Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: My Neltnet student loan payments keep changing without any explanation. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email statement that my payment due XX/XX/XXXX would be {$670.00}. This is a huge increase from my prior months payments of {$50.00}. I used the online form to reach Nelnet on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and havent received any contact from them. I attempted to call them on XX/XX/XXXX but after being on hold almost an hour, the call was dropped. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email statement that a payment of {$29.00} was due XX/XX/XXXX. When I logged into my Nelnet account to confirm this, it now says my total due is {$700.00}, due XX/XX/XXXX. Again, no notices or statements to explain the extreme changes in payment asking and due date.
Company Response:
State: UT
Zip: 84105
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Improper use of your report
Subissue: Reporting company used your report improperly
Consumer Complaint: I have sent NELNET a letter on XX/XX/XXXX requesting that they update my records in accordance with FERPA laws as to not violate my financial privacy. Under 15 us code section 6802 obligations with respect to disclosure of personal information states, Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, a financial institution may not, directly or through any affiliate, disclose to a nonaffiliated third party any nonpublic personal information, unless such financial institution provides or has provided to the consumer a notice that complies with section 6803 of this title. To which department of education did not do and furthermore they stated in their response that I may not opt out to which is a clear violation of the law stated above as well as 15 USC 1681a2. Also, Third party sharing is a misuse of my credit report and further violation of my consumer rights. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( FERPA ) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( FERPA ) is a federal law enacted in 1974 that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA applies to any public or private elementary, secondary, or post-secondary school. 20 USC 1232g ( b ) According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act 15 USC 1681 section 602 a states " There is a need to insure that consumer reporting agencies exercise their grave responsibilities with fairness, impartiality, and a respect for the consumers right to privacy. XXXX, XXXX and XXXX are consumer reporting agencies and I am the Consumer. I have the right to make sure my private information isn't shared which is backed by 15 USC 6801 which states '' It is the policy of the Congress that each financial institution has an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of those customers nonpublic personal information.is a financial institution by definition under that title. 15 USC 1681 section 604 a section 2 states that " In general Subject to subsection ( c ), any consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report under the following circumstances and no other : in accordance with the written instructions of the consumer to whom it relates. The financial institution and the Consumer reporting agencies do not have my consent to furnish this information and they surely do not have my written consent. Any and all consent whether it be verbal, non-verbal, written, implied or otherwise is revoked. 15 USC 6802 ( b ) ( c ) states that " A financial institution may not disclose nonpublic personal information to a nonaffiliated third party unless the consumer is given an explanation of how the consumer can exercise that nondisclosure option.they Never informed me of my right to exercise my nondisclosure option. Not only that 15 USC 1681C ( a ) ( 5 ) states '' Except as authorized under subsection ( b ), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. '' This account is an adverse item they are reporting again without my permission which is against the law. 15 U.S. Code 1681s2 ( A ) ( 1 ) A states " A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. 15 U.S. Code 1681e states '' Every consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to avoid violations of section 1681c of this title and to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under section 1681b of this title Nelnet is not maintaining reasonable procedures. Also 12 CFR 1016.7 states that " A consumer may exercise the right to opt out at any time. '' I am opting out of your reporting services of my transactional information.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 77494
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I have repeatedly tried to pay my student loan from my checking account. Each day I have tried to pay, I have received a receipt for payment. However, the student loan company has no records of any payments, and says I am past due. I should not only be up-to-date, but I should have significantly lower interest because I have attempted to pay over XXXX XXXX of my XXXX $ principal. Relevant dates of receipts and amounts paid : XXXX : {$600.00} XXXX : {$300.00} XXXX : {$600.00} XXXX : {$600.00} XXXX : {$400.00} NONE of these payments show up in my Nelnet account history. I have received receipts and payment confirmation numbers for each payment. Additionally, I should not have to pay interest on the principal that I have attempted to pay off thus far. This is Nelnet 's error, not mine. They have not responded to any requests.
Company Response:
State: CO
Zip: 80909
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: My student loan is currently due on the XXXX of each month. This date is the same as my car loan and auto insurance payment so I wanted to request a new due date to space out payments so my bank account is not negative and I can pay other bills. I have called several times and spoke with several representatives regarding this and every time I am told give it XXXX weeks for the changes to reflect in the system. I log on today XX/XX/XXXX and to my surprise the due date still shows XX/XX/XXXX with a 15 day past due balance even though I have been requesting the due date be changed. I called on XX/XX/XXXX which lasted XXXX hour and XXXX minutes and was told the date would be changed to be due the XXXX of each month. I called on XX/XX/XXXX which lasted XXXX hours and XXXX minutes and was told the date would be changed to be due the XXXX of each month. I called on XX/XX/XXXX which lasted XXXX hour and XXXX minutes where I was asked to bring my account to current status and when I explained I have been trying since XXXX to get the date changed I was placed on hold for the person to look into my account then to be told she was locked out of my account and reaching out to another department and when I was placed back on hold the representative disconnected the call and I was placed back into the normal phone loop with the option of waiting another XXXX minutes to speak with someone else. I am not trying to avoid paying my debts. I simply want to change the date so I can afford to pay all of my other bills. I am also mad cause it now looks like I missed a payment which will ruin my XXXX XXXX when I made multiple calls and put in the effort to wait on hold to speak with someone to resolve the issue. This is out of hand and uncalled for and will potentially be ruining people 's credit scores which is NOT ok!!!!
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 19148
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Co-signer
Consumer Complaint: I was on hold with NelNet for just shy of 2 hours. Someone answered the phone, took my name and social security number, and then disconnected the call. All I need is the account number so I can make a payment. I do not have another 2 hours to wait to get this information. I can not log into the online system because I am the co-signer and the student borrower has defaulted on their loan, thus leaving it to mess with my credit.
Company Response:
State: VA
Zip: 231XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Improper use of your report
Subissue: Reporting company used your report improperly
Consumer Complaint: RE : ACCOUNT # XXXX Subject : Formal Complaint Regarding Violation of Consumer Rights and FERPA Rights Dear NELNET Customer Service, I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against NELNET for the apparent violation of my consumer rights and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( XXXX ). I have discovered that NELNET has reported my student loan information without obtaining my explicit permission, thereby breaching both legal and ethical boundaries. As a consumer, I have the right to privacy and control over my personal and financial information. FERPA, a federal law, further protects my educational records from unauthorized disclosure. Despite these protections, I have been subjected to an infringement of my rights, as NELNET has reported my student loan information without my explicit consent. This violation is not only concerning but also unacceptable. I want to emphasize that by disregarding the laws safeguarding my rights, NELNET has opened itself to legal repercussions. As a result, I want to make it explicitly clear that I reserve the right to pursue legal action against NELNET for this violation. The unauthorized reporting of my student loan information not only breaches my rights but also potentially harms my financial standing and credibility. In light of the aforementioned violations, I demand the following actions : Immediate removal of any and all references to my student loan information from my credit report. This action should be carried out promptly to mitigate any further damage to my creditworthiness. A written confirmation, sent to my address mentioned above, acknowledging the removal of the aforementioned information from my credit report and any other databases where it might have been shared or stored. An official apology from NELNET acknowledging the oversight and detailing the measures taken to ensure that such violations do not occur in the future. I expect a timely response to this complaint and action on the aforementioned demands within " 14 days '' from the receipt of this letter. Failure to address this issue promptly and adequately will leave me with no option but to seek legal recourse. I trust that you will treat this matter with the seriousness it warrants and take immediate corrective action. I look forward to your prompt attention to this pressing concern. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33068
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge
Consumer Complaint: I am so confused about the status of my student loans and its balance as of today. On XX/XX/2023, I received the attached response from Nelnet after disputing its current balance. I am particularly confused about the 4th paragraph from the bottom ( highlighted with a yellow box ). Does this mean that Nelnet or the US dept. of Education has not finished with the process of discharging my loans? I also need to know if loans numbers XXXX and XXXX are all loans from other schools either than XXXXXXXX XXXX i.e. are they mostly from my XXXX schools attended.
Company Response:
State: UT
Zip: 84047
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: Hello, I was asked by Nelnet to recertify income to continue my eligibility for the SAVE IDR. Ive done so on studentaid.gov. They are now asking for additional information like a paystub to show recent proof of income. I recertified on the government website because they asked me to. Now that doesnt seem to be good enough and they want other information besides my AGI . Should they be requesting that information? I was reading online where other people submitted such information to them and they used that to increase the monthly payment amount greatly instead of using the payment plan generated by a borrowers most recent AGI. That was never requested when Great Lakes was my servicer. The recertification process was also seamless by giving studentaid.gov access to my most recent W2 on the IRS website. This time around it was buggy and said my servicer would choose my repayment amount. Based on my experience and the experiences of what other users shared online, this seems very unorthodox. Has the government process changed? If not, I want to make sure someone has reported Nelnets behavior. This change in practice has the potential to make the repayment process even harder on borrowers. If the government only requires AGI to calculate SAVE payments, the government appointed servicer shouldnt be requesting anything else.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33823
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Problem with customer service
Consumer Complaint: My three individual student loans were transferred from XXXX XXXX to Nelnet in 2023 prior to payment resumption from the pandemic. I have been trying to get information on the process to pay off one of the three loans and information on whether the monthly payment will be reduced accordingly after I do so. I have emailed them 5 times requesting a return contact with NO reply. I have also called them multiple times and were told the hold times were running over an hour so I requested a call back and all three times I never received the promised call back, including today when I called and was told I would get a call back in 40 minutes. That was an hour and a half ago. Since I have had essentially no experience with them since they took over the loans I am reluctant to send them {$16000.00} without knowing the process, how the payment would be credited, etc. They seem completely incompetent.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 94306
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-12-27
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I tried to make my payment over 10 times in XXXX the website was down. I tried to email through thier portal, it was down. I tried to call it's a 60 minute wait or longer. No answers. I have set up automatic payments and they said still my payment was late. They have serious and significant website issues and today I can not even access it yet again. If I can not log in then how can we be expected to make the payments.
Company Response:
State: WA
Zip: 992XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2024-01-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A