Consumer complaint received 2023-12-08
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: MA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  I received an email from XXXX XXXX Firstmark services attempted to contact me, as I was unable to make payments and my loan was going to go to default. 

On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  I called firstmark care services and spoke with XXXX XXXX I got in contact with XXXX XXXX from firstmark, explained my situation and XXXX told me about the interest only payment short term plan, where due to financial burden I would only have to pay interest for my loans for a 3 month period. I had to pay a total of XXXX on this day to avoid my loan going into default. XXXX then submitted an application to my XXXX account to fill out for the interest only plan. 

On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  my application was completed. I agreed to the following : " Thank you for your recent request for assistance on your private loans. Nelnet Bank offers a Reduced Payment Plan as a short-term hardship assistance option. Under this plan, the minimum monthly payment is reduced to interest only for six ( 6 ) months. After the first three ( 3 ) months of successful consecutive interest-only payments, any existing delinquency will be cured and the account will be current. After the next three ( 3 ) months of interest-only payments, full Principal and Interest monthly payments will resume. Please carefully review the form and complete and sign the appropriate sections and return using one of the follow methods listed at the bottom of the application. 
Interest will continue to accrue while on the Reduced Payment Plan. Any interest that remains unpaid at the end of the six ( 6 ) months will be capitalized ( added to the principal balance ) and may increase your monthly payment. 
Until you receive notification that your request for hardship has been approved, please continue making your payments by the scheduled due date to avoid further delinquency. You can always view your monthly statement online. If you fail to make payments for the initial three ( 3 ) consecutive interest-only payments, you will no longer be eligible for the program, and will not have your delinquency cured. If you fail to make your interest-only payments on time during the six ( 6 ) month period, you will become delinquent, which could lead to late fees, credit reporting, or potential default. You are limited to one '' XXXX sent an email to my XXXX account, not VIA the firstmark website with the payment plan as listed : XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  XXXX due XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  XXXX due XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  XXXX due " after you make this last payment then the account should be brought current for you '' On the firstmark website, I received a document saying my application for interest only was accepted, with all different dates than I agreed to with XXXX. 
" Dear XXXX : Firstmark Services Your request to make interest-only payments on your loan ( s ) has been approved and applied to the loan ( s ) listed below. This means you will only be responsible for paying the interest that accrues on your loan ( s ) each month. You will not need to make payments on the principal balance ; however, you can do so without penalty if you choose. 
For your Note ID ( s ) : XXXX the interest only Start Date is XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  and the End Date is XX/XX/XXXX. 
Please remember that interest accrues daily, so your amount due each month will be different depending on the number of days between your payments. This means if you make a payment before your due date, your payment for the next month may be higher to account for the additional interest that has accrued, as interest can not be pre-paid. 
If your account is set up for auto debit, your payments will still be automatically debited on your due date each month ; however, the amount may change depending on the amount of interest due. '' I called firstmark services and spent over an hour on the phone trying to make sense of the payment plan as the plan I agreed to, was not matching these dates. The customer rep assured me that as long as I paid the interest only, my loan would not go into default. I requested documentation of my payment plan with the interest plan to be documented legally on firstmark sites. I was told, " we are unable to do that, I can ask my manager to send you an email with your plan '' - I agree to a payment plan but, I can not get legal documention? I pushed to received documentation. 


XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  I paid XXXX to Firstmark Services XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   I finally received " documentation '' as listed below. 

Your Nelnet Bank Refinance loan ( s ) listed below is now in Repayment status. You will find your estimated repayment schedule below. We have also enclosed frequently asked repayment questions to assist you with this transition. 
Note ID Status Change Date XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   Outstanding Principal Balance : XXXX Number of Payments XXXX Regular Monthly XXXX Payment Amount * If you are unable to make a payment due to a financial hardship, please contact us at the number below. Your lender may offer repayment options, and we can help identify the payment assistance options available to you. 


This repayment schedule is based on your current interest rate and due date. If you have a variable interest rate loan, your interest rate may change periodically. Since interest accrues daily, if you make a payment before or after the due date, more or less interest will accrue and be allocated from the payment. 


Again, confused on that documentation, I would like a specific amount due and due date. 

on XX/XX/XXXX I emailed Firstmark " I continue to have issues with the payment schedule. I am on an interest only plan, ive attached a copy of the email with the payment plan, yet it continues to not match up with the records. 

Please explain what my actual payment plan is '' Recived an email back on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  stating " Upon review of your account, I show a special letter was sent out to you on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  that stated the amount of payments to be made before interest only can take affect. 


Our records indicate that your account is currently 126 days past due for a minimum payment of {$860.00}. 

You may continue to receive delinquency notices or calls so long as the account reflects past due. We are required to report to all credit bureaus any accounts that are 45 or more days past due on the last business day of the month. Should your account reach 120 days past due, your loan may default and be returned to the lender for further collection activity. '' On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   I Received messages through firstmark saying my loan again would be going into default if I did not pay by XX/XX/XXXX. 

Scared, I paid XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, which they are requesting more but I am unable to do any more. 


Therefore, I am submitting a complaint due to being told different things, not receiving a clear payment plan with legal documentation and for causing more anxiety with the confusion and threat of loan defaulting.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation