Consumer complaint received 2018-07-03
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: WV
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
Over the last few months I have had a very difficult time in dealing with my student loan financer- Nelnet . 
I currently have a student loan balance of XXXX and am on a PAYE repayment plan with a loan recertification date of XX/XX/XXXX. 
Submitting my loan recertification paperwork is very important to do in a timely manner. Due to the importance of timely recertification I submitted my recertification application and proof of income on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX prior to completing my taxes. My husband and I were not yet sure if we were going to file together or separately. I submitted the required income documentation and paperwork stating that we were filing together which of course results in a higher loan payment but my priority at that time was recertifying my loan on time to avoid interest capitalization and I would deal with changing the loan payment later if our filing status changed. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Nelnet to explain that I would like to change my filing status to filing separately because that is how we ended up filing. Nelnet sent me a prefilled out form upon my request so that I could resubmit my paperwork since my husband and I had ended up deciding to file separately. NOTE : I was instructed PER ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYESS that this was the correct way to submit this documentation and the application was actually PREFILLED BY ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES. I am attaching the prefilled application. 
I received a letter XX/XX/XXXX stating that my loan payment would be {$1100.00}. Nothing was wrong at this time as that is the appropriate payment for if my husband and I filed together. I called Nelnet on XX/XX/XXXX to let them know I ended up filing separately and would be resubmitting the paperwork needed for filing separately. 
I submitted the required documentation on XX/XX/XXXX via fax which included the prefilled PAYE recertification paperwork stating that we had filed separately. I included a self-certified letter of my income as well as a copy of my husbands tax return which stated that we filed separately. Although not necessary I even submitted my paystubs to ensure they would have everything they could need to recalculate my payment. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX pm called Nelnet because I got an email that said action was needed. I Spoke to XXXX she said no further action needed and I would not be overdue for re certification, they have all papers needed. I I was led to believe that I had now submitted everything properly to have my loan recalculated in time for the XX/XX/XXXX payment which was when the new payment was to start. 
XX/XX/XXXX: - I called Nelnet to follow up and make sure the paperwork was in and that my loan payment had been recalculated to the correct amount ( the amount it should be based on my income and filing separately since all paperwork was in ). The woman I spoke to REPEATEDLY assured me everything was in, it looked good and my loan payment would be about {$410.00}. I told her this sounded incorrect as that was my current payment and due to an increase in my income I should be going up by about a couple hundred dollars. She again assured me everything was good and not to worry. 
Since I had been told several times everything was in order and I was very busy with work, caring for my sick mother, and XXXX XXXX obligations, I did not call daily and check my loan status daily as I dont feel that should be necessary. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received an email stating my loan payment would be {$1100.00}. I called Nelnet and told them this was incorrect as my husband and I had ended up filing separately and I had resubmitted the paperwork as I was instructed to to recalculate based on filing separately. The man I spoke with said it looks like the problem was that on the previous application the box for recertification not recalculation had been checked ( NOTE THIS IS THE BOX THAT WAS PREFILLED OUT BY THEIR EMPLOYEE WHO SAID THAT WAS THE CORRECT ONE ). He said just correct that and it would be no big deal, recalculations are done quickly and it may even be done prior to the XX/XX/XXXX payment. He also told me that I DID NOT need to send in my husbands tax information since we filed separately. 
When refilling out the paperwork I felt concerned based on the wording that I DID need to send my husbands information so I called Nelnet to check. The person I spoke with said YES, it will not be used in the calculation but it needs to be sent. Somewhere in this conversation it came up that my interest on my loan may capitalize if I submit a payment RECALCULATION request. I said that sounded wrong to me it is not one of the reasons interest capitalized on the PAYE plan and that I have a right to have my payment recalculated to the proper amount without penalty. 
I was put through to someone higher who said she just didnt know for sure if my interest would capitalize or not if my payment was recalculated so basically I would just have to wait and see after submitting my request. I said that was unacceptable when I have a nearly {$300000.00} loan and those are not thing I can just wait and see about as it would greatly affect my loan and my finances and future. She put me on hold and checked with someone and came back and said I was correct and a recalculation would definitely NOT cause any interest to capitalize. 
I resent all of the paperwork that day, XX/XX/XXXX via email. 
I heard nothing so assumed everything was good and thought there was a chance my new payment would be recalculated by XX/XX/XXXX but if not, definitely by XX/XX/XXXX and I was ok with making one month of the higher payment. 
As my XX/XX/XXXX payment date approached I had received nothing about a new payment so I called to check in on everything. I was first told that the reason it was wrong was that I was supposed to check the box in the application that said I am married but do not have access to my husbands income information. I said no, that would be lying on a federal form, I check the married box and then later check a box that says we file our taxes separately. She said oh yea, you are right. Then she said the problem was that I had submitted my husbands pre amended taxes that said we filed separately. I took ownership for that mistake and said I would resubmit everything including the correct taxes On this same phone call I asked about the recalculation and interest capitalization because I did not feel confident with the answer previously. This woman then said also your whole loan is to recertify in 2 days so ALL of your interest is going to capitalize. I was nearly in tears at this point and said my account says its due XX/XX/XXXX. She said thats not what she was seeing there and I asked to speak to higher management. 
She put me through and that woman said it was ok my loan was ot recertify XX/XX/XXXX. She said she just couldnt say for sure however if my interest would capitalize if my loan payment was recalculated. 

I submitted all of the correct paperwork ( at least what I was told was correct ) at that time and told the woman I felt very disappointed in the different information I get every time I speak to someone at Nelnet. 
Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I called to check in on the resent information. At first I was told it was wrong because it was turbo tax which was not accepted but then he said actually what I sent was ok. 
He then told me that just so I am aware, this would unlikely be recalculated by the XX/XX/XXXX payment. When I was previously told it would be done if I had information in a month early. This would mean another month of making a higher payment that I should based on my income and filing status. 
Each time I talk to these people I am told completely different information, some of it causing EXTREME distress- such as saying that my loan is to recertify in 2 days and all of my interest will capitalize when in reality it is not due for another 10 months. Also, going back and forth on telling my that by reCALCULATING my payment to the correct one my interest would capitalize. I have spoken to several upper management who apologize yet do nothing. 
I would like my loan recalculating prior to the XX/XX/XXXX payment if possible. This is not and should not be a complicated process and I have spent countless hours trying to deal with a company that truly seems like they have no idea what they are doing and has no appreciation for what it means to have student loan numbers of this magnitude and how small mistakes can contribute to great amount of money in the life on my loan. 
I have tried very hard to get the correct information to them in a timely manner but it is not possible when I am consistently told incorrect information. I have been severely mislead several times leading to making 2 months of higher payments than I should be. I feel they have no consequences for providing poor and incorrect information and I, the consumer have to pay the consequences. 



These are emails I sent to myself when I realized I should start documenting my conversations with them. Im sorry they are not great, I will from here on out be keeping detailed records of all conversations. 


XX/XX/XXXX : spoke to man that said my loan was not recalculated yet because i sent in my husbands tax information which is not needed because we filed separately. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I got on line with __________ she said the problem is that i filled out my application wrong and said I put that I filed jointly. I pulled up my application which is checked that I filed separately from my spouse.She said no you needed to check the bx that says you are married but can not access spouse info. I said that would be lying and I checked the box that said " married ''. She said, oh yea, actually that is ok but the problem is your tax return says you filed together. I agreed that was wrong and said I will send in the correct one. 

Then she said my loan re certification date is in 2 days and my interest would capitalize. I said no my recert date is XXXX and i need to talk to a supervisor. I talked to XXXX who said she can not promise my interest would not capitalize with a repayment. I would need to speak with the department of education and that the other person was wrong and my recertification is XX/XX/XXXX, as I said. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I talked to someone and he said the reason my payment is high is it was calculated off of my original recert which said filing together so the following paperwork I sent was ignored because it should have been filed as recalculation paperwork. I was told at this time I do not need to submit my spouse 's tax returns Spoke to XXXX Called back to confirm I Do not need to send marks tax returns because the paperwork makes it seem like I do even thought it would be used. The man I checked with said he would check on it and if I don't get paperwork in by XX/XX/XXXX my interest would capitalize. I said my re certification date was XX/XX/XXXX, and I was told by numerous people at nelnet over the last month that my paperwork was complete and in on time and re-certification was ok. 

I was put on hold while he followed up on this. He came back and said to send in my spouse 's income. And become I am applying for a lower payment my interested may capitalize. I asked to speak to someone about this. 

Transfered. 
I recorded this part of the call I have an audio recording that is too large to upload but I can find a way to so do if needed. 


XX/XX/XXXX : Talked to lady at XXXX who repeatedly confirmed I am up to date they have everything tHey need and it looks like my payment will be about XXXX. I told her that is my current payment and I thought It should Be going up. I confirmed again all paperwork needed is in and account was up to date and there are no issues XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX pm called nelnet because i got an email that said action was needed. Spoke to XXXX she said no further action needed and I would not be overdue for re certification, they have all papers needed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation