Consumer complaint received 2025-07-10 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: Maximus Federal Services, Inc.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Background : On XX/XX/XXXX, the Federal Subsidized {$2500.00} student loan was disbursed to my California XXXX XXXX University account, which was applied to tuition on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a Welcome Letter from Aidvantage on XX/XX/XXXX, and an Initial Loan Information email on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a payment of {$2000.00} to XXXX, that went towards my balance. The correspondence from Aidvantage on XX/XX/XXXX recognizes the loan progress, stating that I had a remaining balance of {$470.00}. 
The following bullet points will detail the communication that has occurred since, and how they have closed out my original loan, lost the original payment in the mail, without verifying or communicating their plan of action. I still have not received my refund, and my loan will begin to accrue interest in XX/XX/XXXX, therefore I am extremely motivated to resolve this issue and receive my refund and payoff my loan before I have to begin paying interest. 
Timeline of Key Actions : XX/XX/XXXX : I paid {$2000.00} directly to Aidvantage toward my balance, and the only loan I have ever requested. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Aidvantage disbursed a second loan ( Loan XXXX ) for {$2500.00} without my request or authorization. After contacting my Financial Aid Office at California XXXX XXXX University, I understand that there was a discrepancy in the disbursement of the total funds of the loan, therefore it should have been distributed in XXXX parts. This is why there was a second disbursement and Loan XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX : A Loan Retraction Letter arrived, subtracting {$2000.00} from Loan XXXX for alleged non-useeven though those funds were applied to tuition. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received a Loan Payoff Letter showing a {$2000.00} credit, but no verification of a refund check or any explanation for the account adjustments. ( I was never notified that refund check was being sent out, and would have preferred for it to be applied to my account. ) XX/XX/XXXX : My online account displayed conflicting balances ( from {$0.00} to {$2500.00} ) with no clear audit trail. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Aidvantage confirmed XXXX XXXX disbursement and the school-processed {$2000.00} refund, yet still offered no rationale for the retraction or disbursement errors. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I asked via email : Hi there, I am reaching out to find out when I will be receiving my refund check? Will I receive it via the mail? If it has not yet been sent, can I request for the {$2000.00} to be credited to my account and applied to the revised loan disbursement? XXXX  replied : Per our records your refund check in the amount of {$2000.00} was mailed to you on XX/XX/XXXX. Please allow XXXX weeks for you to receive this. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I followed up : I am reaching out because I have not received the refund check that was mailed to me on XX/XX/XXXX. Its been over XXXX weeks since I received notice that I would be sent a refund check that amounted to {$2000.00}. Im sure you can understand my concern that I have not received this sum of money, and my urgency to discover where it is so I can pay off my student loan before interest begins to accrue. Please give me an update about how to maneuver this and where my check is. 
Aidvantage replied : Per our records your refund was issued to the address on file as of XX/XX/XXXX, of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX You will need to check with the post office as you submitted a change of address to us on XX/XX/XXXX. If they are unable to locate it and it has not been returned to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, you will need to wait XXXX months to have it reissued. 
Present : I have not received the refund check, and XXXX refuses to help locate it, stating I must wait XXXX months for a replacement. 

Discrepancies and Errors : Unauthorized disbursement of XXXX XXXX for {$2500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Incorrect retraction of {$2000.00} from Loan XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 
No verification that a refund check would be issued or explanation of why account changes occurred. 
Failure to assist in locating the missing refund check, insisting on a XXXX wait for reissuance. 
Repeated conflicting statements and principal balances preventing accurate reconciliation. 
Continued shifting blame onto an address change, despite the address being correct on all original correspondence ; the only issue I noted was their misspelling of XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I requested to be corrected.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation