Date Received: 2016-09-19
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are handled
Consumer Complaint: NELNET is reporting student loan late payments on my credit report that is not accurate. Everytime I dispute with the credit bureaus, it comes back verified. When I dispute diresctly with NELNET, I never get a response. Just proves that no real investigation was ever done. This is a violation of the FCRA. Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, 150 days XX/XX/2014, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014 Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, 150 days XX/XX/2014, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014 Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, 150 days XX/XX/2014, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014 Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XXXX, XXXX, 150 days XX/XX/XXXX, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014 Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, 150 days XX/XX/2014, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014 Account Number : XXXX Negative Information Being Reported : 120 days past due XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, 150 days XX/XX/2014, 180 days XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014, XX/XX/2014
Company Response:
State: NJ
Zip: 07712
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-18
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about my loan
Consumer Complaint: I was put into forbearance without proper notification, which is now costing me over {$15000.00}.
Company Response:
State: CO
Zip: 802XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-15
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are handled
Consumer Complaint: I submitted a payment to the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. My bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, reflects this {$73.00} charge from XXXX XXXX, 2016. This payment has never been reflected in my VSAC account. Shortly thereafter, my loan servicer became XXXX. Neither loan servicer shows a record of this payment. XXXX gave me a trace number : XXXX which should be useful in assisting VSAC in finding a record of this charge. In other words, the transaction occurred. But was applied as an increase of balance instead of reduction.
Company Response:
State: ID
Zip: 83440
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-22
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-14
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are handled
Consumer Complaint: Nelnet has organized my loans into groups ( Group A, Group B, Group C, etc. ) and lists an " interest rate '' for each Group. For almost two years, I have been diligently making extra payments to the groups I believed had the highest interest rates. I recently discovered the 6.276 % " interest rate '' listed for Group A is misleading. Group A actually contains XXXX separate loans : Loan XXXX ( about {$20000.00} ) is at 6.8 % interest, while the other XXXX ( totaling about {$10000.00} ) are at 5.41 %. So, even though I believed I was prioritizing my highest interest loans, I have been missing a {$20000.00} loan hidden among loans with lower ( in fact, the lowest ) interest. This seems unfair and I can not help but suspect these groupings are intentional. A student loan servicer should not be able to hide high interest loans in a group with low interest loans, especially when that makes the entire group appear to have a lower interest rate. When I first spoke with Nelnet, they informed me the only way to apply payments strictly to Group A, Loan XXXX was to make a payment to all of Group A, wait for it to clear, and then contact their accounting department to reallocate the payment. This whole process would XXXX XXXX days. Concerned about the delay and the prospect of having to do this for every payment, I then asked them to separate my Group A loans by interest rate. They claim they are processing the request. I feel misled, but I am less concerned about my own situation than by the prospect of others having the same experience. This seems unfair and deceptive and I hope the Bureau can investigate whether Nelnet uses this practice regularly. Thank you for your assistance.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 010XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-14
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Subissue: Can't decrease my monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I have had a XXXX ( XXXX ) starting XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX one of my Doctors ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) stated that I was likely XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX I was ruled by an administrative judge to be XXXX and eligible for Social Security XXXX. Veterans Legal Aid in XXXX County XXXX ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX. ) contacted these all of the federal student loan agencies but they have refused to discharge the loans as required under the law. The continued marking of my credit report as delinquent and and the large balance owed vs my poverty level income from Social Security XXXX leaves me very vulnerable to being unable to renew my lease XX/XX/XXXX as these directly impact credit scoring. DEPT OF ED / NELNET XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33025
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: Yes
Date Received: 2016-09-14
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are handled
Consumer Complaint: I received notice from XXXX that my account was showing a balance of {$0.00} due. I called XXXX and was informed that they could no longer service federal student loans and that my account was being transferred to Nelnet. I contacted Nelnet, was told my first payment would be due XXXX XXXX, and I notified them of my new banking arrangements. I asked specifically if there were any financial benefit to my having a direct debit arrangement ( a discount or credit ) and since there was none, that I would like paper statements and would be setting up autopay through XXXX XXXX XXXX or paying online or by check. I made a personal note to address the payment of Nelnet well before XX/XX/XXXX. I had made arrangements with the IRS to make monthly payments through XXXX XXXX. As I was moving to XXXX XXXX XXXX, all other direct debits ( including Nelnet ) were notified of the new bank information. On the morning of Tuesday, XXXX XXXX, 2016, the XXXX XXXX online system showed the IRS payment was " pending ; '' it was the only payment pending and my bank balance was {$420.00}. I expected the IRS payment to go from " pending '' to " paid. '' As soon as it did, I was going to close the XXXX XXXX account, as the IRS was the only account remaining to draw from XXXX XXXX. On the afternoon of Tuesday, XXXX XXXX, 2016, the XXXX XXXX online system showed the IRS payment " pending '' as well as a {$190.00} Nelnet payment " pending '' and a projected balance of - {$160.00} in the account. I immediately called Nelnet to get the payment withdrawn. They would not do it. They offered to issue a refund but the request for the refund would be held for 20 days ( " company policy '' ) " in case ( I ) decide to stop payment at the bank. '' That gave me the idea of stopping the payment, myself, at the bank. Nelnet said that if I did stop payment at the bank, I would need to make a payment to them " now '' over the phone or I would be reported as failing to make my payment ; I was frantic, so I made a payment to Nelnet over the phone. I then called XXXX XXXX and asked to stop/refuse payment on the Nelnet request. They would not stop or refuse the payment because both the IRS and the Nelnet payments were " pending '' and could not be stopped : My concern was the IRS payment ; I was assured by the branch manager via the customer service person that the IRS payment " would be paid. '' On Wednesday, XXXX XXXX, a XXXX XXXX payment of {$170.00} appeared as " pending '' due to another company failing to update direct debit arrangements ; the IRS and Nelnet payments were no longer in a " pending '' status but were listed as paid. The available balance ( which includes 'pending ' debits ) showed as - {$340.00}. I contacted Nelnet and after reminding them that my first payment to them was not supposed to have been made until XXXX XXXX ( as stated by them ), that I wanted a refund ... which was the only way I saw to afford a direct payment to the IRS. They said ( as they said before ) any request for a refund would be held for 20 days ( " company policy '' ) and that it would take an additional 20 days to process the refund ; so, I will not be seeing a refund of the two {$190.00} payments ( or {$380.00} ) for another 40 days ... XXXX XXXX. I am filing a complaint against Nelnet for ( 1 ) drafting a payment from the wrong bank ( I had already notified them of my change in banks ) ; ( 2 ) drafting the payment a month early ; ( 3 ) not being willing to withdraw the erroneous payment ; ( 4 ) insisting that I make an additional payment by threatening to report a payment failure ; and ( 5 ) taking 40 days to issue a refund.
Company Response:
State: SC
Zip: 29625
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-13
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Don't agree with fees charged
Consumer Complaint: I have been making monthly payments towards my student loans about 3 years ago. My situation changed a little over a year ago. I contacted Nelnet to discuss my options. I decided to go with the repayment earn as you go program. I was told there is a {$690.00} application fee but if I join now, My application fee would be {$590.00}. However, my application would not or could not be processed until my fee was paid. I was also told this fee could be made in monthly installments. So, since XXXX, I have made XXXX payments of {$190.00}. I submitted my application soon after I hung up the phone initially in XXXX. XXXX payments later I received a letter from Navient stating my application was being processed. I called them to discuss that letter, but did n't get through. I called Nelnet to see if my application was being processed. They said no, that they never even received it. This was in XXXX. After XXXX 's installment was auto drafted from my bank account, I called Nelnet again to see where my application stood. Again, they claim to have never received it. I then called Navient and got a hold of a lovely woman named XXXX who explained to me my application was indeed being processed. She also informed me Nelnet was no longer my provider and I should not have been asked to pay anything regarding an application fee because the service I was paying for is in fact free. She proceeded to give my phone numbers to people who could help me get this resolved. I am attaching documents from my bank showing the XXXX installments I made in the amount of {$590.00}. They are in a different name ( ACH XXXX ... ) than the Dept. of Education I usually made payments to.
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 27502
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-12
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are handled
Consumer Complaint: When attempting to make an advance payment to reduce debt more quickly than required, NelNet applies the overpayment to all of my loans proportionally, rather than providing me an option of which loan to apply the payment to or automatically applying the payment to my highest interest rate loans. The net result is that I am unable to pay down the balance of specific ( higher interest ) balances and NelNet then charges me a higher, blended effective rate. Since this is a function of their portal, they 've clearly specifically designed their tool to deny consumers the ability to pay higher interest rate loans off faster than their lower interest rates.
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85027
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-12
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Subissue: Can't decrease my monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I have a U.S. Department of Education federal student loan that is being serviced by XXXX XXXX and the guarantor is Nelnet. The total loan balance is {$3700.00}. The account number is XXXX. I applied for a XXXX discharge because I am XXXX, I receive {$1000.00} monthly in social security XXXX income and this is the only income in my household. I can not afford to repay the student loan balance due to my fixed income. I barely have enough money to buy food after paying for housing and utilities. I provided Nelnet with the completed XXXX discharge documents and a letter from the social security administration stating that my XXXX has been certified for 3+ years. Nelnet denied my request for XXXX discharge because they request a XXXX certification of XXXX years. I have spoken with the social security administration and they have advised me that there is no such thing as a " 5-7 year XXXX certification. '' I reported this information to Nelnet and they still refused to reconsider my request for XXXX discharge. The Doctor that previously certified that I am XXXX has retired and is no longer a practicing physician. Instead of acknowledging the 3+ years of XXXX ( + means greater than 3 years ) Nelnet insist on making my life a living by requiring 5-7 years of XXXX certification. Please note that I have received social security XXXX since 2005 - present day. I have been approved for my LAST forbearance and I am terrified of what the outcome will be when the forebearance ends because I can not afford to pay. In addition, my student loans are result of me pursuing a degree at XXXX University. I only took XXXX course at XXXX University, a For-Profit educational institution. The tuition was astronomically high. I am requesting that my student loan balance be discharged as a result of me being permanently XXXX and I am requesting that my student loan balance be discharged as a result of me accumulating unnecessary student loan debt because I was taken advantage of by a For-Profit college, XXXX University. I sincerely thank you!
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33810
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2016-09-09
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Don't agree with fees charged
Consumer Complaint: I was contacted by a NelNet collections agent requesting payment back in XXXX XXXX. I have not attended college at the XXXX XXXX University that they claimed that I did. When speaking to the agent in XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX we confirmed that the original address and email address was the fraudster 's information. We requested a fraud packet to be mailed to my address to complete. I filed the police report and sent all the verification documents to the company XX/XX/XXXX. I was advised that it would take a couple of months to process it, and I did n't receive another call until XXXX XXXX. When I received the call in XX/XX/XXXX, I was surprised to hear that not only have they not complete the Fraud claim, but my " account '' was further past due and if it goes any further then they will garnish my taxes and wages. This is insane. I have not attend a college since XX/XX/XXXX, and when I did I did not receive any loan to pay for the tuition. I just spoke to a XXXX on the phone from Nelnet today who stated that they would email me the documents today to complete again, but it will take a few months to clear up. XXXX
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32221
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2016-09-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No