Consumer complaint received 2025-10-31 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Central Research Inc
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I authorized multiple student-loan payments through CRIs website totaling several XXXX dollars. 
Each attempt produced an on-screen confirmation and a Thank you for your payment email showing the payment amount, effective date, and account information ending in XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Because these confirmations stated no further action is required, I reasonably believed the payments were processed. 

The XXXX Events On XX/XX/XXXX, CRI posted a message in my online portal titled Action Needed : Your previous payment could not be processed ( see Exhibit A ). 
After logging in and reviewing that notice, I immediately called CRIs customer-service line. 
The representative verified my account number and instructed me simply to resubmit the payment. 
At no point did CRI mention that my XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX routing numberwhich I had successfully used for years, including under XXXXwas incompatible with their system. 
Following the representatives instructions, I resubmitted the payment using the same routing details. 

The Communication Failures CRI may argue that it issued additional portal messages or automated emails directing me to log in for updates. 
While I acknowledge those existed, they were generic, nonspecific, and inadequate for an issue as serious as a failed payment. 
No email or notice explicitly stated why the payment failed or that my account risked delinquency. 
Consequently, I continued to see active payment confirmations in my account and had no reason to believe the transactions hadnt cleared. 
By the time clearer delinquency letters appeared in XXXX, the account had already been reported XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX past due, resulting in an approximate XXXX credit score drop. 

XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX It was not until XXXX XXXXafter months of repeated payment attempts and callsthat a CRI representative finally disclosed the true reason : the routing number format, not the account number, was causing returns. 
Once this was explained, I immediately corrected the information and made a successful payment on XX/XX/XXXX, even though my account had already been placed into forbearance during the ongoing review. 

Response to CRIs Show Proof of Cleared Payment Claim CRIs repeated statement that no payments cleared our system mischaracterizes the dispute. 
My complaint is not that CRI accepted and reversed a paymentit is that their system confirmed receipt and provided no timely, clear notice that payments were being rejected before credit damage occurred. 
Consumers can not produce bank withdrawal proof for a transaction that never left the institution precisely because CRIs payment portal malfunctioned and failed to communicate it in real time. 
The on-screen and email confirmations constitute furnisher-originated documentation that the payment was properly initiated in good faith and that the servicers system, not the borrower, prevented completion. 

Summary : In XX/XX/XXXX my federally owned student loans were transferred from XXXX to CRI. Beginning in XX/XX/XXXX I made my monthly payments through CRIs official online portal using the same XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX account and electronic routing format I have always used for other bills. Each time I submitted a payment, CRIs system generated a confirmation and visually accepted the payment, so I reasonably believed the payments had gone through. 

Later, in XX/XX/XXXX, CRI placed a message in my online portal inbox ( I have the screenshot ) saying : Your previous payment could not be processed. Please submit a new payment or apply for assistance. I did exactly what the notice told me to do : I called CRI. On that XXXX call, I was told only to re-verify my account number and resubmit the payment. I was not told the real and specific problem that CRI was rejecting my XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX payment because of the routing format. If I had been told in XXXX, Your payments are failing because of the routing number format, use this routing number or pay by phone, I would have fixed it in XXXX. 

Instead, CRI kept accepting payment attempts in the portal, kept issuing confirmations, and kept showing me an account view that looked like the payment was received. I am attaching a screenshot from the portal that shows Last Payment Received : {$200.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) this is important because XXXX is now telling the CFPB that no payments were processed before XX/XX/XXXX, but their own portal represented to me that a payment was received on XX/XX/XXXX. That is exactly what I was relying on. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, when I called again, CRI finally explained the real issue that the payment attempts were getting bank return codes like Unable to Locate Account / Returned because of how the routing number was entered. The first time I heard that clear explanation was months after the first payment attempt and after the account had already rolled to 90 days late. As soon as I finally got the correct information in XXXX, I updated the payment information and made the payment even though the account was in forbearance. That shows I was able and willing to pay ; I just wasnt given the right instruction early enough. 

After my CFPB complaints on XX/XX/XXXX ( against CRI, XXXX, and XXXX ) and XX/XX/XXXX ( follow-up ), CRI responded XXXX. Both of their XXXX responses repeat the same point : they say the payments were initiated but did not clear, so they consider the XXXX reporting to be accurate. They also keep saying, If you can show us that the bank actually sent the money, we will review. The problem with that position is : CRIs own system was the one accepting the payments and issuing confirmations. 

CRIs XXXX XXXX and phone agent did not tell me the real, specific fix ( routing format ). 

CRIs portal later showed XXXX XXXX Received : {$200.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ), which is inconsistent with their claim to CFPB that nothing was processed. 

By the time they finally explained the real reason in XXXX, the account had already hit 90 days late ( see their XX/XX/XXXX letter in my portal ). 

I then fixed it immediately. 

So, this is not a case of me refusing to pay or not having funds it is a servicer-created, servicer-prolonged payment-processing failure that CRI then used to justify negative credit reporting. 

I also understand CRI may point to the fact that they sent me generic check your portal emails ( I found the XX/XX/XXXX email in my regular email, the one that tells you to log in to see important information ). I am acknowledging that. But even when I followed up in XXXX, the agent did not tell me Your routing number is the issue. That missing piece of information is why the problem kept repeating and why the account aged into delinquency. 

Finally, I have multiple related CFPB complaints on file from XX/XX/XXXX ( against CRI, XXXX and XXXX  ) and XX/XX/XXXX ( CRI again ). I am providing these so the CFPB can see this is an ongoing dispute about accuracy of reporting after a processing failure not a request for a goodwill deletion. 


CFPB complaints concerning this same issue to document the ongoing problem : Complaint # XXXX ( Closed with Explanation ) Complaint # XXXX ( Open Submitted to CFPB ) Complaint # XXXX ( Closed Feedback Provided ) These filings show that I have followed all proper channels in an effort to resolve this matter responsibly.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation