Yrefy Student Loan Refinance Review

Our Rating: C+ ⓘ (Compare)

Yrefy is one of few lenders that offer refinancing for distressed, delinquent, or defaulted private student loans. There is no minimum credit score, and Yrefy claims to help borrowers build or reestablish their credit.

Skip to: Rates & Fees | Eligibility Requirements | Repayment Options | Consumer Reviews & Complaints | FAQ

Yrefy Refinance Rates & Fees

Yrefy, LLC recently advertised an average borrower APR of 3.9%.

Additional information about Yrefy refinance rates:

• Checking your rate with Yrefy will not affect your credit score. They will conduct a soft, not hard, credit inquiry (learn the difference).
• Yrefy does not offer a discount for setting up auto-pay.
• Yrefy does not offer variable rates.

Yrefy refinance rates recent history:

Over a two-year period (2022-2024), Yrefy increased its lowest and highest disclosed student refinance APRs by an average of 42.9%.

In 2023, Yrefy’s highest disclosed rate declined 14.3% (from 7.00% APR). In 2022, the lowest fixed rate advertised increased 100% (from 0.50% APR) and the highest disclosed fixed rate remained the same.

Additional Fees

Beyond interest rates, there are a number of fees a refinance lender may charge up-front or during the loan servicing period. Below is a list of these fees that Yrefy does or does not charge.

1. Application fee – fee to apply for rates & approval.
2. Loan origination fee – fee to create the new loan.
3. Disbursement fee – fee for distributing funds to lenders to pay off loans that have been refinanced.
4. Prepayment penalty – fee for making extra payments to reduce a refinance loan balance or pay it off early.
5. Late payment fee – fee for making a late payment.
6. Returned payment fee – fee for failed payments due to insufficient funds, also known as a “bounced check”.
7. Collection fee – fee for collection activity on a defaulted debt.

Current Promotions & Offers

Yrefy does not currently offer any special deals or promotions. Past promotions include $10 gift cards and up to $400 cash bonus.

Yrefy Refinance Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for refinancing with Yrefy, all borrowers must meet the criteria below.

• Citizenship Requirement: undisclosed.
• Income Requirement: undisclosed.
• Credit Score Requirement: none.
• Graduation Requirement: undisclosed.
• Location Requirement: available in 37 states (AL, AK, AZ, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, KS, KY, ME, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, OH, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WV, WI, and WY).

Additional restrictions apply for specific individuals and loans.

• Borrowers may have federal loans, but those loans are not eligible for refinancing with Yrefy.

Yrefy Student Loan Repayment Options

Lenders vary greatly on the benefits and options provided to borrowers during the loan servicing period. Additionally, benefits may only be available on a case-by-case basis. Yrefy offers some relief options.

Deferment & Forbearance

Yrefy does offer forbearance under certain circumstances. See Yrefy’s conditions for deferment and forbearance below.

Additional Options

Yrefy may offer other opportunities for relief or contract modification.

• In lieu of temporary hardship forbearance, Yrefy offers its Skip-12 Program, which allows qualifying borrowers to skip one (1) payment payment every six (6) months for the life of the loan up to 12 skipped payments total.
• Co-signer release or co-borrower release is available under unspecified conditions.
• Death / disability discharge is available in the unfortunate circumstance that a borrower passes away or suffers total permanent disability.

Yrefy Reviews, Complaints & Lawsuits

Beyond our own findings, our team also collected the most genuinely insightful customer experiences we could find, including any instances of legal action against the company in which the details became public.

Yrefy Online Reviews

Few Yrefy customer reviews are available on public forums. We’ve included some recent public posts here for their value as uncensored and unsolicited user experiences. Note that these reviews are unverified, may include inaccuracies, and may provide outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.).

Note: the Education Data Initiative has edited this review for length.

“So it’s a very long story, but my wife has about $88k in private student loan debt (not including federal)…

Her credit is garbage, that’s what happens when you have 4 student loans defaulted.

My credit is good however and I have a decent enough job that I can afford to take out a personal loan and have her pay me back. Her job barely pays her minimum wage so the loan is fully relying on me.

Here’s the kicker. I’ve tried to apply to about 10 places, and NO ONE will give me a personal loan for this…. I explained that I am gifting her the money to pay collections for the loan debt. But everyone claims that because they were AT ONE POINT, student loans, that I cannot take out a personal loan for this reason…

The only places I had a little success is Yrefy and [one other fintech]. Yrefy however says they do not accept the payout offer of 47K, and will have to refinance the loan at the full $88k for 10 years. This is about $920 a month….ridiculous. [The other lender] said they could do it and they didn’t care it was student loans, but they only do 5 year repayment and they were charging us $2500 for the loan, so it would be $1000 a month for 5 years… We can’t afford this. We were hoping for around the $700 range…

I need to essentially come up with $47k by the end of the week….I never thought it would be this hard to just open up a personal loan, get cash, and pay it back monthly. This has been absolutely ridiculous…. – guma822 on reddit, 8/17/2021

“Katie and Felix were both professional and compassionate while they negotiated a settlement for my son’s student loan. Their patience helped keep a very stressful situation from becoming adversarial and emotional. While I did not get the outcome I wanted, they were able to get an outcome that was affordable and agreeable to both parties.” – Herbye M on Better Business Bureau, 1/30/2020

“I have spoken to Paul who is the negotiator for Yrefy and Felix who answered many questions I have. They have always been very professional and respectful of questions and concerns. I’m not sure where they are on my loan just yet, but they assure me they can help. As of now, I’m going to give 4 stars ONLY because they haven’t finished negotiations with ****** *** yet. I will certainly leave another review as soon as negotiations are completed.” – Moriah C on Better Business Bureau, 2/27/2019

Yrefy has an unclaimed profile on TrustPilot.com (with no rating).

Yrefy CFPB Complaints

As consumer finance companies, student loan refinancing lenders fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency. As part of its mission, the CFPB allows consumers to log official complaints. These complaints are publicly available on the CFPB official website.

As of this writing, Yrefy, LLC is unlisted in the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database. This is not unusual for a company as small as Yrefy.

To search for Yrefy in the complaint database, click here.

Yrefy Lawsuits

Yrefy does not appear to have been subject to any major legal action. Note that while this information is updated regularly, ongoing legal action is subject to change.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the most common questions consumers have about student loan refinancing with Yrefy.

• Is Yrefy good for refinancing student loans?
  Yrefy is a good option for borrowers with delinquent or defaulted private loans and borrowers with poor credit.

• Does Yrefy require a minimum credit score to qualify for student loan refinancing?
  No, Yrefy does not have a minimum credit score requirement.

• Are Yrefy loans federal?
  No, Yrefy loans are not federal. Yrefy has no affiliation with the federal government or the U.S. Department of Education.

• Does Yrefy charge a prepayment penalty?
  There are no penalties for early payments or repaying a loan in full before its term is over.

• Does checking your rates with Yrefy hurt your credit score?
  For its prequalification process, Yrefy performs a soft credit check, which will not hurt your credit score. If you proceed with an application, however, Yrefy will perform a hard credit check that may affect your credit score.

• Is Yrefy a bank?
  No, Yrefy is not a bank nor is it affiliated with any bank.

• Can I refinance a Yrefy loan?
  It is unclear if Yrefy allows borrowers to refinance a Yrefy loan.

• Can I refinance just some of my loans with Yrefy?
  Yes, you can refinance some, all, or just one of your qualifying student loans with Yrefy. You may choose to refinance your private loans only or refinance private and federal loans together.

• Can I refinance loans that have already been refinanced?
  Yes, you can refinance loans as many times as you want with Yrefy. Note that each time you refinance, you will have to submit a new application; every application requires a hard credit check that may affect your credit score.

• Can my spouse and I refinance our loans together with Yrefy?
  Yrefy does not disclose whether it allows spouses to refinance their student loans together; spouses may be allowed to act as co-borrowers.

• How long does it take to refinance with Yrefy?
  Yrefy does not disclose a timeline.

• Who services Yrefy refinance loans?
  Yrefy does not disclose a third-party loan servicer.

• Does Yrefy offer a grace period?
  Yrefy does not advertise a grace period.

• How often do variable rates change?
  Yrefy does not offer variable rates; student refinance loans are available at fixed rates only.

• Can I get any special rates or discounts with Yrefy?
  Yrefy does not currently offer any special rates or discounts.

• What happens if I file for bankruptcy?
  You may still be required to repay your Yrefy loan if you file for bankruptcy.

• Does Yrefy partner with any major student refinance lender marketplaces?
  Sparrow and SuperMoney advertise Yrefy as a featured lender.

Compare Student Loan Refinance Reviews

Sources

1. Yrefy, Third Party Advertising Disclosure
2. Yrefy.com
3. Yrefy, FAQs
4. Yrefy, Operations Summary
5. Yrefy, Consumer Lending State Licenses