Consumer complaint received 2020-03-27
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: IA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I took out ( 2 ) student loans with XXXX XXXX  when I was a student at the University of XXXX  between XXXX and XXXX. My dad, XXXX XXXX, co-signed for both of these student loans because XXXX would not approve me on my credit history alone. The total for both loans was approximately {$9500.00}. 
In XXXX my parents filed chapter XXXX bankruptcy and both of these student loans were pulled into their repayment plan since my dad was the co-signer. At this point, I had been successfully making payments on both loans for over 4 years, but when my parent 's bankruptcy was filed XXXX pulled both student loans into bankruptcy status. I was notified of this change by logging onto my online XXXX account to make a payment and I could not. Everything said my accounts were in bankruptcy and that I had to call a specific 800 number. 
In XXXX I called XXXX bank twice. The first phone call the rep who answered said that I had to speak to the representative for Iowa 's bankruptcies and transferred me to a woman 's voicemail. I left a message stating that I wanted to remove my student loans from bankruptcy status, that my dad was just a co-signer and that I can continue to make payments on the loan but I needed information on how to make payments since my online account was locked out. No one from XXXX ever called me back so a few days later I called again, and was told again that I had to talk to the representative for Iowa and transferred me to the reps voicemail. At this time I did not leave a second message since my first one was left unreturned. 
I talked to my dad, who talked to his bankruptcy lawyer, and his lawyer said to leave the loans in bankruptcy and they will payout. Taking his legal advice I stopped trying to get a hold of XXXX XXXX. 
Fast forward to late XX/XX/XXXX I receive an email from XXXX   stating that my credit score has changed. I log into my credit report to find 60 days past due ding that resulted in a 150-200 credit point drop, from a company called Firstmark. I had no idea who this company was or why they were involved in my credit. I XXXX  the company and found they are servicing XXXX student loans. I knew that these loans were on my dad 's bankruptcy so I reached out to him. My dad said that in XX/XX/XXXX his bankruptcy was discharged because the 5-year plan had been paid in full. He sent me a copy of the discharge papers to confirm which showed that the total remaining balance as of XX/XX/XXXX for both XXXX student loans was {$1000.00}. 
I called XXXX customer service in early XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to a rep. The rep who answered the phone did not understand what bankruptcy meant or why my account was past due. I explained how my accounts were pulled into my dads ' bankruptcy over 5 years ago so I had no idea the accounts were still open, and the female rep responded with 'we are not required to send you a statement, it is just a courtesy. You still have to pay on your loan as agreed to even if you do not receive a statement. ' I asked to speak to a manager and she transferred me to an escalation rep. The escalation rep agreed that it was not ok to ding my credit for an account I did not know was still open, but that due to the account still being in bankruptcy status Firstmark is not allowed to send me anything in the mail about my account. He said that it is illegal to send me statements or information on how to make payments when an account is in bankruptcy status so that is why I never received any notifications. 
**I will note that in my last complaint against Firstmark the rep that responded stated that Firstmark did mail me information on how to make payments in XX/XX/XXXX, I asked for clarification from Firstmark after my last complaint and did not receive an answer. Right now I have one rep saying they did not send me anything about making payments or information on my account, and another rep saying the did. I also asked for a copy of the documentation they sent me and I did not receive a response from Firstmark. My request for the copies of this documentation was sent over two weeks ago with no answer. I can only get Firstmark to respond to me when I file a complaint with CFPB. ** During my XX/XX/XXXX phone call, the rep stated that he does not agree with the situation but that he can not help me. I ended up filing a complaint with CPFB and finally Firstmark removed the ding from my credit in XX/XX/XXXX. 
The unresolved issue that still remains, and that I have filed multiple complaints on, is the remaining balance of my student loan accounts. Currently Firstmark shows that I owe over {$4500.00} in student loans with them but the bankruptcy discharge papers my dad gave me to show that I only owe {$1000.00} on both accounts combined. 
After my first complaint Firstmark responded with updating my credit score/report but said that the discrepancy in account balances was that I was only looking at one account balance, not both, which is not true. 
My second complaint to Firstmark about this issue was that the balance difference was the interest that accrued during the bankruptcy, which I asked to be removed from or make payments during twice to XXXX XXXX  with no response, and Firstmark responded to this complaint by saying I still owe the full {$4500.00} and it is not negotiable. 
I responded to the customer service department directly after my second complaint explaining that the issue is that I asked to make payments during my bankruptcy and XXXX ignored my requests, now 5 years later Firstmark comes back and says I owe over $ 3k in additional interest that would not have accrued if XXXX responded to my first two requests to make payments during the bankruptcy. 
To give you an idea my parent 's bankruptcy started about XX/XX/XXXX, from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX I or my family has paid {$6200.00} in interest only to Firstmark on both student loans. Now they are saying I pay an additional $ XXXX in interest-only due to the accounts sitting in bankruptcy for 5 years. 
For the 3rd time, my request and the moral thing to do is to let me pay back the remaining principal that I owe on these accounts so I can close them out and be done. I've asked to negotiate several times without any cooperation from Firstmark. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX requested my original promissory notes on both accounts, and a copy of the letter Firstmark sent me in XX/XX/XXXX. Several weeks later I received one copy of an online promissory note for one of the student loans with XXXX, I am still missing the promissory note for the {$4500.00} loan, and the copy of of the postmarked letter Firstmark mailed me in XX/XX/XXXX letting me know how to make payments on my account when it is in bankruptcy status. 
So far Firstmark keeps changing their answers to fit their actions and reviewing with the XXXX  this company has hundreds and hundreds of complaints against them. Why isn't the government doing anything about this company? Will it take a class action lawsuit to be treated fairly?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation