Comments on: ELFI Student Loan Refinance Review

By: The Student Loan Sherpa

The Student Loan Sherpa — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 22:23:28 +0000

In reply to SK. That is interesting. Did you check with other lenders? Was this just an issue with ELFI or did other companies impose the same requirement?

By: SK

SK — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 17:38:40 +0000

45 years old. Very good job (14 yeara) at the same company, very good credit and income, just bought a $500k home with no issue whatsoever. ELFI said I need a cosigner for my loan and I’ve had zero problems with credit anywhere else.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:09:32 +0000

In reply to The Student Loan Sherpa. This was just on an initial rate check, no where near far enough in the process for a hard pull. While it was unauthorized I didn't dispute it since I went ahead and refinanced by wife's loans with another company right afterward and those inquiries will get lumped together when calculating a credit score.

By: KH

KH — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 17:22:00 +0000

ELFI is terribly misleading. I should have looked at their slightly lower reviews and gone with a different company. The soft credit pull interest rate is a joke compared to what they offered me after a hard credit pull (A full percentage or slightly higher). Then they encouraged me to add a co-signer to lower my rate. After going through the entire process, speaking to multiple “loan officers”, and adding a co-signer, I got back a denial letter. I wasted hours of my time all while multiple employees told me everything looked good for approval and for me to get a good rate. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME. FYI: Both my wife (co-signer) and I have excellent credit and bring in good money. Their reason for denial, to much debt to income ratio. I called to ask why and they told me they don’t look at combined household income only each person individually. What a joke. I guess if you don’t have a mortgage and a car payment they may approve you, but don’t hold your breath. Even if they do, it will be a higher rate than advertised.

By: IMP

IMP — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 18:07:00 +0000

This is a total scam. Bait and switch. Offer you one rate and then make a HARD PULL on you credit and change the rate. They are a HORRIBLE COMPANY. DO NOT GO THROUGH THE PROCESS. They will screw you over as so many more.

By: AJG412

AJG412 — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 18:45:00 +0000

My experience with Elfi is very similar to what is described by others below. They conditionally offered one rate, then ran a hard credit check and subsequently began requesting all kinds of unusual paperwork over the course of the next several weeks. I reluctantly jumped through all their hoops knowing that they had already dinged my credit. Eventually they came back and offered a rate and term that wasn’t remotely close to their conditional offer. Classic bait and switch.

My credit score can survive the hard check, but I suspect that ELFI is all too aware that most potential borrowers will just take whatever is offered rather than going elsewhere and being forced to submit to another hard credit check. Long story short, ELFI is no better than many of the other, more overtly predatory, lenders out there. Apply at your own risk.

By: Karen Roseberry Anderson Rosen

Karen Roseberry Anderson Rosen — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 20:34:00 +0000

I have been trying to help my son refinance his student loans with this company for months! I’ve given them all the info that they have requested but they never get back with me when I email or message them! It’s been a VERY frustrating process. They must not want my business very much. Don’t waist your time with this company as they don ‘t seem to value a good customer who wants to do business with them. VERY DISAPPOINTED! Even when I got a manager involved he apologized for the lack of communication and then he did the very same thing!

By: Francis

Francis — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 03:45:00 +0000

In reply to Fred. They are EXTREMELY picky. They went as far as needing my monthly mortgage (even though Im married and my husband pays for it), they couldnt account for any of my husbands income because they claimed to need a worst case scenario for my debt to income ratio if I were to divorce! And even though the initial assessment of my rates and options were extremely good, at the point when the actual underwriters analyzed my REAL options, they denied many of the lowest rates that I had initially been potentially offered. With my credit score above 800, they were still able to offer me a rate lower than the competition so I'll stick it out

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 22:22:00 +0000

In reply to The Student Loan Sherpa. I recently had a similar experience with the credit pull before I authorized it. I went ahead and continued with the application since they pulled my credit without my permission. I was declined with a 773 FICO Score. When I called they didn't have any explanation. My wife was also declined on her student loans refi from ELFI as well. Her credit score was a 743. Seems like this is a new company and that are very picky on who they lend to.

By: The Student Loan Sherpa

The Student Loan Sherpa — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:11:00 +0000

In reply to Adam.

Adam,

Thanks for sharing your input. Did you just do a rate check with ELFI or was it further along in the process that they did the hard pull? Have you disputed this with the credit bureau or does it not matter because other lenders had to do hard pulls as well?

This is actually an issue that we occasionally see with a number of different lenders, so we wrote an article that might help shed some light on the issue: https://studentloansherpa.com/hard-pull-vs-soft-pull/