Consumer complaint received 2026-05-18 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: EdFinancial Services
State: OR

Complaint narrative:
I was a student at XXXX XXXX XXXX with XXXX Federal Direct Loans ( subsidized and unsubsidized ) serviced by EdFinancial. The loans were accepted through the standard XXXX process, including execution of a Master Promissory Note. Following the second-term disbursement in the XXXX academic year, I accessed EdFinancials online account and printed the official payoff statement dated XX/XX/XXXX, which showed a total balance of {$26000.00} across all XXXX loans. Acting promptly on that balance, my aunt wrote and mailed a check for the full payoff amount of {$26000.00} to the XXXX Department of Education payment address listed on the statement. The check has since cleared the payors bank. When the check was posted on XX/XX/XXXX, EdFinancial credited only {$22000.00} to the account {$3700.00} less than the check amount. No explanation, reversal notice, or refund was issued for the difference. I contacted EdFinancial by live chat on XX/XX/XXXX. Without being told the check amount, XXXX XXXX asked unprompted : Was the payment for {$26000.00}? confirming that EdFinancials own system had logged receipt of the full amount. XXXX then stated the payment had been reversed, yet {$22000.00} remained posted in the account. XXXX additional chat contacts followed ( XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX ; XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX ). The agents accounts were mutually contradictory : XXXX said the loans were fully paid off with only an {$18.00} overpayment ; XXXX said the entire amount had been reversed to the payors bank. Neither account is consistent with the transaction record, and neither accounts for the {$3700.00} gap. On XX/XX/XXXX, I then sent a written email to EdFinancial explicitly requesting confirmation of the payment amount received and an explanation of how the overpayment would be handled allowing additional time for research to find the missing amount. EdFinancials response on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) confirmed a {$0.00} account balance and stated only an {$18.00} refund was forthcoming. My direct question about the {$26000.00} was not addressed, and no payment record was provided. EdFinancials own statement set the payoff amount. The {$26000.00} check was written directly from the official payoff balance displayed by EdFinancial on XX/XX/XXXX. I had no reason to know that an internal XXXX Day Loan Cancellation of {$3700.00} had been posted on XX/XX/XXXX it was not reflected in the displayed balance and no notice was provided. XXXX XXXX confirmed receipt of the full amount without being prompted. My opening chat message contained no dollar figure. XXXX identified {$26000.00} from EdFinancials internal records. This is direct evidence the full check was received and logged. The XX/XX/XXXX Paid in Full notice confirms the full check was applied. EdFinancials own Paid in Full notice lists XXXX loans including the XX/XX/XXXX loan subject to the XXXX cancellation with an outstanding balance of {$0.00}. A second Paid in Full notice dated XX/XX/XXXX covers the XXXX loan. Together, these confirm all XXXX loans were paid off by the check. The total original principal of all XXXX loans is {$24000.00}, which combined with the {$1200.00} accrued interest equals the {$26000.00} check amount. EdFinancial can not simultaneously claim the loan was canceled, issue a notice showing it was paid in full, and fail to account for the difference credited. The check has cleared. The payors bank has confirmed the {$26000.00} check cleared. The funds are not in the payors account. They are not fully accounted for in EdFinancials transaction record. The XXXX XXXX XXXX has been issued. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a refund in the amount of {$18.00}. This is not the total refund as noted above.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation