Consumer complaint received 2017-03-20
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: MI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are handled

Complaint:
I had been enrolled in Nelnet 's Income Based Repayment ( IBR ) plan since graduating XXXX school in XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I received a notification through their internal messaging system ( which is a hassle in and of itself ) that I needed to re-certify by XX/XX/XXXX. There was no mention of processing times anywhere in the letter. I called their help line to confirm the paperwork I needed to submit and was told that I qualified for Revised Pay As You Earn, which would cap my payments at a lower percent of my income. I submitted my application and a paystub XX/XX/XXXX and also posted duplicate documentation to their 'documents ' folder online. I called to make sure the documents had been received. I was then informed that by switching plans my interest would capitalize ; I was given the option of paying a minimum {$5.00} payment or {$240.00}. I said if the {$240.00} would be applied to my repayment plan, I would be happy to pay that as my XX/XX/XXXX payment, and consented to the payment over the phone which was withdrawn on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I received notification that my loans had been put into deferment because Nelnet had been notified that I was a XXXX ( the same thing had happened in the fall and I had called to state that I wanted to continue making payment while I was getting a XXXX degree ). I called again to state that I wanted to continue making payments, but also to question how my loans could be put in deferment for XX/XX/XXXX if I had already paid {$240.00}. I was then informed that {$240.00} was purely an interest payment and did not count toward my repayment plan. I notified the representative that I had received contradictory information, but stated that due to my intent to pursue public service loan forgiveness, I did n't want to pay more than the minimum interest because my expectation was that my loans will be forgiven after 120 payments ( which I think should have been clear to the first person I spoke with ). She stated that she could refund me {$230.00}. Nelnet then called me on XX/XX/XXXX to state that they were unable to partially refund me, so they would refund {$240.00} and I would make a second payment of {$5.00}. During this process they placed my loans on administrative forbearance which apparently meant my paperwork went to the back of the queue. I was told that I would not be able to make a payment toward my repayment program in XXXX, but that my paperwork would be processed in time for my autodebit XX/XX/XXXX payment. I called approximately one week later to confirm everything was submitted correctly and was told my paperwork would be processed. On XX/XX/XXXX I was notified that my application was approved but that my first payment was not until XX/XX/XXXX. I called a representative again, and was told that despite filing my application XX/XX/XXXX, because Nelnet 's issues with processing and payment, the approval did not occur 30 days before XX/XX/XXXX so I would not be able to make a XX/XX/XXXX payment. I explained that the delays were not on my end and I was told Nelnet file an appeal. I called again this morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ) because I had received no notifications and was told there was not way to backdate, and that even if there had not been a payment issue, that Nelnet 's slow processing times would not have allowed my XX/XX/XXXX application to be processed in time to pay on XX/XX/XXXX. I feel that because of administrative delays, Nelnet has caused me to miss 2 months of payment which will ultimately cost me thousands of dollars as my income based repayments will increase considerably by the end of 10 years ( XXXX versus XXXX salary ). I have received incorrect information numerous times and have devoted hours of my life retelling this story and waiting on hold. Nelnet did not give appropriate information about their slow processing times to allow me to compensate, nor did they make any effort to expedite the process despite continuing errors.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation