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Laurel Road

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27 User Reviews

3.2

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LAST UPDATED: February 19th, 2024

Laurel Road is an FDIC insured bank offering both federal and private student loan refinancing; it has helped thousands of professionals consolidate and refinance more than $9 billion in federal and private student debt. In addition to these consolidation and refinancing options, Laurel Road offers an online suite of graduate school loan products, personal loans, and mortgages. 

A Laurel Road personal loan for student loan refinancing provides consumers with flexible terms, no fees, and award-winning lending. Laurel Road was named the Best Consumer Lending Company and Best Overall LendTech Company in 2019 by FinTech Breakthrough, an organization that recognizes top companies in the fintech industry. 

Continue reading for more information about the company's student loan refinancing options, as well as Laurel Road reviews.

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The Good

  • Experience and Reach
  • Helpful Loan Calculator
  • Parent PLUS Refinancing
  • Earn Money When You Refer a Friend

Experience and Reach

Laurel Road has been in business for seven years, which may seem short, but is enough time to make it a frontrunner in student loan consolidation and refinancing services. Unlike other competitors, Laurel Road offers its loan refinancing services in all 50 states and to all accredited undergraduate and graduate schools in the United States.

Helpful Loan Calculator

To assist in the student loan refinancing process, Laurel Road provides a loan calculator. This calculator allows you to enter your personal student loan information and will then give you a general idea of what your payments would be with Laurel Road.

Parent PLUS Refinancing

In addition to offering traditional student loan refinancing options, borrowers also have the option to refinance a Parent PLUS loan if applicable. Few student loan servicers provide this option, but graduates that meet Laurel Road's refinancing requirements and have a strong credit history can take on a parent loan.

Earn Money When You Refer a Friend

Through Laurel Road's referral program, each time you refer a friend and they refinance with the company, you can can earn up to $400. You can easily determine how much you and your friend will earn on the Laurel Road website, and you don't even have to be a Laurel Road customer to participate.

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The Bad

  • High Minimum Credit Score Requirement
  • Negative Customer Reviews

High Minimum Credit Score Requirement

Laurel Road has a minimum credit score requirement of 660, which is significantly higher than most other lenders in the industry. For recent graduates seeking to refinance their student loans, this may be a difficult requirement to meet if they have a low credit score or unestablished credit history.

If you are unable to meet Laurel Road's credit requirement, you can apply with a cosigner, which can increase your chances of approval.

Negative Customer Reviews

Laurel Road customer reviews are currently limited, but the majority of reviews are negative, offering the company 1 star. Of these reviews, customers outline difficulty in getting approved, even with good credit, and many customers document experiences in which they had to wait an extended period of time before being denied. In addition, some customers mention that the application process is not very straightforward or fast.

It is important to note that due to the limited number of reviews, it is difficult to draw a conclusive picture of the lender, and if you have specific questions or concerns you should speak with a Laurel Road representative.

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The Bottom Line

Laurel Road offers flexible options for refinancing your student loans, providing better repayment options that can lower your student loan monthly payment. for both private and federal student loans. However, it is important to note that refinancing a federal student loan will require you to give up all attached benefits, such as loan forbearance and loan forgiveness options. Federal student loans have various repayment options and benefits, and so it is important to weigh refinancing through a private lender with losing those benefits. 

Although Laurel Road's 660 minimum credit score is somewhat high, most lenders require excellent credit to qualify for refinancing. For this reason, you can apply with a cosigner, providing additional credit that can boost your chances of approval.

If you are approved for Laurel Road student loan refinancing, you can rest assured that it will have your back if unexpected financial challenges or circumstances arise in your life. For this reason, Laurel Road offers unemployment protection and loan forbearance, easing the burden of making payments for a time.

While we believe that Laurel Road could offer lower student loan interest rates, the lender's refinancing rates can still be competitive depending on what you qualify for.

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User Reviews

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1.4

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27 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

7%

4 grade

4%

3 grade

0%

2 grade

0%

1 grade

89%

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Lisa Heath Los Angeles, CA

Can everyone here experiencing the same thing please submit a complaint to the FDIC and CFPB? Same thing, deposited $12k. Saw a post on Reddit about Laurel Road (LR) locking people out of their account soon after. Same thing happened to me. Made the deposit in late Dec. Early Jan. they ACCEPTED the deposit (from my own USAA account) but flagged it. Account locked. Then they sent me a letter saying they were "no longer choosing to have a business relationship" with me, so they closed my account. Now, 2 months later, my account is closed. They sent a check for the 'balance remainder' of $180 without acknowledging the $12k!!!! Insanity. Then they told me it would be returned to the same account. No. Then they said, even though my account is closed, I have to prove the USAA account is mine, which I did. Nothing. Then they said I have to wait 3-10 business days for an update. Which I've done. I guess they are keeping all of our money in an interest-bearing account, reaping the benefit of our money? Will we get it back? Who knows???

2 months ago

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Jane k. Chicago, IL

I refinanced my private law school student loans with Laurel twice. Each time it was super fast and easy, just upload a couple of standard documents- income (I have a contract), social security and ID, nothing else. The second refi was approved within 24hr. The first one, I cannot recall exactly but maybe a few days at most. It was a snap. I appreciated a simple process, very easy to follow and painless transition from the original lender.

4 years ago

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Zilan Rye, NY

I'm surprised to learn that so many other customers had or are having the same experience as I did - I opened a High Yield Savings account, transferred money from my own bank, and bang, they LOCKED my account for more than 2 months! I couldn't use my own money to do anything! I had to send over forms and even had to find a notary to prove my identity. Also, I submitted a request to add my wife as a co-owner, we submitted all the paperwork, twice, and the application 'expired' TWICE. I don't even know how this business exist. Do your self a favor, STAY AWAY.

4 months ago

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Cary Jacobs OR

I created a checking account at Laurel Road and deposited more than $2700 in the account. When I attempted to withdraw the money, the bank locked the account without notice. I called customer support and explained to them what happened. They told me the account was "under review", threw a metric ton of "Unfortunately,"s at me, and then told me that my account would be locked for a duration of the bank's discretion. This bank is illegitimate, malicious and maximally rapacious. Avoid them like you would a diseased close talker

5 months ago

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Elena Tkatcheva Miami, FL

Just like many other people, I had a horrific experience with these scammers. The scenario was exactly the same, I opened a savings account and once I transferred money into it, it immediately got locked and no explanation was given. After a few days of no resolution and no access to my funds, I demanded to close my account and to refund my funds to the original bank. After a couple of weeks, I got my money back and a letter in the mail threatening to report negative information to the consumer reporting agency. These thieves reported identity fraud! Did they think I stole my own identity? They are delusional and malicious. If they suspected that my identity was stolen, why on Earth they never even tried to ask me for a proof? With hundreds of similar stories that I found later online, it seems that this is what this so called bank does - steals people's money, uses it for weeks or even months at a time, and if you dare to question then, damage your consumer report. I wish there was a class action suit against these scammers!

6 months ago

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Robert Kilgore, MFT Los Angeles, CA

Stay away! You have been warned! I direct deposited my retirement check and they restricted my savings and checking account for absolutely no reason! A direct deposit from a nationally known institution and they restricted my account. Not a phone call. Not an email. NOTHING. JUST LOCKED ME OUT OF MY OWN MONEY! And it was a direct deposit. These people are crooks. Filed a complaint with the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and suggest anyone who has had their account restricted for no reason should file a complaint. The CFPB has tons of complaints about this illegal practice of restricting accounts and freezing people out of their money. YOU HABE BEEN WARNED. STAY AWAY FROM LAUREL ROAD!

6 months ago

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Stephen Biggs Henderson, NV

Online account restricted?? I opened up an account and that went reasonably well, was getting secure messages and all worked fine; able to log in and see the account and everything. Trouble started when I sent $5000 to the account using an ACH bank transfer. Now they have frozen/restricted my account with no email or any other contact as to why. Calling up customer service gets me "yes, the account is restricted but we can't see why." Finally one rep told me that they seem to not be able to understand where the money came from. ??? This is an ACH transfer; they know exactly where the money came from. I sent a screen shot of my online banking with my other bank to show the transaction entry, as it is too soon to get a statement. Plus, the statement would have sensitive information about other transactions that are none of LaurelRoad's business. The customer service rep said that they would send an email with a secure link so I could upload the statement, but I have not received this email yet, and may never. Now the telephone number doesn't work ("all circuits are busy, try your call again later"). This is banking fraud and grand theft and if I don't have access to my money real soon, I will contact the FBI, CFPB and the FDIC and see if the actual perpetrators of this can be sent to prison. Absolute scam.

7 months ago

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Danielle Killinger Springfield, MA

I learned about DRB from reading a Wall Street Journal article and I'm so glad I did. They have absurdly low interest rates - lower than my mortgage. Overall, I had a wonderful experience refinancing my student loans. I was approved just over 24 hours after I applied and the process was quick and painless. Hats off to you, DRB!

7 years ago

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Armando Alvarez

Don’t recommend they gave me a heart attack deposited 11 K into a high savings account next day. My account was immediately restricted. I have to send three forms of identification. They took about one week to verify. I got access to my account and I immediately sent all my funds back Please be careful and due diligence

5 months ago

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David Seltzer

Bunch of thieves. Opened an account and deposited $5,000. Right away they locked me out. Called and a rep told me since they are online only they suspect everyone for fraud and lock everyone out. Wish I saw reviews first, every review on facebook was people locked out, many for months. They said it is usually resolved within 2 weeks. Guess what? We are over 3 weeks now and they keep telling me to wait. I filled a complaint with CFPB and urge everyone who got screwed by them to do the same.

10 months ago

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Andrew Christensen Richmond, VA

I recently applied for a student loan refinancing program through Laurel Road and was extremely disappointed with the experience. The underwriters seemed to give me the run around and were extremely difficult to work with. The process was time-consuming and frustrating, and I felt like they were not transparent or straightforward in their communications with me. I would not recommend this program to anyone looking to refinance their student loans. Continually asking for more documents for co-signers and then their second-wage earner, even though reps said they wouldn't need them, eventually they revoked my conditional refi rate. Conveniently the same day the feds raised rates.

1 year ago

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Hilary Sarasota, FL

Absolutely horrible bank and bank experience. I have had multiple direct deposits successfully going into my account for the last month, and without warning...no call or text or email...they shut off all access to my funds online and say my account is "restricted" due to "suspicious activity." When I called the bank, there was ZERO further explanation besides the fact that it would take at least ten business days to get the hold on my account lifted. Absolute rudeness and incompetence! When I called later in the day, I was promised a call back from a manager that never took place. I contacted them via Facebook and was also told someone would get back to me "soon" and that never happened. Here it is two and a half weeks before Christmas and this ridiculous "bank" thinks it's fine and dandy to cut me off from my income and funds for as long as they need to take to realize they had no right to do this in the first place. I may need to get a lawyer and contact my Congressman about these horrible banking practices. I think they should be stripped of their FDIC insurance.

1 year ago

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Personal loan customer Miami, FL

If I could leave zero stars I would. I applied to several online loan lenders and received offers from all of them. I chose Laurel because they seemed to offer the lowest interest rate. Don't be fooled. This company is a scam. They pre-approve you and then ask you to verify your application with documentation. They accepted my application and my supporting documentation and then denied me. It took them over 30 days to deny me. I spent a significant amount of time gathering the requested documentation etc. Overall I think this company is unethical and I will be taking legal action against them for misrepresenting their process. Their customer service is awful too...Tamara, Carol, don't even bother. PS I have a credit score of over 700 and have never been late on a payment in my life.

4 years ago

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Jeanette Iacono Minneapolis, MN

Laurel Road's loan application is neither quick nor easy. It took 30 days for this company to ultimately deny my application. I uploaded more than 10 pieces of documentation for consideration, including my paystubs, license to practice professionally, driver's license, tax returns, bank statements, and account statements of the loans I intended to consolidate. Biggest issues: -On the original application, I stated that I received $300/mo in extra income--I rent a room to a friend in my home. Laurel Road then requested that I upload my friend's paystubs. Ridiculous! So, I went back and removed that information from the original application and wrote a note to Laurel Road stating that I would not be uploading my friend's paystubs. They continued to send me form letters requesting her paystubs for 25 days, after I contacted them a total of five times about the issue. Finally, they removed the request for her paystubs. -Laurel Road requested that I upload a statement from another personal loan that I was intending to refinance. That personal loan is also through a web lender--Lending Club--and so I just pdf'd the home screen since they do not have formal statements. On that pdf, Laurel Road noticed that there was another tab that referenced another loan application from December. I had recently applied for a bigger consolidation loan through Lending Club but had been denied since I hadn't had the first one for long enough. Laurel Road insisted that I upload a statement from what they were perceiving as a 2nd loan-- as if I was being dishonest about my financial picture. I ended up uploaded the denial letter from Lending Club as proof that I didn't have a 2nd personal loan recently opened. -After a month of run around and meeting each request for documentation, Laurel Road denied the application, stating "borrower cannot verify information on application." This company leads people on with lucrative rates, but their underwriting department is not very bright. My credit score was 739 at the beginning of the application, with 100% on-time payments throughout my credit history. Like other posters, they would not give me a rate quote until they made a hard inquiry to all three bureaus.

5 years ago

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Anonymous but savvy Jacksonville, FL

This company does not accept commissions as a part of your income and they do not disclose this on their website. They actually do the opposite, and ask you to submit proof of your commissions for the purpose of considering it. I make well over 6 figures and have for years, all on commission. I also have rental income and 800+ credit score. If you are in business development and want a loan to take that spur-of-the moment MBA, do not waste your time with Laurel Road. Nowhere on their site mentions commissions are unacceptable. When I called, a supervisor told me it's on their site and that commissions are against underwriting guidelines. This is a very unprofessional firm and if you are in my line of work, do not waste your time.

5 years ago

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Melissa Mount Laurel, NJ

Just wanted to give a heads up as to Laurel Road's underwriting policy (see below). I was denied with 740+ credit score due to a charged off non-student loan account that I settled more than 30 months ago. My recommendation if you are looking to refinance and have any blemishes besides a late payment (or two) on your credit report, is to go with Earnest, they approved me with a better rate than Laurel Road had initially offered and took the time to let the applicant explain any late payments or charge-off/collections prior to making their underwriting decision. "Unfortunately Laurel Road’s Underwriting policy is to deny any applicants who have had collections, short sales, foreclosures, civil judgments, charge-offs, or repossessions by credit providers in the past 7 years.

6 years ago

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Todd Merlot Boston, MA

They offered me the most competitive rate in refinancing my med school loans and I found the whole process to be relatively straight forward. I rarely ever write reviews but they deserve this one. Good on you DRB.

8 years ago

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pgy-1 md Grand Rapids, MI

i'm an orthopaedic surgery resident with ~250k in medical student loans. istarted applying in august/september 2015. i checked in because i hadn't heard anything for weeks. i was told my application was complete by one phone representative. again, i went 2 weeks without hearing anything, called again and was told i was missing a form they forgot to send to me. i eventually signed the promissory note oct 24th and have been left out to dry and it's almost april. i've spent hours on the phone and been promised multiple times that i'd get funded in "2-3 weeks" and that i was put on the "fast track". frustrating and 100% unprofessional. i have finally reached a point where i cannot wait any longer and will look into termination options/alternatives (eg sofi, link capital, common bond).

8 years ago

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Andrea Black Creek, WI

Did a soft inquiry and I dont qualify for any rates. This place is a joke. I have awesome credit and make good money. You can get out of here with your additional documents you want loaded. That’s just to get me to do the full application without being able to see where this companies interest rates are. Stay away. Totally a misrepresentation of the soft inquiry.

4 years ago

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Kathleen Wrightstown, NJ

We had a pretty bad experience with this company. I won't go into details but the problem seems to be this: the customer service people do not know the underwriting side of the business well enough to answer questions regarding loan applications. You will get a different answer every time you call and it will never be the right answer. Wasted a lot of time and was ultimately rejected for a loan. With a cosigner. I was approved for a mortgage using the same information by the way. If you are looking to refinance a student loan, keep looking.

5 years ago

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Sade O Greenbelt, MD

Do yourself a favor and do not refinance with this company. If you need a forbearance Laurel Road will drag their feet and give you the most difficult time. If you have a death in the family Laurel Road is not understanding. They have very unfair practices and policies in place to make life more difficult for their customers. Please do not bother wasting your time

5 years ago

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RE Edward

Stay away from this bank!!! With name change from DRB bank they also changed management. And it is not a good change. They are awful now and very deceptive during the application process. They pulled my credit without my approval and there online application is missing information which they admitted but still would not correct. I was easily approved with no stress at another online refi lender. My advice is to not choose this bank they are deceptive and will cause you a ton of unnecessary stress during the process.

5 years ago

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Cleo Romary Clovis, NM

This lender has terrible customer service. I recieved no less than 15 emails requesting information that I had already submitted. When finally speaking with a customer service rep she was rude and not helpful at all. I had to demand a phone call to figure out what the issue was. Upon speaking with her I realized immediately I did not want to give my business to this company or anyone connected. Beyond rude, terrible customer service and a waste of time and effort.

6 years ago

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Tri Minh

Poor service! This company wasted my time as well as my cosigner's time. They requested numerous, extraneous documents from us and performed hard credit pulls even though they were ultimately going to deny my application citing that my debt to income ratio was too high. I should have avoided these jerks like the plague from the beginning. My credit score would be even higher than it currently is and I would not have needed to release my personal information to them.

6 years ago

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GD Yucaipa, CA

I have a credit score of 797 and was declined. Their report claims I have too many accounts with balances. I have one credit card with a balance. I've seen my credit reports and they only show that one account with a balance. This company is really insulting.

4 years ago

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Addison Jaynes Princeton, TX

Very unprofessional and disorganised. They withdrew my application by accident and kept saying they had fixed it, but always had lied. End result they denied because they couldn’t “verify information” - I wasn’t even asked for additional info to help verify!

5 years ago

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G Anniston, AL

Horrible just horrible .Added charges that are hidden ,of course. Poor customer service along with a high interest rate for everyone ,even those with good credit.Dont waste your time or money here.

2 years ago Edited November 22, 2021

Laurel Road Logo

Reply from Laurel Road

Hi G, I'm sorry you had a poor customer service experience with us. Can you elaborate on the hidden charges you experienced? We don't charge application or origination fees so I'm just curious what you were charged for. We also price our interest rates based on a number of different factors besides credit score which could be a contributing factor to the rate you are quoted. Please reach out to our customer satisfaction team to provide your feedback so that we can continue to improve our service. [email protected]

Nov. 22nd, 2021

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