Consumer complaint received 2024-06-07
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: EdFinancial Services (MO)

I received a notification from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX indicating a change in my payment terms. My previous monthly payment was {$16.00} and the new monthly payment was set at {$480.00}. There was no indication as to why this change was made or the process by which this change was calculated. No other changes were indicated. 

I was charged {$480.00} on XX/XX/XXXX under the new repayment terms. Following that payment, I began reaching out to XXXX to understand why my payment changed and the calculation behind that change. I have called XXXX on XXXX separate instances in the past month. Each time I call, I receive different responses in regards to my questions ; however, no customer service representative has been able to indicate to me any of the following ( 1 ) how the change in my payment was calculated, ( 2 ) exactly what prompted the recalculation, ( 3 ) how the repayment date of the loan and the remaining term result in seven additional payments at {$480.00} each. 

During separate calls the the week of XX/XX/XXXX, two separate customer service representatives indicated to me that the lowest payment I was eligible for was ~ {$350.00}. A separate customer service representative indicated that I was eligible for an extended repayment plan ( that I am currently on ) with payments beginning at ~ {$15.00} and increasing for an additional term. The second customer service representative indicated on the phone to me that she was applying for the change. I received an additional notification from EdFinancial dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating that I was not eligible for the repayment plant the customer service representative had applied for as the loan was disbursed prior to XX/XX/XXXX, which is inaccurate as I was well underage at that date. 

I called XXXX yet again on XX/XX/XXXX in order to seek clarity on the above changes and remedy these circumstances. On that call, I was instructed that the change in payments was due to a need to payoff the loan " by the due date. '' However, the representative could not provide how that term and payment corresponded to the either the beginning repayment date nor the term of the loan. 

The customer service representative indicated that she would submit a ticket for research. It would take up to 14 business days to process that ticket and then the research would take another week. This timetable results in a total of a month before this issue is researched and responded to. During that time I will be charged for up to two additional loan payments through my autopay election. The customer service representative indicated that if I wanted to remove autopay from my profile, that would prevent the payments from being made ; however, I would forego any rate reduction granted as a benefit of signing up for autopay. So I am left with a choice of making the payments ( which XXXX can not explain while they take month to research a determination that they made ) or suffering a detriment to the interest rate that is being applied to my loans. This system and its related policies seem intentful to disadvantage borrowers. 

I would very much appreciate it if someone at XXXX could provide to me ( 1 ) why the payment for my loan was unilaterally changed, ( 2 ) how this change was calculated, including the original repayment date and loan term, ( 3 ) how my previous payment of {$16.00} was calculated and the circumstances that led to a XXXX change to my payment, ( XXXX ) how it was determined that my load disbursement date was prior to XX/XX/XXXX in the letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, and ( XXXX ) the XXXX 's policies for communicating such changes and the information that should be provided to borrowers in repayment to understand those changes.