Education Loan Finance (ELFI) Reviews

Education Loan Refinance is one of the newest companies to hit the loan refinance industry. As Education Loan Finance is a division of Tennessee-based Southeast Bank, the focus is laid to help the borrowers restructure the loan and save money on monthly student loan payments.

College graduates with a good credit history and a stable job can get the most out of this lender. Though the company started to lend only in 2015, the organization has over 30 years of experience in the student loan business.

Education Loan Finance has proven to be one of the best refinancing options. A combination of low-interest rates with higher than expected approval rates leads to good outcomes for many borrowers. Banks and lenders are selective on their loans. It seems that ELFI has not fallen into the trap.

Less regulation is faced by finance start-ups. As Education Loan Finance is a long-standing bank and offers low-interest rates, it has a comparatively higher rank than its competitors.

List of contents

ELFI student loan reviews
How to refinance with ELFI
Eligibility Criteria
Documents for application
What to keep in mind about ELFI student loan
Contact details

ELFI reviews

Education Loan Finance offers more than just the lowest interest rates on the market. The call centers are located in Tennessee and the borrowers get a single point of contact with the direct number to call for support.

Advantages mentioned in the Education Loan finance reviews

Some of the notable benefits of ELFI are given below.

You will not have to pay an origination or application fee.
No fee is charged to pay off student loans early.
Late fees are not assessed upon making payments within 10 days of the due date.
Lower interest rates are another advantage of Education Loan Finance Student loans
The starting variable interest rate is 2.80% and the starting fixed interest rate is 3.39%.
Borrowers who opt for a variable interest rate end up paying a higher amount over a longer period. Borrowers with stable interest rates opt for a fixed-rate repayment plan.
ELFI’s variable interest rate will not increase more than once in three months and will not exceed 9.95%. Issue resolution should be made significantly smoother.

Servicing of Education Loan Finance Student loans are done by the MOHELA. Education Loan Finance runs a promotion and grants a $150 bonus to the borrowers. Potential savings are the biggest benefits of education loan refinancing your loans with Education Loan Finance. Upon receiving a good credit, having to will as a co-signer, refinancing your debt with educational student Loan refinance helps you.

Example - If you have a $20,000 a 10-year loan interest is allowed at 7.00% interest, a total of $27,866 is paid over the length of repayment. You can pay over $7,800 in a relatively high-interest rate.

In case you qualify for a 10-year loan at 4.50% interest, the difference is dramatic. You have just repaid over $24,873. When you submit your refinancing form, you can save approximately $3,000.

Disadvantages

There are minor downsides to ELFI, such as a graduation requirement, and more serious downsides, such as loss of federal student loan benefits. Let’s take a look below:

You Likely Need A Cosigner For Your Loans

As most students’ credit history is not sufficient may because of below-average credit so fir the approval of refinancing you must need a cosigner with good credit history. Evaluate the lenders on co-signer release as well as it gives you a better idea to whom to approach
Graduation Requirement

If you want to apply for refinancing you must have a bachelor’s degree or higher, it follows that you must graduate from college to use ELFI to refinance your student loans. This becomes tough for those students who have student loans but didn’t graduate and this blocks them from refinancing.
Loss of Federal student loan benefits

A big disadvantage always with refinancing is the losing federal student loan benefits as will not be able to defer your loans, apply for forbearance, or apply for income-based repayment plans. And if you are planning to receive refinancing through ELFI, repayments start within 30 to 45 days rather than 6 months with federal student loans.

Reasons to consider - Education Loan Finance

Here is why you choose ELFI -

1) The competitor’s rates are matched – Lower rates are matched from other lenders, even if your loan has been approved with Education Loan Finance.

2) Easy rate check – ELFI’s online payment estimator or more personalized estimate of your loans are considered in the first part of the application without a hard credit check.

3) Education Loan Finance Referral Program – Around $400 can be received for referring a friend, as long as they are approved for the loan.

4) Zero application or origination fee – You won't be required to pay any fee to get your new loan.

5) Refinancing of federal consolidation loans – Even though you’ll lose benefits, the refinanced federal loans are consolidated with Education Loan Finance.

6) Upon proving economic hardship, you can qualify to pause repayments.

7) Recent studies have shown that nearly half of the student loan borrowers graduate with a minimum of $20,000 of student loan debt. 2.6 million borrowers are into forbearance for 96.2 billion dollars, and 4.0 million borrowers have already defaulted for $67.5 billion.

If you are looking to make maximum savings out of your student loan interest and monthly payment, student loan refinancing is a viable option. Just how you refinance your student loans, you can refinance your mortgage or debts. Education Loan Finance is one of the most popular search results of student loan refinancing.

Other factors to consider while choosing Education Loan Finance

What to explore before borrowing loans from ELFI -

1. User Feedback

You could easily simplify your payment, by combining the loans into one easy payment. After you’re a than having to tolerate with a mix of private and federal loans, multiple payments, and different due dates.

With refinancing these loans can be combined into one single loan with a single payment due date. Education Loan Finance offers to refinance for graduates with personal loans, as well as parents with Parent PLUS Loans or private loans.

2. Multiple loan consolidation

The consolidation of federal and private loans is also possible with Education Loan Finance Loans, thus your debt is easily managed with a single easy payment and a single loan servicer. It helps to compare offers and find the right loan for you.

3. Interest Rates

The interest rates of Education Loan Finance depend on the types of loans you want. If your application for a fixed-rate loan is approved, then the interest rate could range from 3.39% to 6.69%.

The starting interest for a variable rate loan is 2.80% to 6.01%. The interest rate then increases with market changes.

Borrowers are never charged with an application fee, origination fee, or prepayment penalty in the case of an Education Loan Finance.

In the case of late payments, you may be charged 5% of the late amount. You could be charged $30 in the case of returning a payment.

4. Customer Ratings

Concerning faster payment, Education Loan Finance is rated on an average basis. Concerning requirement disclosing and cost limitation, this loan servicing facility is ranked above average. If fees and interest rates are limited, lenders score high.

Transparency about the underwriting criteria, and personalized rate estimation before application also enables the lenders to score high.

By catering to customer requirements in different locations, financial situations, and varying citizenship statuses, Education Loan Finance scores an above-average in service to the range of borrowers.

For payment flexibility, Education Loan Finance is granted only a below-average score. The customer service request is also above average. Complete APR ranges, fees, and forbearance policies are supported by customers.

The offering of payment flexibility is below average. If longer than 12 month forbearance periods are offered, including in-school, military deferment, and other flexible policies then lenders score below average during tough times.

The customer support is average and the lenders score high if the borrower is assigned an advisor. Entire APR ranges, fees, and forbearance policies are displayed by the websites.

Note: Considering the factors mentioned above, you can compare the same with other lenders to choose among the best companies to refinance your student loans.

Student loan options

Student loan options offered by Education Loan Finance

1-Undergraduate loan refinancing

2-Graduate loan refinancing

3-MBA loan refinancing

4-Law school loan refinancing

5-Dental school loan refinancing

6-Medical school loan refinancing

7-Parent loan refinancing

How to refinance student loans with Education Loan Finance?

Loan Refinancing and Consolidation

Student loan refinancing and consolidation is offered for federal and private loans. Loans are offered by Education Loan Finance in 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20-year repayment terms.

A borrower does not need to have a degree or pass a credit check, to qualify for ELFI Loan. No application fee, origination fee, or prepayment penalties are not offered like most legitimate lenders.

Education Loan Finance requires a minimum loan amount of $15,000 to refinance. Lenders like the Common Bond and the Laurel require a minimum of $5,000.

A cosigner release option is allowed by ELFI. However, a co-signer can be released only if the borrower passes a credit check on their own.

Some of the steps to be taken to refinance student loans are given below -

Fill out the application with the necessary basic information
Education Loan Finance performs a soft PULL on the credit report, in the case of initial pre-qualification
A preliminary offer is received after the submission of the application
After receiving the preliminary offer, you’ll have to upload certain documents and verify your income and financial situation
Education Loan Finance would then perform a full credit check
The loan offer is received after the confirmation of the information
The offer can then be accepted through an electronic signature.

If you want to refinance Parent PLUS Loans in your child’s name, you can do it if your lender allows it. If you haven’t graduated you can find a lender who does not ask for a college degree.

Research lenders, multiple rate estimates, choosing the lender and the loan term, completion of the application, signing of the final documents, waiting for the loan payoff, and more.

Education Loan Finance eligibility criteria

The eligibility requirements for Education Loan Finance student loans are given below -

The borrower should be a US citizen or should hold a permanent residency
The minimum age of the borrower is 18
The student loan debt should not be lower than $15,000
The borrower should have graduated from an approved educational institution
The debt to income ratio should show that you can pay back the loan
A sufficient credit score is required for approval. If else, a cosigner is required to guarantee your loan

The service of Education Loan Finance can be availed in all the 50 states, along with Washington D.C, and Puerto Rico.

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Documents for application

The essential documents to apply for Education Loan Finance student loans are given below.

The borrower’s account number
Current balance and payoff amounts
Payment mailing address
Copy of the most recent billing statement
Payoff letter from the existing lender
Recent pay stubs for 30 days and other proofs of employment
W-2s Tax statement
Tax returns in case you are self-employed
Valid ids such as a driver’s license or passport
Billing account info for automatic debit

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What to keep in mind about ELFI student loans

When you are applying for the Education Loan Finance evaluating your lender options is important because not all lenders will serve your unique needs. Before applying for the ELFI these are something which should be kept in mind-

Strict eligibility requirements

Checking the eligibility requirement is just as if you don’t meet its list of borrowing criteria then ELFI is not a fit for you. Like a good score is must be of borrower or cosigner the credit score should be at least 680, plus a minimum income of $35,000 and at least three years of credit history.

Other factors should also be taken consideration when you are applying for a loan like a residency status as for ELFI’s requirement borrower must be a citizen or permanent resident, loan amount should be a minimum of $10,000 and borrowers must pursue at least a bachelor’s degree at an eligible four-year institute.these are some of the requirements which should be evaluated before applying to avoid the future chaos.

No cosigner release available

ELFI doesn’t require undergraduates to acquire a cosigner before applying for a student loan but if you are thin credit files, however, will probably need a cosigner, who agrees to assume responsibility for repayment should the need arise. But the concerning part with ELFI is it won’t allow you to release cosigner once your loan is motion thus if you think that releasing co-signer is one of your priorities then you should have a look on other lenders as well.