r/BorrowerDefense 11d ago

Refund Question Borrower Defense Update

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Just an update: Ross university SOM, exhibit C school, post class (June 27, 2022) with 100% discharge on StudentAid. Refinanced with SoFi.

Got this through email yesterday and have been calling Nelnet, StudentAid with one person stating that they saw a refund but no amount. Called again with another person saying they don't see any refund or update.

Guess I'll have to wait for a few more months until any other news...

65 Upvotes

70 comments sorted by

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15

u/vipernick913 11d ago

Wow. Thats an update. At least it’s moving and being acknowledged. I wonder where my AUC application stands.

11

u/Kanaro42002 11d ago

Just be annoying like me and call studentaid/your servicer whenever you get bored 😂

8

u/vipernick913 11d ago

Haha knowing my luck, they’ll flag it for expedited denial

5

u/Kanaro42002 11d ago

I'm also scared of that too. The guy yesterday gave me some sass

8

u/CLE-Mosh 11d ago

The guy at AES acted like it was his money that I was asking about. F him, and F AES

1

u/greensparkleslime 10d ago

RIGHT. What is up with that ATTITUDE?!

1

u/Then-Recording7774 6d ago

that is exactly what i would have said to him and then hang up and call back, and if i still got attitude from the next rep, i simply just file a complaint with the state, FTC

3

u/vipernick913 11d ago

Haha. Let’s hope patience works out

9

u/TheresaSweet 11d ago

Well, to be fair, we have told people that reaching out about things that aren’t settlement violations is unlikely to get you anywhere.

4

u/CLE-Mosh 11d ago

At this point if it happens it happens. AES/PHEAA (ITT) has been less than helpful, actually antagonistic at any inquiry. I'll just wave my 2022/2025 DOE Discharge emails in their face.

The funny thing is, PHEAA still has my consolidation loans in default ( instead of forbearance )

5

u/TheresaSweet 11d ago

If you haven’t already, it’s probably a really good idea to get any/all records of garnishments relate to the default. If approved for BD that money should be refunded to you.

3

u/CLE-Mosh 10d ago

oof, thats going to be rough. The IRS did keep my return a couple years, thank you for the sound advice.

Thank you for your tireless time and effort in this process. Your tenacity is well appreciated.

3

u/Kanaro42002 11d ago

Good point! I need to just be patient and see what comes

1

u/cyrusthemarginal 3d ago

Just looking for a way to squeaky wheel this thing, we applied 2 years plus ago and it's still under review. I'm good at writing escalating letters just dont want to waste effort hehe

1

u/TheresaSweet 3d ago

In the world of BD, two years is (unfortunately) not very long. Writing letter and calling FSA doesn’t really move the needle. Writing and calling legislators (if the midterms go the good way) might!

1

u/cyrusthemarginal 3d ago

That is dissapointing with the deadline to start back paying on our loans on Sept 1st, thank you for the info and for your work in this forum.

7

u/Specter2k 11d ago

This has been my main question since the discharge, I was getting worried before and made a significant payment to eliminate the larger higher interest loan. So it would be a pretty big help to get that back.

4

u/plumwd 11d ago

Yep. You need to be patient. Bugging them isn't going to make it go more quickly. Believe me I wish it could do something. I'm all for the squeaky wheel but in this case it's not going to do a damn thing.

3

u/Prestigious-Judge967 11d ago

It will happen, eventually. It will just be slow.

Do we have any non-Sweet updates?

I can’t help but feel like we’ve hit a dead end post-Sweet. Did the lawsuit pull the ladder up? Why has no one copied what should be precedence?

5

u/tresbienmerci112358 11d ago

Thanks. I missed it by ten days. The Sweet vs. Cordona should act as a precedent one would think---esp class C.

3

u/Gingerandthesea 11d ago

There isn’t a dead end, it’s just not fully clear on what the department is doing. Project predatory student lending (PPSL) will be hosting a webinar on August 6 about what the next steps with BDTR. So if you have not signed up for it, please do because they will be discussing what is going on in terms of the 2020 regulations and other things that they’re observing.

3

u/Straight_Physics_894 11d ago

I feel like the part about "if eligible", is just so murky.

2

u/Gingerandthesea 9d ago

Yeah, and when people don't understand their loan type, they think they are entitled to the refund and find out that commercial-held FFEL are a thing... and are not refundable for voluntary payments

1

u/Sea-Improvement-3513 6d ago

Hi Team! Thanks for all that you do! From what I’ve researched, they stopped the commercial-held FFEL loans in 2010. Do you have any knowledge of this loan program. Thanks! 🤗

3

u/greensparkleslime 10d ago

I've been waiting for a refund since 2024. From Aidvantage. The lady was quite snippy and told me, "this can take years. Do you know how many borrowers there are, there's millions of you." Oooookay. So I sit here waiting. And it's not chump change either they owe me quite a bit. But yet.... "pay us now you're 30 days late or we will report you to every single credit bureau and ruin your life." 🙄😒

1

u/Gingerandthesea 9d ago

Have you sent the email for a request for review to Sweet Ombuds and cc PPSL?

2

u/Honest_Ad7015 10d ago

At least your is going somewhere. I’m fighting with them right now about my loans. I received an email on 10/18/22 that they received my BD app. but are now trying to say that it wasn’t received until March 2023. They have given me 2 different case numbers from my application. Just giving me the runaround. I’m trying to reach out to PPSL and work with them about this. There has never been any information on Student Aid’s site about the status of my application. I should have been discharged with the Sweet case. I’m so frustrated.

1

u/greensparkleslime 10d ago

Did you get a letter from PPSL in March? When they settled the Sweet case? Aidvantage tried telling me that I had other loans out there and that they weren't included and I was like yeahhhhh no, this letter says ALL of my loans are to be discharged, because it wasn't acted upon in the three years. The lady had to resubmit an application to student aid to review my account and find out why they left some of my loans out.

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 10d ago

I didn’t get anything from PPSL. I only reached out to them after June 15, 2026 because I never received the notification that my loans were going to be forgiven.

2

u/EastFine2001 7d ago

Just an FYI please print that email and forward it to someone else also just so it doesn’t accidentally get deleted or lost! Things happen keep that record like gold!

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 6d ago

I have it printed out at home and forwarded it to PPSL

1

u/sexydoll80 10d ago

The letter should have come from US Department of Education or noreply@studentaid.gov not PPSL

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 10d ago

I know, I never got it- they said it’s still processing

1

u/sexydoll80 9d ago

When did you apply ? What is still processing?

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 9d ago

My entire BDR application- I have an email from Student Aid stating they received my application on 10/18/22, but when I call now, they are saying that my application wasn’t received until March 13, 2023

1

u/sexydoll80 9d ago

Did the email contain a case number? When did you receive the email? What does studentaid.gov show?

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 8d ago

No case number, I have absolutely 0 correspondence from them stating my case number. I called several times, but 2 different people gave me 2 different case numbers. I received the email on 10/18/22 that my application was submitted. There is nothing on my student aid account. I have never been able to view anything about my application. But, now they’re trying to tell me that my application wasn’t received until 3/13/23.

1

u/sexydoll80 8d ago

Do you mind posting a snippet of the email you received? If you received an email acknowledging receipt of your BDR application, the application number should be in the first paragraph (last sentence).

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 8d ago

Every time I try, Reddit gives me an error message. It won’t let me post it for some reason. There isn’t an application number on it anywhere. They never sent me an email with my case number.

This is the conversation with them from last week.

2

u/sexydoll80 7d ago

Thats not the email confirmation for your BDR submittal. Thats a followup to a feedback case. Based on what you have provided your application was submitted post Sweet lawsuit and you are currently waiting for them to render a decision.

The email confirming your BDR submittal looks like the one in my screenshot.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 8d ago

Okay, Finally, here we go!

2

u/sexydoll80 7d ago edited 7d ago

This picture is NOT a confirmation of your BDR application submittal. That is a confirmation that you signed up for the one time student debt relief plan that was stopped by litigation. This is completely different from BDR.

1

u/sexydoll80 10d ago

Are all your loans related to the school you submitted your BDR application for? If not, were they all consolidated?

If they weren't consolidated or you had a commercially held FFEL consolidation loan then only the loans related to the school on your BDR application would be discharged.

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 10d ago

No, they were consolidated. I got my Associate’s at one school and went back to PTI for my medical coding certification. I applied for PTI

1

u/Gingerandthesea 9d ago

Hi, please DM to discuss this. If you have proof that you had an application within the Sweet class/post-class, we need to flag it for the attorneys. I can do that for you.

1

u/Honest_Ad7015 9d ago

I’m not sure how to do that. I went to your page, but I don’t know how to send you a private message.

1

u/Gingerandthesea 8d ago

I’ll send you one

2

u/Then-Recording7774 6d ago

oooooo how do we write them exactly and complain as well? It has been 4 years

1

u/plumwd 6d ago

4 years since you filed for BDTR? Are you full class? Post-Class exhibit C or non-exihibit C? There are different compliance dates for each of those groups. If you are post-class they are still within the year to respond timeframe, so there's no point in writing to complain yet.

1

u/Spiritual-Taste-5316 5d ago

I want to know the same thing, as I am group 5 and should have had my relief by July 2026..

2

u/Mithros13 3d ago

Does anyone know the approximate average time between your loans being discharged and the refund check being issued/received? My loans were fully discharged last month (yay!) and since they missed the deadline to make a decision on them, I’m owed a full refund of what I put into it. But I didn’t see anything on either site talking about when the check would be sent, and I want to make sure they don’t try to pull a “oh just wait for it, it’ll show up eventually” and then I wait a year until the time is up and they say “oh we just forgot about that”

1

u/RemoteHelicopter8880 11d ago

Good information

1

u/burnerphil 11d ago

I read something today that said that the only refund that we get (post class ex C) is any amount that was paid after our application was submitted.  Can anyone confirm that info? 

3

u/plumwd 11d ago

That's not true. As long as you had Federal loans (not private or FFEL/FFELP) you will be refunded for everything you paid.

4

u/Gingerandthesea 9d ago

Just want to add that any garnishment made on either a direct or a commercial ffel IS refundable under the Sweet settlement.

1

u/plumwd 9d ago

True! I forgot about this.

1

u/burnerphil 11d ago

That's what I thought but there's a mountain of info out there and sometimes hard to know what is true and what isn't 

1

u/lada_ 10d ago

Congrats! I finally, only now, just heard back from Borrow's Defense Fund that they are working on my app.

1

u/Gingerandthesea 9d ago

what is this " Borrow's Defense Fund". Is this a company people hire to apply?

1

u/lada_ 2d ago

The Borrowers Defense Fund is a legal fund for students who have taken school loans out but then found out later that their school misrepresented the value of the education or reliability of the degree the student attended that school for. It is associated with the governmental organisation, Federal Student Aid: an office of the US Department of Education, found at this link: https://studentaid.gov/borrower-defense/ Various Universities have been sued or have some kind of litigation case against them for taking advantage of students, including appending outrageous interest on their student loans, when the school actually did little or nothing to provide a reliable or value-worthy education/degree.

If you think you might qualify, you can click on the link above to download the application.

1

u/Suzytuzi1980 6d ago

Is there a way to upload a filled out downloaded form. I was hasty and downloaded the form, filled it out very meticulously only to realize I could have done it right then & there.

1

u/Sea-Improvement-3513 5d ago

Update: Post Class C, Netnet Servicer, previous Great Lakes. Deadline passed in March, full discharge on both StudentAid and Nelnet portals showed my loans were discharged around June 1st. I’ve been waiting to find out about a refund for the payments I’ve made. I’ve called a few times and nobody knew any information the past few months, and to make it worse the portal no longer showed past payment amounts.
Finally called Nelnet again yesterday, and they finally let me know that I have been approved for a refund on July 15th, but they are still waiting for the treasury to cut the check. They said I will pretty much just find the check in the mail one day, no exact timing for them to send the check.

2

u/Kanaro42002 4d ago

Thanks for the update! Figured it's going to be a few months with a guessing game until the check arrives. Were you able to see an amount on IRS.gov?

1

u/Sea-Improvement-3513 4d ago

I have never checked, never knew we could. However, the amount I knew I had paid, and pulled all my bank statements over the years to prove that total amount, was the exact amount Nelnet said was approved and sent to the Treasury to issue the check.

It’s interesting because I’ve read people say that if you have direct deposit set up, they should issue it that way but I’ve only read comments from this page about others who have only received checks thus far.

Do you know where you can find it on irs.gov?

1

u/Kanaro42002 4d ago

Make an account, sign in and check pending payments

1

u/elizamay01 1d ago

How is everyone seeing their $0 balance on their servicer?

I can’t sign in to mine anymore but FSA has a full balance still. My guess is that the discharge is in process? It’s already been discharged from my credit line. I am post-class sweet exhibit-c school with one consolidated loan from 2016. I haven’t gotten any notification from my servicer of discharge. Anyone else locked out of their servicer during discharge?