Boston Student Loan Lawyer

Student loan refinancing is the process by which a borrower can obtain a lower interest rate on their student loans, usually by taking out a new student loan that pays off the old one. If this new loan comes with a lower interest rate and better repayment terms, the borrower may save substantially, both on a monthly basis and in total.

During the past few years, up-and-coming private student loan refinancing companies have been offering various options to student borrowers. These programs are relatively new, and they tend to be restricted to people with good income and excellent credit, so we don’t know much about them. But as more and more borrowers turn to these programs in the absence of federal student loan refinancing options, I’ve been trying to find out more information about them.

Last week, I wrote a review of “SoFi” student loan refinancing based on a borrower’s experience and my analysis of their loan contract.

This week, I’m taking a look at “Earnest” student loan refinancing. Like SoFi, Earnest offers student loan borrowers with various refinancing options. However, Earnest seems to focus more on its technology-based application process and customer-service-oriented approach.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with a borrower (we’ll call her “Amanda”) who refinanced her student loans through Earnest. Like “Aaron” (who refinanced his loans through SoFi), Amanda graciously answered my barrage of detailed questions about her experience, and also provided me with a copy of her Earnest loan contract so I could write this article. Here’s what I found. Read More

Student loan refinancing is the (somewhat elusive) process by which a borrower can obtain a lower interest rate on their student loans, often by taking out a new student loan from a different lender. If this new loan comes with a lower interest rate and more favorable repayment terms, the borrower may save a good deal of money, both on a monthly basis and in total over the course of repayment.

Right now, there’s unfortunately no way to refinance federal student loans within the federal student loan system, which is troublesome for many borrowers who have high-interest federal student loans. Private student loan refinancing largely dried up during and after the financial crisis of 2007-2009. However, in the past few years, new and somewhat unique private student loan refinancing companies have begun offering some options to borrowers. Because these companies and their programs are relatively new, and student loans generally must be repaid over a long period of time, we don’t yet know enough about these companies to say with certainty whether they provide viable long-term solutions for borrowers. What we do know is that these programs tend to be geared towards borrowers with excellent credit and good earning potential, which effectively locks out many borrowers who need the most relief.

One of these new student loan refinancing companies is called SoFi (short for “Social Finance”). SoFi offers student loan borrowers with various refinancing options through a unique investor-based funding mechanism. It’s one of the leaders in this nascent industry.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a borrower (we’ll call him “Aaron” to protect his privacy) who refinanced his student loans through SoFi. Aaron agreed to share his experience with me, and he even let me review his loan contract with SoFi. As a student loan attorney, this was an exciting opportunity for me to get an inside look at a new type of student loan.Read More