Consumer complaint received 2022-08-23
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: GA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
Original private student loan entity : XXXX XXXX Bank XXXX : {$31000.00} Date loan was XXXX distributed : XX/XX/XXXX ( amount : {$15000.00} ) XXXX distribution XXXX ( amount : {$15000.00} ) Issue XXXX : XXXX XXXX erroneously placed me in deferral on the date of my XXXX loan distribution ( XX/XX/XXXX ), despite there being a clear section in the Credit Loan Agreement that specifies that I should be granted an Interim Period ( Terms of Repayment D, Item XXXX ( a ) and ( b ) of the Loan Agreement ) and that Repayment ( Terms of Repayment D, Item XXXX. Repayment Period ) was not to begin until after the end of the Interim Period. The Interim Period was specified to extend from the time of XXXX loan distribution to either ( a ) 6 months after I cease to be enrolled at the school or ( b ) 5 years after the date of my first disbursement. Deferral/extension status is defined separately under Terms of Repayment D, Item XXXX and is considered non-equivalent to the Interim Period. 

Payments were made on my account as early as XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$1100.00} ( while still fully enrolled in my program at the school the loan was originally taken out for ). Payments were made in XX/XX/XXXX ( {$330.00} ), XX/XX/XXXX ( {$500.00} ), XX/XX/XXXX ( {$100.00} ), XX/XX/XXXX ( {$400.00} ), XX/XX/XXXX ( {$420.00} ), XX/XX/XXXX ( {$400.00} ), and XX/XX/XXXX ( {$400.00} ). Interest capitalization occurred on XX/XX/XXXX ( {$2400.00} ), which is when I presume my actual repayment period began. The timeline for the exact repayment start is unclear as I was already making payments on the loan and I was dually enrolled in XXXX institutions : XXXX for which the loan with XXXX XXXX and the other to which the loan never applied. I am uncertain if they used data reported from the XXXX XXXX pertaining to my enrollment at other institutions as a means for deciding the start of repayment. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Formal notification of approval for forbearance- a term not defined under the XXXX XXXX but is presumed to be equivalent to deferral/extension. XXXX was sought due to enrollment in a doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Attendance at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX. 

Student loan transfer to Firstmark Services : XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : received notification of approved deferral status from Firstmark until XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : update on billing reflecting no change in repayment status ; only summary of accumulating interest No correspondence via USPS mail nor e-mail was sent/received following XX/XX/XXXX. 

Issue XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX : Firstmark Services begins phone calls to private cell phone without leaving voicemails. Calls were made up to XXXX a day. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I am finally able to speak with Firstmark. They inform me I am delinquent and provide XXXX different dates for when repayment began and varying amounts of dollar amount owed. They inform me that they attempted to send me mail in spring but received " return to sender '' mail. No attempts to call me regarding this supposed mailing issue were made. They read the address to where they were sending mail and it was an address in XXXX, FL, that I have never been associated with nor provided to any financial institution ever. They claim XXXX XXXX provided them with the update ; then they claimed that it was actually because they searched for my address online and that's the address that was somehow returned. They also claim that I was opted into e-mail correspondence sometime in spring, something I never authorized, and they said that it must have happened " accidentally '' when I logged into my account online- which I have never created an online account with Firstmark ( I was in deferral and was receiving paper-based correspondence so I had no need to do this ). Moreover, I had not moved from the location where they were successfully sending me mail for a year prior to their claim of " return to sender '' mail. 
I was told that I would need to reapply for deferral during XXXX the phone calls made on that day, as I am now enrolled at a separate institution specializing in a XXXX program ( I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). This request was submitted XX/XX/XXXX. 

I corrected their incorrect mailing address on XX/XX/XXXX and have since successfully received XXXX items from them via mail. XXXX item reiterates my delinquency status, the other is a declination of my request for continued deferral due to school. 

During the phone conversations I had on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I was told that I had " used up '' my allotted deferral time and that the limit I was granted was for a total of XXXX. I have sent Firstmark copies of the documents they mailed to me citing my approved deferral period until XX/XX/XXXX. I have also sent them the last updated billing statement I received in XX/XX/XXXX. I have explained to them that we have a common goal, which is for me to be able to repay my student loans, but that I wish to do so under fair and accurate terms. I informed them that XX/XX/XXXX was the original date the XXXX XXXX approved any extension on my account and that, in light of their claim of a XXXX deferral limit, that my end date would be XX/XX/XXXX and my first due date would be XX/XX/XXXX. 

Firstmark has refused to acknowledge their role in their failure to adequately and appropriately communicate with me the terms of my loan repayment. They have also grossly mismanaged my data and have made outlandish claims surrounding how/why things happened. 

I have clearly laid out my goals ( stated under the resolution section ), and Firstmark has failed to act in an honorable and courteous manner to achieve them ; despite the fact that my repayment of my loan is a common goal between Firstmark and myself. 

XXXX XXXX was contacted XX/XX/XXXX to discuss the issue with erroneous placement of deferral status on my account at the time of the first loan disbursement ( XX/XX/XXXX ). The individual I spoke with said that she was unable to help me but that someone who could would be reaching out to me via phone. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have yet to receive any further communication regarding the matter. Please note : XXXX XXXX has been WAY more helpful and courteous in their management of my loan, despite having also made an error. Though I have yet to receive a return call in regards to the issue I informed them of on XX/XX/XXXX, I fully believe that they will follow through as stated. They are reported herein because they are the original loan entity, have made an error, and they are associated with Firstmark. 

A complaint regarding Firstmark has been lodged with the XXXX XXXX XXXX as of XX/XX/XXXX. No follow-up communication has been received from the XXXX regarding this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation