Consumer complaint received 2017-02-05
Company: Social Finance, Inc.
State: NY
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:
My main issues are : 1 ) SoFi lost my loan. SoFi 's system does not show that I have a loan through SoFi, and customer service has refused to help me locate my loan. 
2 ) SoFi was misleading about its school deferment policy at the time I applied for a student loan, and the actual policy is unreasonable. 
3 ) SoFi 's Customer Service has no idea what its own terms are. When I called in and spoke to a Supervisor on the Customer Service line, I was given information that is blatantly false - that SoFi has NEVER offered student loan ( only student loan refinancing ) and that SoFi has no in-school deferment policy. 

When I applied through SoFi, I was informed that I could defer student loans if I returned to school. I tried to contact SoFi when I started XXXX school this XXXX. I was told to work through SoFi 's student loan servicer XXXX. The first SoFi/XXXX customer service representative said that it would be taken care of, but that, contrary to my prior understanding, I was still responsible for making monthly interest payments. Since my other loan provider ( for another student loan ) had taken care of this without my input, I had no reason to doubt this. When I noticed that my account was still being auto-debited for the full amount, I called in and was told that I had to submit a formal loan deferment application, which was not mentioned during my first call. After I submitted the application, it took three months to process. The deferment took effect after it finished processing and only applies for 3 months, from XXXX to XXXX of XXXX. This makes no sense. I have been in school and in contact with SoFi and XXXX since end of XXXX XXXX. Since the current deferment only applies to XXXX to XXXX, I have been billed full payments during months when I should only have been paying interest. Since a normal XXXX semester runs from XXXX to XXXX, I now have to go through this entire process again, 3-4 months ahead of time, in order to have my interest deferred for an additional month. I spoke to someone at XXXX, the loan servicer, and was told that this was SoFi 's policy and that I should speak to them to see if they could make any changes. 

When I called SoFi 's customer service line, I was told a number of things that are not true. First, I was told that I do not have a student loan through SoFi. I was told that their system shows no active student loans and only XXXX subsequent loan refinancing applications ( which were rejected ). When I escalated the issue to a Supervisor, I was told that SoFi does not provide any kind of in-school deferment and that SoFi has never provided student loans. At this point, I asked the supervisor how long he had been working with the company and he admitted that he had not started working for the company until some time after XXXX, which was when I received my student loan from SoFi. 
I asked the Supervisor if he could further escalate my case, but he said that he was the top of the chain. I asked if there was any way he could look into the matter, since I am certain that I do have a loan with SoFi and their records are incorrect. He said I could send documents to the general customer service line and they might open an investigation. I spent over an hour and a half speaking with SoFi 's customer service, and I am extremely frustrated that I am being forced to jump through so many hoops just to confirm that my loan, which I have been making payments on for 3 years, actually exists. I can not make any modifications to the loan repayment schedule, such as the in-school deferment period, because XXXX tells me that only SoFi has that authority, and SoFi refuses to acknowledge that I even have a loan with them. Please help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation