About five months later, on May 30, 2014, SFCU and TCN signed a second direct loan agreement. But by October of that year, TCN was allegedly falling behind again. Part of the problem, SFCU claimed, was that TCN allegedly failed to disclose that it was insolvent when it signed the second agreement. SFCU also alleged TCN representatives told borrowers that they didn't have to repay their loans and that their loans were canceled. TCN has denied many of the allegations.

An even larger dispute erupted between SFCU and TCN in September 2015, when TCN announced it was selling the online portal that gives students access to its learning modules — TCN's "sole remaining asset of value," according to the credit union. By then, SFCU said it held approximately $35 million in loans to approximately 10,000 TCN customers. TCN was allegedly its largest book of business.

The credit union balked when TCN then asked SFCU to start paying $7 per consumer per month (about $70,000) to maintain access to the portal. The alternative was to shut TCN down, a former TCN vice president later told the court.

SFCU saw it differently. The whole thing was an attempt to dodge its mounting loan liabilities, given that the portal's proposed buyers were two companies allegedly managed by TCN's own CEO, the credit union claimed.

On Sept. 25, 2015, SFCU sued TCN, three of its managers, and the two entities attempting to buy the portal. The bill at that point was at least $12 million, according to the complaint. The Indiana Attorney General's Office was already involved by then, suing TCN three months earlier for alleged deceptive sales practices, among other things. That case is still pending, the Indiana Attorney General's Office told CU Times.

That same year, New York's Attorney General also went after TCN — and SFCU — claiming they engaged in "illegal and deceptive business practices." That case is pending in Albany Supreme Court as well, and the Attorney General's office told CU Times it too intends to pursue the case.

But SFCU wasn't the only credit union with an iron in the TCN fire. It said other smaller credit unions participated in approximately 40% of SFCU's loans to those 10,000 TCN students.

In February of last year, We Florida Financial Credit Union, which has $538 million in assets and about 54,000 members, also said it had and lent more than $20 million to TCN students. The Margate, Fla.-based credit union intervened in SFCU's suit against TCN, asking for a seat at the table during the negotiations regarding the sale of the portal. Its motivation: Fear that borrowers would stop making payments if they didn't have access to the modules.

SFCU had the same worry, according to its original complaint, and to some degree, that's exactly what happened for at least one other lender.

One TCN student who feels caught in the middle told CU Times she borrowed money from the Nashville, Tenn.-based Lifeway Credit Union to pursue an RN degree through TCN. Things didn't go well, she said.

"Every time I tried to get online to take any pretesting, it would log me out and I would have to call to get everything reset. It even got to the point when I tried to call them to try to get checks for testing, which was paid for up-front also; I had to leave messages, with no return phone calls. After a while I just gave up," she said.

The student said she stopped making payments after reading negative reviews and because she just couldn't afford it. Her account went to collections.

According to a letter from her debt collection agency, in November she owed Lifeway almost $4,800.

"I received my LPN degree later in life and wanted my RN degree so bad, but now that will never happen," she said. "I have paid thousands of dollars for nothing."

Lifeway, which has $47 million in assets and about 3,700 members, did not respond to requests for comment.

On March 24, 2016, an Indiana District Court judge ruled in favor of SFCU on its breach of contract claim against TCN — one portion of the case. About a month later, the court let We Florida buy the TCN assets necessary to keep the online portal operating, and We Florida agreed to give SFCU's borrowers access. In a statement to CU Times last week, SFCU said it's working with members who want to complete their learning programs.

"Southeast Financial is paying a monthly fee to ensure its members have continued access to the CLMs [Comprehensive Learning Modules] and the program advisors," SFCU VP of Legal Services Tisha Zello said. "Southeast Financial is not required to pay this fee, [and] is trying to safeguard our members' access to the materials they bought. Additionally, Southeast Financial is working with its members to assist in their obtaining the test fees once they are ready to take a test."

The credit union also said portal access is available for borrowers whose loans were participated out to other credit unions. However, borrowers whose loans TCN bought back lost access, it said. It's unclear if other TCN lenders are doing the same.

Almost two years after it began, SFCU's case against TCN remains open. The damages were up to $13.6 million plus interest and attorneys' fees, according to SFCU filings made earlier this year.

Word of settlement talks surfaced in January 2017. But by the end of February, the Indiana District Court had filed an entry of default against TCN after it stopped appearing and defending itself.

Court records show Gary Eyler, who's named in the suit and is the former CEO of the company, then filed for bankruptcy in March of this year, triggering an automatic stay on the claims against him. In an email to CU Times, Eyler said he would not comment on pending litigation.

TCN itself has ceased operations in Indiana, according to the state's Attorney General's office, and just last month, on May 4, the Indiana District Court filed another entry of default, this time against the two companies originally lined up to buy TCN's portal.

In the meantime, the student who spoke with CU Times was put on a payment plan with the debt collector. She's scheduled to pay $125 every two weeks until April of 2018.