Consumer complaint received 2019-12-11
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Premier Student Loan Center (NY)

On XX/XX/2019, my niece XXXX XXXX texted me : hey XXXX, so the student loan program you told me about isn't working anymore and I'm trying to call them and the phone is out of service. I Premier Student Loan Forgiveness - XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX and received a message from the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau that on XX/XX/2019 the court entered a Preliminary Injunction against this company and this company has been suspended for further services until XX/XX/2019. The recorded message referred me contact my student loan servicer. In meantime, I received a notification in the mail from XXXX - US Department of Education informing me that my current payment due was {$0.00} and total due by XX/XX/2019 {$0.00}. The following week, I received a notification from XXXX dated XX/XX/2019 informing that my current payment due is {$2300.00} total due by XX/XX/2019. I called XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX on XX/XX/2019 and spoke to XXXX XXXX ID # XXXX and he informed me that Premier Student Loan has been identified as fraud. XXXX stated that he would email me documents to submit to defer payments at this time. On Monday, XX/XX/2019, I received this email from XXXX : By way of background, on XX/XX/2019, the Bureau for Consumer Financial Protection and the States of California, Minnesota, and North Carolina filed a lawsuit alleging Defendants violated various consumer protection laws by using deceptive practices and charging unlawful advance fees in connection with their student loan debt relief business. Also on XX/XX/XXXX, the Court entered a Temporary Restraining Order ( " TRO '' ) which prohibited any further unlawful activity and appointed a Receiver to take possession and control of the businesses. The Receiver conducted an investigation, confirmed Defendants were engaged in conduct prohibited by the TRO and suspended business operations. 

On XX/XX/2019, the Court entered a Preliminary Injunction continuing the terms of the TRO and the appointment of the Receiver. The Receiver has made the determination that the Receivership Defendants ' businesses can not go forward legally and profitably and therefore, the businesses have been closed. Copies of the Preliminary Injunction and the Receiver 's Preliminary Report can be accessed on the Receiver 's website at Caution-XXXX XXXX XXXX, under the Documents section of the webpage. 

We recommend that you immediately contact your student loan servicer regarding the status of your loan. A list of approved student loan servicers can be found on the U.S. Department of Education website at : Caution-https : //studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/additionalInformation.action. 

If you don't have the contact information for your loan servicer, you can find it at studentloans.gov. If your loan payments were not made or your loan is in default, ask your loan servicer what repayment options are available for your loan. The Federal Student Aid guide ( Caution-https : //studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans # guide ) has information that may help you choose a repayment plan and learn about other options. 

We have suspended consumers ' automatic payments, so no further withdrawals should be made from a consumer 's account. If that is not the case, please contact us at XXXX. 

At this very early stage of the case, the Receiver is still conducting his investigation and marshalling the assets of the Receivership Defendants. If the CFPB and States prevail in the case, the matter of refunds will be an issue for the CFPB, States, and the Court to resolve. This determination is a long way down the road. Due to the volume of emails and calls we are receiving, we can not respond individually to each inquiry. As further information becomes available on the subject of refunds, we will post it on the Receiver 's website at Caution-XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Office of the Receiver After receiving this email, I called XXXX on XX/XX/2019 and spoke to XXXX XXXX ID # XXXX who followed up with the email from XXXX and confirmed Premier to be fraud and stated I would receive my documentations by email in two hours. I was referred to the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau lawsuit number ( XXXX ) XXXX and spoke to XXXX - Employee ID # XXXX who instructed me to submit my formal compliant online so I can upload all my supporting documents. I informed XXXX, XXXX and XXXX that prior to submitting my information and payments to Premier, I checked with XXXX XXXX XXXX, inquired through my resources from XXXX XXXX XXXX ( I am currently XXXX  in the XXXX ) and check with a judge through the XXXX XXXX XXXX to ensure that this was a legitimate company - everyone gave this company a green light. To be found in this situation is disheartening and I am hoping for a positive outcome and have this debt forgiven as promised -