Consumer complaint received 2020-04-03
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: FL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
My name is XXXX and I am the XXXX  for XXXX XXXX, He was judged to be XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX in XXXX. He had held Student Loans from his time at XXXX XXXX and I had received a letter from Nelnet stating that his loans were going to be considered in default. I filed an application for Discharge due to XXXX being XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and provided them with his award letter ( as the letter I received requested so that the discharge process could begin ). They denied it stating they needed further information. I provided them with numerous medical records including his XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXXt report ( which also included his XXXX  XXXX XXXX Score ) that the SSA judge who granted XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX had assigned controlling weight to the opinion of the Dr. who completed it as it was also deemed to be consistent with the opinions of two other Ph.D 's who had also examined him ( page 7 of Fully Favorable Award Notice ). Nelnet again denied the discharge stating he did not meet the criteria. Next they stated if I wanted to appeal, I would have to provide them with a Benefit Planning Query from SSA and that he would qualify if it " shows that your next scheduled XXXX review will be 5 to 7 years or more from the date of your last SSA XXXX Determination '' ( verbatim quote taken from page 1 of their XXXX Discharge Application ). The XXXX XXXX XXXX was obtained, and showed that he is not due for an examination until XXXX, 6 years from the date of his XXXX Determination. I received another denial letter. I called Nelnet and asked them why it was denied when it can clearly be seen that it will be 6 years from the date of his Determination ( withing the 5 to 7 year range as stated on their own application ). The girl I spoke to said " No, he's getting reviewed in 2 years so he's denied. '' After attempting to explain to her that the language of their form is rather clear she stated " Look, we aren't allowed to do the addition and subtraction of years, they just tell us to look at whether the form has a 5+ or a 7+for review cycles, if it says anything else then it's denied ''. I asked her if that's the case then why not state that on the form instead of stating that it is from the Date of Last Determination, those are two very different things. She became increasingly rude and hostile on the phone and stated that if XXXX " really is XXXX then have his doctor fill the form out and send that to us ''. I stated I had sent them medical records as well as the complete Fully Favorable Decision of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX which has not only all of the information as they request on their form, but in far greater depth and detail regarding the scope and severity of XXXX 's XXXX, far more detail than they would receive from a single page form. She responded with " Yeah, but if it's not on our form then it won't get read. 

Anything else? ". They are already garnishing XXXX 's XXXX, and with what little he receives this places an undue amount of stress and hardship on an already difficult situation. He has medications for his XXXX XXXX  that we have to fight his insurance every year to cover, otherwise they would be in excess of $ XXXX per Month. 

XXXX was injured in the prime of his life through no fault of his own and has been never been the same and never will be again. For him to be in such a vulnerable and sensitive state and in need of relief, which is what XXXX Discharge programs are supposed to be for, only to be denied time after time after time, even after sending along documentation that if one were to be bothered to read for only a moment or two could plainly see that he will never re-enter the workforce or live the life he had before. Instead Nelnet has done the very thing that could make his living situation worse.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation