Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/07/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, however, my satisfaction is pending on if they actually backdate the payment like they said they would and stop with the games. He clearly admitted that my auto pay update went through before it was fully cancelled. And they DID NOT email me notifying me of being unenrolled, he said that was their policy but that is not what happened and I checked my dashboard its not there.

  I will re-enroll, but make sure it an clear, they need to actually honor what he said in writing and backdate the payments and stop with the shady business practice. This is not the first time they told me something in good faith. So Im not going to hear it, backdate it, and we will be okay.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  a call back to figure to out how to enroll me again. Of course she did not call back (and keep in mind I have had a history with this company straight up lying and being misleading and resulting in me dealing with the consequences instead of them owning up to it and being reasonable. Then I got connected with a ****** who seemed to be helpful at first. She said they raised the payment due to me not having the autopay discount (which they dropped me from and didnt tell me). She said she would need to get it approved to backdate me. She talked to the team and I have email proof that she said it was approved and they would back date me but first I needed to re-enroll. I did that and as soon as I did she now started to give me a song and dance as to why they couldnt back date for ***** So they deliberately lied and tricked me again but this time now I have the email evidence. They deliberately withheld information and I demand they backdate the payments as they said they would.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/16/2023

  Hi ******,

  Thank you for reaching out to express your concerns and letting us know the details of your situation. Great care has been taken to review your account events and all communication to understand what happened and provide a resolution for this issue.
  
  During my investigation, I saw that the first concern you raised was that the auto payment did not pull from your new ********** account after it was added to your dashboard. Our records indicate that prior to 4/22/2023, the Chase account was added to your dashboard but not selected as the payment method for your Auto Pay from your settings, so the auto payment was pulled from your **** of America account on the scheduled payment date of 4/22/2023. Please note that simply adding a new bank account to your dashboard does not mean that it will automatically be used for any future payments. As you did back in December of last year, you would need to go to your payment settings and choose the Chase account as your new payment method. Our *********** also has a specific article that outlines the steps to add a new account to your dashboard and then select it as your new payment method.
  
  On 4/26/2023, our system received a notification that the payment failed due to the **** of America account being closed, and we immediately reached out to you that morning via email. Later that evening, our system shows that you logged on and updated your payment method to the Chase account, which was done successfully. However, looking at the account history notes closer, I see that the Auto Pay was in the process of being canceled as you added the account, and the notes indicate that your Chase account was selected exactly one second before the Auto Pay was fully canceled.
  
  That said, your next concern was regarding the lack of notice that your account was unenrolled in Auto Pay and that you were not given a notice about the discount being removed. After checking your account, I see that there was a letter regarding the cancellation of Auto Pay that was uploaded to your dashboard, dated 4/27/2023. In this notice, as your account was now unenrolled from Auto Pay, the first paragraph under your name states, "... If you were receiving an Auto Pay interest rate reduction, the benefit is no longer in effect." What this means is that the interest rate increased by ****% to align with the interest rate listed in your loan agreement. The full APR reflected on your loan agreement is ****%. It is also our policy to send an email notification asking you to log in to view any notice that has been uploaded to your dashboard. These notices are still available in your dashboard. To view, you'll sign in and select Documents from the left-side navigation menu. If you do not see a left-side navigation menu, youll need to select "Loan Details" and then "Documents". Click the downward arrow to view and download your document(s).
  
  You also mentioned that you were not given notice of your upcoming payment that was due on 5/22/2023. However, we uploaded your billing statement for *** to your online dashboard, as we have done with all other notices and billing statements since the beginning of your loan. All monthly billing statements will list your due date, and your due date will not change from the 22nd of each month unless we receive a request from you to change it. It looks like this payment was later made on 5/29/2023, which was a holiday.
  
  Following that, I see that on 5/30/2023, you were transferred over to our *************************** from our Navient payments team to discuss the payment increase and the reason for the Auto Pay being removed. ***** explained that your account was unenrolled from Auto Pay due to the notice we received about your account being closed and that our system doesnt automatically select a new account as the new payment method as that would interfere with specific regulations where you would need to provide your consent for ** to debit payments. Please note that when you open your Auto Pay settings and click Edit **** Account, there is a popup screen that reads, For adding a new bank account, click here, then return to this page to complete your payment. When you return to the page and select your new bank account as the payment method, you would be presented with the Auto Pay Authorization disclosure that you would need to agree to in order to proceed.
  Later in the call, after noticing that your manual payment was still pending, she offered to follow up with you after the payment was posted (25 business days) so that she could help walk you through the steps to re-enroll in Auto Pay. After this call ended, she saw that you called back less than 48 hours after speaking with her, so a call back was no longer needed.
  
  That brings us to your most recent call with ****** on 6/1/2023. You discussed the increase in your loan payment due to being unenrolled from Auto Pay, and you stated you attempted to reenroll, which I addressed above. She said that if there was a glitch or something out of the ordinary that happened on our end, she would ask for approval from our leadership team to possibly backdate the Auto Pay discount. Before disconnecting, she sent you an email to confirm that she would be following up with you as soon as she had an answer.
  
  On 6/5/2023, ****** received approval to backdate your Auto Pay discount and sent you a follow-up. Please note that this decision was made as a good-faith gesture as you mentioned running into issues, but we were unable to find any recently filed dashboard bugs or recent (after 4/26) attempts to enroll in Auto Pay from the history notes on your account. That said, I see that she mentioned that we would be backdating your Auto Pay discount but that your June payment would not change due to your billing statement already being generated. After you asked why the payment amount would not change, she again said that it was due to the statement being generated; however, she clarified that the discount would adjust Junes payment when the backdate request is processed after you re-enroll in Auto Pay.
  
  From 6/1/2023 to now, I see that you had enrolled and unenrolled from Auto Pay three times, and on 6/12/2023, you called to ensure you were completely unenrolled and that we could see your pending payment set to pull on 6/22/2023. I also see that we still have a pending request to backdate your Auto Pay discount, and we can process that if youre still interested in enrolling in Auto Pay and staying enrolled until just after your next billing cycle to ensure the request is complete, which would be after 6/28/2023. If you are not interested in re-enrolling or having the discount backdated, we can cancel the request. Please know that we will not be able to re-request the discount to be backdated if the request is canceled.
  
  I do hope this information helps clear up any concerns you had, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to ** by phone or email. Our email is ********************************* and our number is **************. Were available Monday through Friday, 5 a.m.5 p.m. PST.

  All the best,
  *********************
  Complaints Specialist
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On February 8, 2023, my ex wife received a letter from Earnest dated February 6. ************************ and requesting information for the dispersal of loan funds. I immediately called Earnest notufying it that the loan was fraudulently obtained. Nevertheless, Earnest has allowed my daughter ****************** to add me to her loan of $17,000.00 despite my immediate notice to it, on February 8, 2023, that I didn't know or approve of the loan. I informed Earnest that ******* usurped my information that was required by ******** University for a possible scholarship, and used it to obtain the loan. Earnest knew ******* was not loan eligible since she has no job and lives with her mother in ********. I live in the **************. So it unethically granted the loan based on my information, and refused to take it back after notice the info was stolen. Earnest failed its due diligence responsibilities that would have avoided this mess. It never contacted me before I alerted it of the fraud, or otherwise reasonably resolved this matter after said notice and despite having my accurate information intended for scholarship. It just wants the profit off of the fraudulently obtained loan, regardless of the innocent victim thereof. Today Credit Karma notified me that the Earnest loan is now added to my account. I am researching a predatory lending type action if Earnest fails to delete my name from this phoney loan. I hope the BBB can resolve this matter.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/29/2023

  Hello *****,
  
  Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. Great care has been taken to review the information you provided as well as the calls youve had with us. There are a few things I wanted to provide more clarity on.
  
  You mentioned that we refused to take back the loan after you notified us of the fraudulent activity, which is inaccurate. Our records indicate that youve notified us four times of the account that has been opened by your daughter, *******. After the first call you made to us, our team did their due diligence and reported the incident to our Fraud team which is standard procedure. Our Fraud team then did their investigation and sent you a letter that stated the reporting was accurate, however, they also included a packet for you to fill out to dispute the decision.
  
  The packet, titled Identity Theft Affidavit, included a checklist for completing the forms and pages for you to add your details about your situation before returning them back to us. On the second call you made to our Client Happiness team you confirmed that you had received this packet, and although you didnt want to fill it out, you still requested to be taken off of the loan which is not possible as there are specific steps that need to be followed, including completing and returning the Identity Theft Affidavit.
  
  To clarify, our Client Happiness team is unable to take any action on the account as they do not have the authority. All claims of fraud are handled through our Fraud team after an initial claim has been made. Furthermore, our Fraud team had sent you the necessary paperwork for further investigation which has not been returned. If you still have the packet, Id recommend completing it and returning it according to the instructions listed. 
  
  In case you no longer have the packet you were sent on February 8th 2023, or if you have any additional questions pertaining to this claim, please contact our **************** at ************.
  
  Again, we appreciate you bringing this to our attention and we hope that this is taken care of as quickly as possible.
  
  All the best,
  *********************
  Earnest Complaints Specialist
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/07/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Refund of $360.00 requested November 2, 2022, Was given several different stories how the refund would be handled. Check, or ACH. The payment processing center has no information on the **** (****** Said they did)In summary, they issued a live check, after 3 weeks of not getting it, put a stop payment on it, and reissued a PAPER check again. This has caused me to move my money from my other accounts into my checking account, to avoid bounced check fees. I want the funds returned, ASAP

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/15/2022

  Hi *****,

  Thank you for reaching out to us regarding your experience. I have reviewed your account to understand what happened with your refund request. 

  Our records show that a payment was made on 10/28/22 for $360.00 via bill pay (i.e., check). After your Auto Pay went through on 11/03/22, you requested a refund of the check payment. When we process refunds, we do so according to who originally submitted the payment. This means that our team initiated a refund to be sent back to ******** on 11/16/22. We recognize that there was an urgency to receive the funds back and have them direct deposited. Unfortunately, we encountered a processing error when updating the delivery pathway where the system reverted the refund to be sent via check rather than ACH. This resulted in a delay in the funds being received. I can confirm that the refund was successfully processed on 12/08/22 and will be direct deposited into the account ending in ****. ACH deposits typically take 2-5 business days to reflect in the account. Please let us know if you do not receive the refund by the end of the week.
  

  In addition, we are actively investigating how we can mitigate this moving forward. While we are glad that the funds were returned, we regret the obstacles and any inconvenience you encountered. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. 
  

  All the best, 
  ***********************; 
  Complaint Specialist
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/02/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

   
  Complaint: 18155744
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The agreement Earnest refers to does not make a valid contract per contract law as stated before. It lacks the components to make a valid and lawful contract. Furthermore, Earnest did not respond in the timeframe given in my documents to validate this debt and they still have not sent a sworn Affidavit rebutting point for point my Affidavit that was sent and received by them. Per the 10 maxims of commercial law, an unrebutted Affidavit stands as truth in commerce and an unrebutted Affidavit becomes the judgement in commerce. This debt is still declared fraudulent and Earnest has not acted in honor or lawful throughout the entire dispute and validation process. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********************

  e company failed to respond or act in any honorable way to lawfully remedy this issue. After the timeframe for them to respond was well past due as stated on the notice of default, I finally submitted a CFPB complaint laying out the case as it is here. EARNEST responded with a copy of an electronic agreement and a letter stating the account was valid without any proof. I submitted another CFPB response and challenged this contract as it did not meet lawful contract stipulations and contained fraud due to the finance charge being different than the total sum of payments. EARNEST responded again with a letter stating the account was valid due to the agreement with an e-signature and nothing else. EARNEST has breached multiple FDCPA and TILA violations and failed to respond appropriately to my documents. From the 10 Maxims in Commercial Law; an unrebutted Affidavit stands as truth in commerce and an unrebutted Affidavit becomes the judgement in commerce.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2022

  *****************,

  
  Thank you for reaching out again to bring this concern to our attention. 

  
  The information you received from our response through the **** is still accurate. As was previously advised, you electronically agreed to the terms of this agreement upon refinancing with Earnest. The agreement was available in full prior to electronically signing so that you would be well aware of the terms of your loan. This loan agreement is in place so that Earnest can service all of our loans consistently across our client base.

  
  With a fully online application and refinancing process, we do rely on our applicants and clients reading the information that is presented to them. Ultimately, as you electronically signed a fully valid contract, and we disbursed funds in reliance of this contract, it is your obligation to repay this loan in accordance with the loan terms.

  
  For full transparency, as stated in your loan agreement, interest continues to accrue throughout the life of your loan. In the event that payments are not made, any delinquency 30+ days past due are subject to be reported to the credit bureaus. Additionally, as you may have already noticed since your loan is now 100 days past due, our payment specialist team at Navient will contact you to attempt to collect payments, and offer any assistance they can.

  
  We do hope that youll let our payments team know if you are experiencing a financial hardship so that we may provide you with some assistance. Again, you can reach them at ************, Monday through Friday, 5 AM to 4 PM PST (8 AM to 7 PM EST). 

  
  In the meantime, if you have any further questions, please let us know. Ive also attached our last replies in addition to your loan agreement for your records.

  
  All the best,
  **************
  Complaints Specialist
  

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/06/2022

  *****************,
  
  Attached is your electronically signed loan agreement. In addition to this binding contract, we've also provided three (3) previous responses with full details on this matter, and for this reason, we are unable to provide any further response.
  
  If you have any other questions, please let us know.
  
  All the best,
  ************
  Complaints Specialist
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/07/2022

   
  Complaint: 18155744
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I still find the contract to be unlawful and invalid. All reasons have been listed before. I reject and disagree with the response given by the company.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********************