ComplaintsforCollege Avenue Student Loans, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ***** ************, I have been a victim of identity theft over the years since then i av a lot of inaccurate and fraudulent accounts reporting on my credit report. I have never authorized anyone to use my name to open an account with this company please investigate this matter and remove immediately this account is fraudulent.

  

  Business response

  03/12/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns of Mr. ***** ************.  Mr. ************ is alleging his personal information was used to acquire a loan without his knowledge.
  A fraud investigations packet was e-mailed to Mr. ************ on March 11, 2024, to acquire additional information to further investigate the allegation of fraud. 
  Should Mr. ************ have questions regarding the documentation requested we would encourage him to contact our Fraud Investigator ***** ****** ** **********************

  Customer response

  03/13/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 21393069

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  03/26/2024

  We are in receipt of Mr. Shola ************’s concerns regarding his request to have an account removed from his credit reporting.  On March 6, 2024, College Ave received a similar complaint via the CFPB complaint portal whereby Mr. ************ alleged he did not participate in the acquiring of a student loan with College Ave.
  We began an investigation of the fraud allegation, and on March 11, 2024, a Fraud information packet was emailed to Mr. ************ at ****************oo.com requesting additional documentation required to complete a thorough investigation of the allegation.  As of March 26, 2024, the information has not been returned; once received the account investigation will resume and if confirmed to have been opened without his participation the tradeline of the account will be removed from his credit bureau report. 
  College Ave takes care in the protection of a customer’s personal information and does not share outside the purposes of account servicing. 
  We have attempted to contact Mr. ************; our efforts have been unsuccessful. Should he have any questions regarding the documentation requested, we recommend he contact our Fraud Investigator ***** ****** ** **********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for a student loan consolidation on Monday 1/8/24. I was misled and offered incorrect rates after being pre-approved which led me to continue the application and submit a hard credit check as well as to add a co-signer in order to obtain the rates offered to me. After that, I was "approved", however when logging back in to upload required documents my rates increased over 12% APR. I contacted College Ave for a resolution which they were unable to offer. They stated it was a system error or glitch and would not try to remedy the situation by honoring the rates offered originally and said that I never should have seen those rates to begin with but it was a mistake on their end. I have a newborn baby and this has caused significant distress to me as this would have saved me several thousands of dollars on student loans. The initial rate offered to me was 20 years, fixed APR of -0.12% at a rate of $350/month.

  

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns of applicant ******* ******* regarding the interest rate estimate shown during the pre-qualification process of the application for a refinance loan.
  We have completed our research of the inquiry and found that a technical issue occurred causing our pre-qualification application to show, on screen, an incorrect estimated APR of -.12%.  We took action to identify the cause and correct the matter immediately.  Additionally, we have verified required disclosures provided to ******* ******* contained the correct APR information.  
  In closing, should ******* choose not to continue with the application, we request that they contact our customer service department at 1-844-803-0736 to cancel the application and we will remove the credit inquiry from their credit bureau.

  Customer response

  01/25/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 21133914

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for a student loan consolidation with College Ave on Monday 1/8/24. I was pre-approved and offered rates at various loan terms (5, 10, 15 or 20 year). I have used this company in the past for student loans and have never had an issue. This time, the rates they offered me looked great, specifically the 20 year term which was offering me a payment amount of $280.28/month for 20 years at a rate of -0.11% fixed APR. Based on this rate I decided to continue with the application which includes a hard credit check. I then received an email 2 days later to log in to complete my loan by uploading documents, etc. and saw that the rates had substantially increased to over 12% APR. I contacted their customer service and was told that the initial rates offered to me must have been a glitch or system error and the rates I am seeing now are the correct ones. I am very upset as they offered me no resolution and would not honor the rates initially offered to me. I am a new mom to a 2 month old baby and this would have saved me several thousands of dollars on student loan payments. This situation has caused an immense amount of emotional distress and they have offered me no solution.

  

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns of applicant ****** ******* regarding the interest rate estimate shown during the pre-qualification process of the application for a refinance loan.
  We have completed our research of the inquiry and found that a technical issue occurred causing our pre-qualification application to show, on screen, an incorrect estimated APR of -.11%.  We took action to identify the cause and correct the matter immediately.  Additionally, we have verified required disclosures provided to ****** ******* contained the correct APR information. 
  In closing, should Lauren choose not to continue with the application, we request that they contact our customer service department at 1-844-803-0736 to cancel the application and we will remove the credit inquiry from their credit bureau.

  Customer response

  01/22/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 21133839

   

  I reject this response as the company states they “took action to identify the cause and correct the matter immediately” however this was not the case. After being offered the -0.11% APR during pre qualification I continued with the application, submitted and was notified that I was approved. It was not until TWO business days later that I was notified of an update on my application and upon logging in saw the rates. Again, the company was unwilling to acknowledge, apologize for or match the rates that I was initially offered. The situation has not been rectified at this point. The difference in rates would have made a massive financial impact for me and my family and the company is at fault for the financial and emotional impact this caused. 

   

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  02/12/2024

  We regret Ms. *******’s experience with our application process.  As stated in our previous response the estimated interest rate of -11% was the result of a systemic error that was corrected as soon as we were aware of the issue. 
  
  This error was not an advertised interest rate, nor an interest rate offered based on a completed application. The following message is displayed to applicants on the screen along with the estimated interest rates which clearly indicates the estimates are not guaranteed: 
  “Your pre-qualification was not an application; this offer is not guaranteed if you do not meet our full application criteria.  Final rates and terms may vary and will be based on those in effect when you submit your full application and make your repayment selections.”
  
  The pre-qualification estimate was displayed to Ms. ******* prior to her submitting a complete application.   In fact, before Ms. ******* submitted her complete application she was provided the Loan Application Solicitation Disclosure, which provides the possible range of interest rates
  available for the loan product, the possible range does not include a negative interest rate. Therefore, at the time she submitted her application Ms. ******* was made aware that her interest rate could not be negative. We again apologize for the error in the estimated interest rate, but unfortunately, we are not able to honor a negative interest rate and effectively pay Ms. ******* interest on the loan she would take from us.
  
  To date Ms. ******* has not completed the customization of her loan request, and therefore there has been no financial impact to Ms. ******* at this point. If she would like to have the credit inquiry removed from her credit report, to make it as if the application never occurred, we encourage her to contact us at 1-844-803-0736.

• Initial Complaint

  05/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am asking ti be released as a co signer. We have met the qualifications. Now they are saying the primary loan person doesn’t have a good enough credit score and has a delinquent payment. The one delinquent payment is not with their company, and they won’t say how long ago it was. they can’t tell me what the credit a score needs to go up to for me to be released. They said I was paying the loan when it is clearly set up as electronic payment from primary persons checking account. Also customer service is terrible. All the release documentation was sent in and they said they never got it. We had to send a screen shot of a text verifying that they did indeed receive the documents. They say they will get back to me in 24-48 hours and jasmine, chris and the last person I dealt with never got back to me until I contacted them again.

  

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the concerns of Karen ****, cosigner to borrower Braxton Davis regarding the release of Ms. **** from the responsibility of the loan.   
  Ms. **** includes within her complaint that the qualifications for cosigner release have been met.  Unfortunately, not all qualifications have been met, and the exact reasons for decline have been provided to the applicant, Mr. Davis.  The qualifications for cosigner release are provided below; these are also published on our website.
  

  Must be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident
  Half of the original repayment term must have elapsed
  Documented annual income is at least twice the balance of outstanding loan(s)
  Pass a credit review and has none of the following:
  30 day or greater delinquency in the last 12 months, and
  Bankruptcy, foreclosure, or repossession in the last 24 months.

  Thank you.

  Customer response

  05/25/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
    I have been continually asking for specifics as to what the credit score needs to be, as in a specific number  They refuse to give us a number as a goal to work towards.  Also it does-not say in their release requirements that any delinquent payment is a negative. It is not with college ave student loans. He has automatic withdrawal and has not missed a payment. They are clearly being unreasonable and vague with guidelines. What does the credit score meed to be exactly!! WHAT NUMBER 
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 17210541

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  06/10/2022

  We appreciate the opportunity to further address the concerns of ***** ****, cosigner to borrower ******* *****, regarding the eligibility requirements for releasing a cosigner. 
  Our criteria for Cosigner Release are clearly documented and published on our website.  The criteria does not require a minimum credit score for approval to release a cosigner and Mr. *****’ credit score was not a factor in the determination to not release his cosigner.  However, it does require the passing of a credit review to include no 30-day delinquencies in the last 12 months and no bankruptcy, foreclosure, or repossession in the last 24 months. 
  We have provided Mr. ***** with a letter explaining the reasons for the decline. Mr. ***** is entitled to request a free copy of his credit bureau report, we would encourage Mr. ***** do so and correct any potential reporting inaccuracies that are impacting his ability to obtain cosigner release.

• Initial Complaint

  04/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting act College Avenue Student Loans, has violated my rights various amounts of times, not only has it been a supposedly closed account on my credit report for 7 years now they have managed to do the following countless times with proof. 15 U.S.C 1681 section 602 A. States I have the right to privacy. 15 U.S.C 1681 Section 604 A Section 2: It also states a consumer reporting agency cannot furnish a account without my written instructions 15 U.S.C 1692C Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt. 15 U.S.C 1666b A Creditor May not treat a payment on a credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan as late for any reason. I demand this to be removed from my report.

  

  Business response

  04/27/2022

  We are in receipt of the complaint submitted by Kamari Huggins.  Our borrower ****** ******* along with cosigner ****** ****** entered into a loan with College Ave in the amount of $3000.00 that was disbursed February 17, 2015, to Texas State University – San Marcos for the purpose of qualified educational expenses. 
  We have reviewed our customers concerns and concluded our research of the account.  Our credit bureau reporting of the payment history and status of the account is accurate and has been performed with integrity.   The last payment received for the account was submitted February 18, 2019, due to severe delinquency of the remaining balance of $2666.33 the account was charged-off as a bad debt October 21, 2019.  We have documented numerous attempts to contact our customers, utilizing the methods (i.e., phone number, address) provided by our customers, with no response. 
  In conclusion, credit reporting of the account in question is accurate and contacts made to either customer have been performed in compliance with debt collection practices.

• Initial Complaint

  02/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 10/17/21, an application for a loan was made in my name by an identity thief 2 College Avenue student loans. I received a letter from College Avenue declining this loan (15000002734546) dated October 18th 2021. Since that time I have tried through all legal means to get College Avenue to comply with the law and provide me with all correspondence associated with this loan application. On November 10th 2021 I provided College Avenue with an affidavit of identity theft, police report, and copies of photo ID is required by law. They are in violation of FCRA 609e, 15 USC 1681(e). I was told 60 days ago and have been turned over to their legal department. And that I would be contacted this is the third time I've been told I would be contacted. Supervisor Victoria has lied, Andrea Boffa has lied. All I want is this business to comply with the law. I have emails between myself and Andrea Boffa proving that I provided them with the federal statutes establishing my legal rights. It appears this company has no regard for law.

  

  Business response

  02/25/2022

  We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. *********, regarding his request for additional information of an application that was made in his name for a Parent Loan with College Ave Student Loans in October 2021.  An application for a College Ave loan is completed entirely online with no physical application; however, data entered is retained.  This data information was provided to Mr. ********* via e-mail on December 30, 2021 from our customer advocate ****** *****.   Mr. *********’s request for a response from our Legal team was honored on January 19, 2022, with a communication sent to the electronic address provided by Mr. ********* (t*********@kgldcable.com).  Attached is a copy of the information provided to Mr. ********* within that communication.    
  

  In confirmation, the application submitted with Mr. ********* listed as a co-signer was not honored, and no funds were disbursed as a result of this application.  Mr. ********* has been added to our internal listing of known victims of fraud, and a suppression of the credit inquiry was submitted to the credit bureau for processing.  We trust this information resolves Mr. *********’s inquiry in a satisfactory manner.

  Customer response

  03/01/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  I submit that the business does not have the right under law to require a subpoena or deny any information in their position to a victim of identity theft.  The reply provided by their legal department implies they have the right to deny certain information from me, and that a subpoena is required even after I have provided information required by law. To the decider of fact please read, FCRA(e), disclosure to Consumers information available to victims. The company still has not explained why this law does not apply to them or the information they have in their possession. I am the victim, and I need all of the information submitted by the criminal who stole my identity.
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 16775477

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  03/08/2022

  We are regretful that the application information provided to Mr. ********* in prior correspondence is not satisfactory.  College Ave does comply with all applicable Federal and State laws.  The only information not provided to Mr. ********* was the full social security number used in the application.  We would be glad to provide that information; however, will need Mr. ********* to provide proof of his identity.  Mr. ********* may email a copy of his ID document (ex. Driver’s License or State Identification Card, or Passport) to ******** K******** ************************    

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  College Ave has not worked with me on resolving the interest rate on an auto pay discount through my Visa account, which I entered on 9-24-2021 with Ms. ****. Ms. **** set me up for auto pay at 4.24% from 4.49% through my Visa with commencement date of 9-25-2021. I have attempted to contact College Ave, but they don't know what to do with this request. I have names on all the people I have spoken with, all the dates as well, and they either place me on hold for periods of time or disengage the phone. The final straw was when I was transferred to a supervisor, Ms. Ashley Tatta, on 12-3-2021, three months after initiation, who again said, I am not authorized to speak on this account. My request is I want all my paperwork to reflect a 4.24% commencing 9-25-2021 as they promised. I made a payment with a representative on 11-19-2021 and she expressed I am now 4.24% but I want it to go back to 9-25-2021 as promised by Ms. ****. Thank you for your time.

  

  Business response

  12/13/2021

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns of Ms. ***** ******.   Ms. Frazee was provided permission to receive information during the application process by our customer **** ******, we have made allowances for the extension of the authorization to the servicing of the account.
  

  Prior to the expiration of a grace deferral, following graduation, a recurring payment was established on the account included with a 0.25% reduction of interest; shortly after a one-time payment was scheduled.  The one-time payment subsequently cancelled out the recurring payment enrollment.  As of 11/26/2021, a recurring payment has been established along with the 0.25% interest reduction, also an adjustment will be processed to the account.
  

  We strive to provide our customers with accurate and concise responses to their inquiries and take appropriate steps to review and implement changes to process where necessary.  

• Initial Complaint

  11/28/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I co-signed a Student Loan for a Family member and the only reason I would agree to co-sign is if the balance due didn’t show up on my credit report until after my family member graduated. I called college Ave and confirmed with two representatives that the loan amount will NOT be reported to the three credit bureaus until my family member completed college or we start to make payments. The only thing that would be reported is the inquiry for the loan. The calls are recorded, so college Ave should be able to go back and review the conversations I had with their staff. Due to this information, I agreed to co-sign the loan back in August 2021. Fast forward to November 2021. The loan amount due was reported to the credit bureaus and my family member is still in school and I have not made a single payment. This is false advertisement on the part of College Ave, and I feel that I was misinformed and misled just to get me to complete the loan application as a co-signer. *I want the amount due removed from my credit reports, until my family member graduates from college or I make a payment. This is what was told to me by College Ave Student loans and this is what I expect to happen. I do not want a loan amount balance owed sitting on my credit report for the next 3 and a half years. Thank you.

  

  Business response

  12/06/2021

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns of our customer ******* **************, co-signer for borrower ****** ******.   We have reviewed Ms. **************’s concerns regarding the reporting of the student loan cosigned for Jaelyn and confirmed that the reporting of the loan to the credit bureau has been performed accurately and timely in accordance with our responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.   Tell us why here...

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩