Consumer complaint received 2024-03-01
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Getting a loan — Loan opened without my consent or knowledge
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (MA)

In XXXX of XXXX I went into the XXXX XXXX Citizens bank branch with the intention to refinance my private student loan that I share with my dad from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for {$45000.00}. I had this intention specifically because my father was attempting to manipulate me financially using this loan we share. I had spoken to a third party financial advisor prior to this meeting and I was educated and aware of the difference between federal and private loans and had clear intentions for what I wanted to do. I went into the branch with a document pertaining to my private loan and asked the banker to refinance that loan. 

I spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX. She asked me to provide her with the documents from my federal loans. When I asked her why she needed those documents, she told me that she needed them to have a complete picture of my debt history. So I went home and provided her with that documentation. After that, she asked once again for my private loan documentation. I provided that promptly. Shortly thereafter, I received an email telling me everything was all set and the loan offer was sent to me. I signed it without a second thought believing I was refinancing my private student loan. This is because I had asked her to refinance my private loans and I had never asked her to refinance my federal loans. She never once mentioned that she was refinancing my federal student loans. I believe this is illegal under the Truth in Lending Act, which requires lenders to disclose all information about their loans. Citizens gave me misleading information about the loan I signed. 

Then on XX/XX/XXXX when my payments began, I noticed that the loan information was not correct. I immediately called the Citizens student loan phone number and discovered this catastrophic mistake. The position this puts me in is extremely bad for me. What this means is that I'm expected to pay XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and Citizens around XXXX $ a month total, and I'm expected to be in these loans for at least the next 20 years. It also means that I do not have access to federal programs such as debt forgiveness and income driven repayment. It also significantly negatively impacts my credit. There is no logical way that someone would make this choice on purpose. 

I immediately asked for help from Citizens, and they told me to call my former federal loan servicer, XXXX. They refused to help me. So I called Citizens back, at which time they told me my case was already under investigation. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to someone from the office of the chair saying there wasn't anything they could do to help me if the federal loan servicer was unwilling to return the money. She also told me that they were doing an internal investigation on the loan and the branch colleague who helped me. When I asked her to provide me with the outcome of that investigation, she told me I would not have access to that information. 

My next step was in XXXX. I called the student loan phone number again, this time looking to see if forbearance was an option in the meantime while I tried to sort out this mess. I was told that I could not have complete forbearance, that I could have a modified payment for a short time frame. I was also told I would not be able to consolidate my debt if my loan was in forbearance. I decided to look for more options of how to address this problem but to keep that in mind in the meantime. I also asked about minimum payments due to prevent any kind of delinquency, and they told me the minimum amount was {$320.00}. 

During this time I began dealing with harassment from my dad who I share the XXXX XXXX XXXX with. This caused me to have XXXX XXXX  struggles that have made it harder for me to act quickly and also it has caused me to take XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and seek out a XXXX XXXX against him and his abuse. This has been time consuming and debilitating. 

My next step after that was to try to get in touch with the office of the chair again. I was begging for some resolution. I began corresponding with XXXX from the office of the chair in XXXX. XXXX 's only solution for me was to suggest debt consolidation. The last time we spoke she requested loan documentation from my XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. 

Loan consolidation is not an attractive option to me because it still doesn't fix the biggest problem with all of this : I was eligible for debt forgiveness and income driven repayment when this was a federal loan. So in the meantime I sought out other options. I called the department of education again to see if they could help me or advise me on any steps I could take. This time they elevated my case to the office of the ombudsman. I had to wait for their response to my complaint. They responded by saying that if Citizens won't resolve this for me, I should write up a complaint to this consumer protections agency. 

In the meantime, without any notice Citizens has cleaned out my entire checking and savings accounts a day before my rent is due. From my checking they took {$1900.00}, and from my savings they took {$8700.00}. I was never informed that this would be a consequence and I was under the impression that this loan was under investigation. I believe this violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because this loan is currently under investigation and should be frozen from debt collection. I believe it also violates the Truth in Lending Act because it was never disclosed to me that this was a possible consequence of not paying into the loan. 

I am currently in continued conversations with the office of the chair at Citizens to get this rectified, but I am reaching out to you for your aid because they haven't been able to help me find a solution. 

Attached is a transcript of the conversation I had with a financial advisor before I went in to refinance my private loan, screenshots of my email with XXXX, and a screenshot proving that I had just signed up for the income driven repayment program with my federal loans before they were fraudulently refinanced.