Consumer complaint received 2024-02-17
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: EdFinancial Services (MN)

My Complaint : I paid off my student loans during XXXX while interest was paused. I contacted EdFinancial asking if I qualified for the student loan refund of {$10000.00}. I received a {$10000.00} check in the mail on XX/XX/XXXX with no other information. 

More than 10 months passed and I did not receive any information from EdFinancial. During this time I purchased a home in which I used the {$10000.00} to go towards the down payment. On XX/XX/XXXX I receive an email from EdFinancial that I have a new billing statement. No information is provided on why I have a new billing statement and a new {$10000.00} loan. 

There was no communication the entire time from EdFinancial that the check I received was conditionally approved and could turn into a new {$10000.00} loan accruing interest. I would have made different decisions about how to handle that money so that if needed, I could pay back the loan in its entirety without paying interest. The entire reason I worked so hard to pay off my loans during COVID was because the interest was paused and I felt I was finally able to make a dent in them. 

I budget my money to cover all of my projected recurring expenses. A new {$10000.00} loan with no prior notice was not part of my budgeting plans. I have an emergency fund but refuse to potentially put myself in financial hardship to use it to pay off a loan I had no prior notice I would be responsible for. 

Timeline : XX/XX/XXXX - I paid my final balance of {$750.00} on my graduate student loans and had a remaining balance of {$0.00} See attachment Student Loan Payment History - EdFinancial Services XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX - I called EdFinancial inquiring about the refund for people who paid off their student loan debt during the interest pause during COVID. I recall not being certain that anything would come of it at the end of the phone call. 

I am only able to obtain call records dating back to XX/XX/XXXX so was unsuccessful in finding the exact date in which I called EdFinancial. I called T-mobile and was told to contact the legal department via written mail, but no guarantees they would be able to provide me with this information. I did not contact them as I felt the exact date was not essential evidence for my complaint. 
XXXX  Legal Department Address : XXXX XXXX, Legal Department, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - I received a {$10000.00} check in the mail from the United States Treasury. The note on the check read Per Enclosed Mailing Notice. The enclosed mailing notice to the check recipient only included the note Fed Student Loan Refund. There was no other information sent with the check.

See attachment Student Loan Refund Check Informed Delivery See attachment Studnet Loan Check & Notice XX/XX/XXXX - I deposited the {$10000.00} check into my Ally Savings account. 
See attachment Student Loan Reimbursement Check Image XX/XX/XXXX - I received no correspondence from EdFinancial since I called them prior to XX/XX/XXXX asking if I qualified for a refund, until XX/XX/XXXX when I received an email that I had a new Billing Statement available. There was no information provided from EdFinancial about why I had a new billing statement or why my account all of a sudden was showing that I had a {$10000.00} loan. 
See attachment XXXX Email from EdFinancial See attachment EdFinancial Correspondence Summary XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX - I send an email to EdFinancial inquiring why a {$10000.00} loan was showing in my account which had been completely paid off as of XX/XX/XXXX. I receive the first response on XX/XX/XXXX. You can see the full email correspondence in the attachment. 
See attachment XXXX Email Correspondence with EdFinancial XX/XX/XXXX- I am trying to figure out if I somehow missed communication telling me that the check I received was only conditionally approved, but I can not find anything. I contact EdFinancial via chat to inquire about communication I received from them informing me that the {$10000.00} check I received could potentially turn into a new {$1000.00} loan with interest. They were unable to find the communication I was asking for and did not provide any proof of communication. See the attachment for the full chat correspondence. 
See attachment EdFinancial Chat Transcript XXXX