Consumer complaint received 2024-05-29
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: EdFinancial Services (HI)

I write to request assistance in getting clear answers regarding discharge and refunds I am entitled to under XX/XX/XXXX and the IDR Waiver Adjustment. I took out loans to attend XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) and XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX ). These loans are eligible for discharge via theXX/XX/XXXX case. A third loan, for XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX) should be discharged under the Dept. of Educations ( ED ) one-time waiver adjustment.

I. BACKGROUND ON STUDENT LOANS My loan history is as follows : -XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXXloans that entered into payment status on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX loans that entered into payment status on XX/XX/XXXX. 

-XX/XX/XXXX: A mix of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX loans entered that into repayment on XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX. 

My XXXX loans were serviced by the following : ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX ) and ( XXXX ) Nelnet ( XXXX ). 

The XXXX Loans were serviced by XXXX ( XXXX ). 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX and XXXX loans were consolidated ( the XXXX Consolidation '' ) into an XXXX consolidation loan, which was serviced by XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( " XXXX ). XXXX serviced the 1st Consolidation from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 

My XX/XX/XXXX loans were originally serviced by both XX/XX/XXXXand XXXX XXXX, aka XX/XX/XXXX. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX all of my XXXX loans and the previously consolidated XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX loans were combined into a XX/XX/XXXX loans ( subsidized and unsubsidized ) with XX/XX/XXXX( the 2nd Consolidation ). After XXXX stopped servicing federal student loans altogether, EdFinancial took over and is the current servicer of my XXXX XXXX loan ( the XX/XX/XXXX ). 

II. BORROWER DEFENSE APPLICATION HISTORY On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed Borrower Defense Applications for my XXXX ( XX/XX/0152 ) and XXXX ( XX/XX/0152) loans, respectively. Due to these XX/XX/XXXXapplications, I am a class member in the XX/XX/XXXX. My XXXX XXXX application is eligible for discharge as an Exhibit C school. My XXXX XXXX XXXX ( I attended prior to ownership by XXXX XXXX ) is part of the XX/XX/XXXX 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I initially received notice that both XX/XX/XXXXApplications were denied, and an interest credit of {$12000.00} would be applied to my account because it took XXXX an extended period of time to review my claim. See, XX/XX/XXXX Correspondence from XXXX attached. I have been unable to verify whether XXXX properly applied the interest credit to my account. 

After the Settlement Agreement was approved in XXXX XXXX XXXX, both XX/XX/XXXXdenials were rescinded. By XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from ED, advising me that my XXXX XXXX application would be re-reviewed. Specifically, the letter states that : Your federal loans will stay in forbearance or stopped collection status until your application is granted or denied and any relief is provided. For this period of forbearance or stopped collection status, the Department will not make you pay any interest that accrues on your federal loans.

The Settlement Agreement also meant that my XXXX loan would be discharged via the automatic discharge provision as XXXX is an Exhibit C school. I received confirmation of this via an email from ED on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, ED notified me that my XXXX XXXX application had been approved and that the loans were eligible for discharge. 

Even with two XXXX XXXX approvals, little activity has occurred on my account. That is why it came as a huge shock when I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from EdFinancial stating that they discharged 100 % of my XXXX loans : {$31000.00} in principal, and {$10000.00} towards interest because it took an extended period of time to review my claim. See, XX/XX/XXXX EdFinancial letter attached.

I also attach EdFinancials payment account history from its website as of XX/XX/XXXX. As you can see, it reflects none of the adjustments or credits stated in the XX/XX/XXXX letter. If you review my EdFinancial account history, the only credits and/or adjustments after made to my account are as follows : {$5300.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and {$2800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Where is the alleged {$31000.00} that was 100 % discharged? Where is the {$10000.00} interest credit? To put things in perspective, my starting balance at the time EdFinancial took over my loans was {$150000.00}. As of XX/XX/XXXX, my balance with EdFinancial is {$140000.00}. How is it that my discharge is complete when my {$30000.00} + {$10000.00} discharge resulted in a net different of {$13000.00}?

Even more troubling is that EdFinancial inexplicably added back {$12000.00} as interest, back-dating the charge to XX/XX/XXXX. This is in the exact same amount of interest credit I was entitled to receive when my XX/XX/XXXXApplications were denied on XX/XX/XXXX. To add insult to injury, credit adjustments were made on XX/XX/XXXX for {$2800.00} ; however, all of this was applied to interest, which had now ballooned due to EdFinancial charging me {$12000.00} in interest. Keep in mind that the {$12000.00} in interest that was supposed to be credited accrued prior to XX/XX/XXXX, and includes interest that accrued while all my loans were consolidated ( XXXX, XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX). It is completely inappropriate to be re-assessed this full amount of interest, which basically accrued prior to any of my loans being discharged. It is also unfair to after-the-fact try and tack this back on, after being advised that it would be removed.

It is HIGHLY DISTRESSING to see, after my discharge is 100 % complete letter that ( a ) none of the supposed credits or discharged amounts even show up in EdFinancials account history, ( b ) only smaller amounts were discharged {$5300.00} and {$2800.00}, ( c ) it doesnt appear that deductions were made to account for interest that accrued, capitalized, or interest that I paid for prior over the course of the loans lifetime, and the coup d'tat : seeing my balance drastically increase due to unexpalined interest charges.

When I questioned EdFinancial on this, they indicated they have no record of even sending me the XX/XX/XXXX letter and that my discharge is still processing. They had no idea why the interest was added, stating they were instructed to do so by ED. EdFinancial has no idea on when or whether a refund should be issued. They know absolutely nothing. What is the point of even having a loan servicer if they cant answer a basic question such as why interest was added to my account? These confusing messages are frustrating and are symptomatic of how disjointed this entire process has been for each class member and all student loans borrowers overall. I am tilting at windmills and see no end in sight and feel that I am being victimized by continued bungling of my accounts. This is crushing, after holding out such hope that I would see some form of relief.

More recently, on XX/XX/XXXX, i spoke by phone conf w/ an Edfinancial customer service agent, by the name of XXXX . I asked him to explain about what instructions EdFinancial received from ED regarding the large interest charge. 

XXXX confirmed a XX/XX/XXXX notation someone EdFinancial had made, indicated that per XX/XX/XXXXemail w/ borrower defense write off portion of interest due to delayed process : applied {$960.00} XXXX ( loan XXXX ) ; {$1800.00} XXXX ( loan XXXX ) interest credits. It also noted " w/ new interest CREDIT prev [ previous ] applied on XX/XX/XXXX for {$4900.00} XXXX and {$7800.00} XXXX has been reapplied to loans. '' I asked him for clarification regarding the {$4900.00} and {$7800.00} amounts. XXXX indicated that those should be applied as credits. I asked him to review account history to see credits/debits applied to my account and tell me what he sees. This is interesting he says. It shows the write off on XX/XX/XXXX : {$2800.00}. Then he acknowledges he saw : {$12000.00} ( which is the grand total of {$4900.00} and {$7800.00} ) was ADDED to my account as a charge. I asked him to confirm additional credits he saw on my account. He confirmed that after the XX/XX/XXXX was added back to my account, that a {$2800.00} credit was then applied against the XX/XX/XXXXXXXX interest that was wrongly added to my account. 
I advised him that due to this error : -Since the XX/XX/XXXX wasnt applied properly as a credit, interest is accruing daily on an incorrect, higher principal balance ; -Instead of the {$2800.00} being applied properly as a credit against my balance, it was applied to the wrongfully added XX/XX/XXXX, thus diluting my overall discharge to which I am entitled. 

-I advised that if further credits come in and/or discharge requests come in from ED it will now be applied to an incorrect balance, due to the incorrect addition of XX/XX/XXXX to my account, along with the daily interest rate continuing to accrue. 

XXXX says : sees my complaints : on this : Says XX/XX/XXXX[ customer resolution unit ] team taking a look at it. Trying to figure out how to resolve it. He asked if I recd any resopnses from XX/XX/XXXX? I told him yes, I recd several emails from Edfinancial saying they are looking into it that my account is in admin forbearance, that this request has been given emergency status I asked which dept entered XX/XX/XXXXXXXX interest credit as a charge. He says it was entered Edfinancials Finance dept. 
I asked him when was XX/XX/XXXX added as a charge to the account : It was entered on XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. The code for entry : XXXX [ Per XXXX, payments & billing code ]. Comment about XX/XX/XXXX addition is the per XX/XX/XXXXemail as cited above. 

I asked him to explain why the XX/XX/XXXX in interest, being that it was entered to my account on XX/XX/XXXX, why was it back dated to XX/XX/XXXX. He says the notes dont explain why and he cant give me an explanation as to why it was back dated. While he acknowledged the error, he can not tell me when it will get fixed.

III. XXXX MISSING PAYMENT HISTORY POST-CONSOLIDATION Student loan payments I made after the 2nd Consolidation with XX/XX/XXXX( between XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX that total approximately {$1400.00} ) are missing from my payment history. ( Refer to my Student Aid Feedback XXXX # XXXX ). XXXX assured me they would look into this, but it was never resolved. EdFinancial, as the successor servicer, also shows that I made no payments after XX/XX/XXXX. Considering that I was on an IDR plan, missing payments have major consequences. Notably, these missing payments are crucial to have for my loan servicer to be able to calculate my refund payment under XX/XX/XXXX, as payments made during that time period were after the 2nd Consolidation, and paid towards both my XXXX and XXXX loans. 

In XXXX XXXX XXXX filed on XX/XX/XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, he indicated that for borrowers with loans transferred from decommissioned servicers, obtaining additional payment information can be difficult if not impossible. As a borrower who has three loan servicers who are no longer in operation since loan inception, ( XXXX, XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX), and who actually has payments missing from my account history through XXXX, I have grave concerns this means that I will be short-changed on the relief to which I am entitled.

IV. ONE TIME WAIVER ADJUSTMENT STATUS Per EDs IDR one-time waiver adjustment, I am entitled to total discharge of all of my loans. My graduate loans were consolidated with my oldest undergraduate loans in XXXX. Since my oldest loan has been in repayment status since XXXX, I have now surpassed 25 years mark of payment months. Per guidance on EDs website regarding the one-time waiver adjustment [ a ] ssuming your repayment history overlaps for each loan, the consolidation loan will be credited with the longest amount of time in repayment of the loans that were consolidated. As I am not receiving any form of monetary refund for payments held under XXXX loans, those payment should count towards IDR payment months. In light of EDs acknowledgment of missing payment history, and indeed, I have three decomissioned loan servicers in my loan history, I am concerned that I am not being given the proper payment credits, because I I have yet to receive any notice that all my loans qualify for forgiveness due to reaching the 300 month payment mark.

V. CONCLUSION Based on the above issues, I request detailed answers to the following questions : Why did EdFinancial charge me {$12000.00}, back dated to XX/XX/XXXX, which shouldve been applied as a credit on my account? 

Why is my payment history missing and what will ED do to resolve this prior to calculating my refund amount?

Does EdFinancials have a complete payment history for my XXXX and XXXX loans since inception from all prior loan servicers, including XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX from XXXX through the present? 

If EdFinancial is unable to obtain my entire payment /account history since the loans inception, advise me immediately as to : ( i ) Which specific servicers records are missing ; ( ii ) How will Edfinancial calculate interest I paid over the loans life history, which I am entitled to receive credit for as part of my settlement relief ; ( iii ) How will Edfi calculate the interest amounts that accrued over and above the amount of interest paid, which also should be credited as part of my settlement relief ; ( iv ) How will Edfi calculate my refund payments where servicers records are missing, including my missing XX/XX/XXXXpayments. 

( v ) Where loan servicer payment history is confirmed missing, how will this impact my IDR one-time waiver adjustment for the period of time where payment history is missing; and ( vi ) Where loan servicer payment history is confirmed missing, how can Edfi legally continue to collect on my debt?

Provide confirmation that discharge of my loans through XX/XX/XXXX will not impact my eligibility for the IDR one time waiver adjustment, since I will not be receving a refund on any amounts paid on XXXX Loans ; I require confirmation in writing about EDs position for IDR waiver adjustment counts for those who do receive discharge under XX/XX/XXXX who also had loans consolidated with non-eligible schools?

What exact instructions has ED provided to EdFinancial in regards to discharging my XXXX XXXX, including amounts to be discharged for principal and interest.

For the {$10000.00} interest credit that was supposed to be applied pursuant to my discharge letter, what period of time does this interest cover? When will this be applied to my account?

For the {$31000.00} in principal discharge that was supposed to be applied to my account when will this reflected?

What is the amount of interest that accured and capitalized on my XXXX loan since inception that is being applied as a credit to my account? 

What is the status of my refund? I was expecting a refund by XX/XX/XXXX. The delay has caused me to incur hefty interest for expenses I had to charge to my credit card because I did not receive the funds timely.