Consumer complaint received 2023-10-27
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: EdFinancial Services (WA)

OVERVIEW My student loans received XXXX forgiveness but are now showing a balance and payment due. My call and emails to my servicer, EdFinancial and to studentaid have not resulted in resolution. I do not believe I owe any money on my student loans since this is what the official letters I received show. 

DETAILS XX/XX/XXXX - 1. EdFinancial posted notices in my account, one for each of my TWO student loans which said : " Congratulations! The Biden-Harris Administration has forgiven your federal student loan ( s ) listed below with Edfinancial Services in full. This debt relief was processed as part of the Biden-Harris Administrations one-time account adjustment ( for more information visit StudentAid.gov/idradjustment ) because your student loan ( s ) have been in repayment of at least 20 or 25 years. An adjustment to your account updated the number of payments that qualify towards Income-Driven Repayment ( IDR ) forgiveness. This forgiveness is effective as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

If applicable, well process a refund for any payments made towards the loans listed above after the effective date of this forgiveness. '' These were both consolidation loans, one noted as Subsidized and the other noted as UnSubsidized.

2. I observed that each of the loans showed on EdFinancial with Balance = {$0.00} and " Paid by discharge and/or written off. '' 3. Based on the complete payment history previously provided to me by EdFinancial, the total of my payments made after the loan effective date of XX/XX/XXXX was {$17000.00} and is thus the refund I expected based on the above letter. 

XX/XX/XXXX - 1. Received TWO checks from the US Dept of Treasury with note " Fed Student Loan Refund ''. EACH check was in the amount of {$17000.00} which is DOUBLE what I was expecting. Presuming one of the checks was sent in error, I deposited just one of the two checks. 

XX/XX/XXXX - 1. Contacted studentaid.gov via phone to enquire what to do with the duplicate check. They directed me to contact my servicer.

2. Logged on to EdFinancial and observed that my " Subsidized '' loan now had a balance of {$18000.00}. Further review of the history showed that an adjustment adding {$17000.00} to the balance was made on XX/XX/XXXX. This is the amount of the refund. I further observed that a payment was now due in the amount of {$250.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and that interest is being added at 8.25 %. 
3. I contact EdFinancial via phone and asked why my loan was now showing a balance after being forgiven. The representative advised she didn't know why and directed my case to their 'Research Department ' which was supposed to get back to me within 4 days, before the payment was due. I have not received a response.

4. I submitted an email via EdFinancial 's website to inquire about the same. I have not received a response. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Filing this complaint in hopes of a resolution ASAP as my account and credit report are going to show that I have a late payment, incorrect balance, etc which could have negative impacts to my credit. Attachments showing all the above to be included. I would like to add that as a person who struggled with student loans for over 25 years and then happily received forgiveness, it was actually traumatic to log into an account which had been closed to find that I suddenly had a loan balance back with absolutely no warning or communication.