother to make rent and eat. In XX/XX/XXXX, I accepted a contract gig as a copywriter at Storybird Ads. From the end of XXXX until the beginning of XXXX, I made less than {$200.00} from the gig before I quit on amicable terms. Leif is now accusing me of making {$2400.00} in XXXX when I have not even made {$1000.00} total this year. They have provided no proof of where I made this income. I have reached out to both Leif and XXXX 's financial services to explain where this number is coming from. Leif has not responded whatsoever. XXXX XXXX XXXX has only re-iterated the terms of my contract with no explanation of the imaginary {$2400.00}. I sent a second email to Leif today again asking them to provide proof of where and when I made {$2400.00}. I understand my tone in this email which I supplied is less than professional, but I am at my wit 's end with them and have no patience anymore. After research over the past week, I have found that Leif has engaged in similar predatory practices against other students who have taken out ISAs with dodgy secondary educational institutions like XXXX XXXX. I also found out that XXXX has repeatedly inflated their job placement numbers to lure students like me in when in reality, it's essentially a coin flip of whether the program works or not. Most egregiously, their claim of a 100 % job placement rate of their first cohort which had been completed shortly and advertised before I joined was based on a very small sample size. So small in fact, that it was literally XXXX student. I also found out that when I first started attending and signed the XXXX, XXXX was operating illegally and that they had been asked to cease their program by the California XXXX for XXXX XXXX XXXX ( BPPE ) until they had complied with state regulations, and they were fined {$75000.00} accordingly while keeping the order by the XXXX a secret from students at the time. I have included my relevant bank statements from XXXX to XXXX where you will see that the only money coming in is from XXXX XXXX, my mother, again to help me pay for rent towards my renter, XXXX, food, and miscellaneous expenses. There is much, much more money going out than in because again, I have not held meaningful full time employment since XX/XX/XXXX. I have also included recent correspondence with Leif and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the terms of my contract, both in long and simplified form. I have blacked out or whited out personal info such as my name, email, irrelevant purchase history, previous addresses, etc. The only possible personal information I left in was my student ID and contract ID in my original contract. If you believe this will unnecessarily identify me until an appropriate time, I ask that you please take it out before submitting it to XXXX if you do so.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation