Consumer complaint received 2019-05-17
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: KY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX - Submitted application to Nelnet for income-driven repayment plan. They said that my first payment would be in XXXX and that they would send the details of the repayment along with the first bill in late XXXX or early XXXX. Their estimation on the amount I would owe at the time was {$130.00} and some change. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Notice of past due amount of {$3000.00} plus next bill for a total of {$6100.00}. I called them and asked what was going on and they said that they couldn't read my pay stub from the application I sent in in XXXX and I asked why they didn't notify me of this when they realized the problem. They said a notice should have been sent out ( it wasn't ) but that they would defer the bill ( I didn't even make that much money a month at the time ) so that my account was current and to submit a new pay stub. I submitted a pay stub that night. I also increased the contrast and the resolution of the pay stub so that it was crystal clear, even on a low-resolution monitor. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Receive 18 notifications ( one for each loan ) that my loan went into forbearance until XX/XX/XXXX. Due to something else going on in my life, I left it as this until I took care of the personal issues I had going on. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Contacted Nelnet about why my loans went into forbearance. This was now affecting one of the personal issues previously mentioned and I explained that it was holding me up on other things going on in my life and I just wanted to start payments as soon as possible. They said the only note they had on file was that they couldn't read my pay stub from before. I asked if they could look at the two pay stubs I submitted to see if they could read them after I explained what happened the first time and that the contrast/resolution was increased so there shouldn't have been a problem reading the numbers. They said it was still blurry, but readable. At this point, she said I would also have to submit another pay stub for the income-driven repayment plan since they have to have a pay stub that is within the last 90 days. At this point, I had started a new job and my income increased significantly. This caused my estimated payment to balloon to {$760.00} per month. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I resubmitted the application and new pay stub. 

XX/XX/XXXX - I received multiple notifications. They said that my income-driven plan was approved, but each one said something different. The first one I opened said, " Your monthly payment amount for qualifying loans will be {$650.00} for 12 months, beginning XX/XX/XXXX ... '' The second one I opened said, " Your monthly payment amount for qualifying loans will be {$1000.00} for 12 months, beginning XX/XX/XXXX ... '' The last one I opened said, " Your qualifying federal student loans are now on an income-driven repayment plan. You indicated on your application that you do not wish to begin making payments on your loans until your current deferment or forbearance ends. Your next payment for Group A is due on XX/XX/XXXX ... '' I looked at the application I submitted and it was very clearly marked that I wanted to start making payments immediately. Even if it was " blurry '' as they claimed my pay stubs were, it was very clear which of the options I had chosen. At this point, I had already accrued over {$13000.00} in interest. 

I called Nelnet again and explained the situation and asked why my loans stayed in forbearance when it was very clearly marked I wanted to begin payments immediately. The lady I spoke to couldn't give me any answers and put me on hold on 3 separate occasions to contact other people about what was going on. The answer she gave me was that within 10 business days, I should receive a notification and a bill that my loans were in repayment and that, after confirming with me, that I would like to make my first payment on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX - 10 business days later, my loans are still in forbearance with no correspondence as to what is going on with my loans. At this point, I'm pretty convinced they are pushing this off so that they can make more money off me through the thousands of dollars of interest I am accruing. Dealing with Nelnet has been an absolute nightmare.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation