A student-loan borrower was promised a $5,000 refund on payments after Biden's broad debt relief. Months later, she's still waiting — and no one is picking up the phone to help.

Sun, 03/19/2023 - 07:00

Roxanne Dougherty made payments on her student debt during the pause at the start of the pandemic.
After Biden announced broad debt relief, she asked to be refunded her $5,000 in voluntary payments.
Six months later, she's still waiting — and hasn't been able to get help from her servicer.

Roxanne Dougherty always made sure she was staying on top of her student-loan payments.

After graduating from a state school in 2014, Dougherty had about $25,000 in student debt — after receiving a Pell Grant — that she started paying off immediately. She missed just one payment on her loans when she first got out of college, and Dougherty said it dinged her credit report right off the bat. Since then, she's always diligent in paying them off as fast as she financially can.

"Even if they say I don't have to pay, I still pay because I'm so afraid of the consequences," Dougherty, 31, told Insider.