Consumer complaint received 2026-04-09 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Central Research Inc
State: CT

Complaint narrative:
To Whom it May Concern, In this letter I am filing a complaint regarding a federal Parent PLUS loan that I was recently informed is about to default and being handled by the collection agency, Central Research Inc ( CRI ). Based on the information now available to me, I believe this loan has been significantly mismanaged, and that the current balance and status may be inaccurate. For some context : this loan was taken out by me for my daughters last semester at XXXX University. It was a Parent Plus Loan. Unfortunately, she graduated during Covid. At the same time, we had XXXX people living at home and I was teaching remotely. At no time once my daughter graduated did I receive a bill to begin paying this loan back. I did not even make an account to begin the repayment process. This was unlike any of the other loans taken out for any of my childrens educations or my own student loans. As such, I made no payments at all and when I was granted a Public Service Loan Forgiveness for my student loans, this loan was not included, discussed, or discovered. Loan Details : Within the last few weeks, I received a letter from CRI informing me that I had 30 days to repay the balance of the entire loan, or else I would default on this loan. At first, I thought this was a scam because it had an urgency to it. Then, I discovered it was on my credit report and had since several years ago deleteriously affected my credit score. I have now learned that this loan consists of two disbursements : Approx. {$18000.00} on or about XX/XX/XXXX Approx {$18000.00} on or about XX/XX/XXXX XXXX original principal of {$37000.00} While I understand the origin of the loan, I dispute the current reported balance of {$45000.00}, the servicing history, and the lack of required information. There are a couple areas of concern that I believe need to be addressed as I mention above. Servicing concerns are that the loan entered deferment around XX/XX/XXXX, before my daughter graduated. I didnt think it started interest until after she graduated. It was then placed into forbearance approximately around XX/XX/XXXX through to XX/XX/XXXX as having. Then, from XXXX XXXX XXXX it was reported as In repayment. It then returned to forbearance in XX/XX/XXXX and this cycle repeated several times until the current date. The repeated changes between deferment, forbearance, and repayment in progress without my knowledge or involvement indicates a potential servicing error or mismanagement. This is also clear from the overall lack of communication from any servicer regarding a repayment plan and any follow through regarding why I had not already even made an account with any servicer to begin this process. I request a full explanation of all status changes and the basis for each transition. I believe there are severe improper repayment status during the COVID-19 repayment pause. The loan was reported as being in repayment between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. However, the federal student loans were subject to a COVID-19 administrative forbearance with 0 % interest during this period. I request a clarification as to why the loan was placed into repayment status during a period when the payments were not required, and interest should not have accrued. I also request confirmation of whether the interest was improperly charged during this period. Additionally, the balance seems inflated. The current reported balance of {$45000.00}, appears to be inconsistent with the original principal amount and federal interest rules. This is especially true given the extended 0 % interest period during COVID-19 ( XXXX, XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ). I request a complete, itemized breakdown of the interest accrual by date and rate, all capitalization events, and any and all adjustments made to the account. Furthermore, there has been a severe lack of required communication. Upon investigation, the original principal was held by the loan servicer XXXX and bought by CRI in XXXX. There was no notice of this change. I also did not receive any statements by mail or any repayment notices, delinquency notices or default notifications related to the loan between XXXX and XXXX before the letter of XX/XX/XXXX was received. This is an absolute failure of a required loan servicing communication chain and has now deprived me of the opportunity to manage or repay the loan in a due manner that would have minimized the repayment amount. This situation has clearly a lack of communication for several years and the only written communication I have ever received was the aforementioned letter regarding upcoming default of the loan. At no time was I notified of the loan switching back and forth between forbearance and repayment. I did not request forbearance and wasnt paying. Are loan servicers allowed to do this type of cycle without it being requested? Failure to identify or address the loan during the PSLF process : In XXXX I consolidated my federal student loans ( the ones I was aware of ) and in XXXX, I received a forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLF ). At that time, I was led to believe that my federal student loan obligations had been completely resolved. This loan was not identified, included, or ever clearly disclosed during that process which raises concerns about the incomplete or inaccurate loan records and servicing failures. Additionally, causing further damage to this loan account by having it remain active whilst I believe I had no further obligations and continuing to accrue interest and a delinquent status over time. Concerns with credit reporting. This account is now at risk for soon being reported as default to my credit servicers despite the lack of notice and the issues above. I dispute the accuracy of both the balance and the delinquent status.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation