Consumer complaint received 2019-12-12
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: IA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I took out two private student loans through XXXX XXXX  when I was in college and my dad co-signed on both loans. Five and a half years ago my parents filed chapter XXXX bankruptcy and these two student loans were pulled into their bankruptcy and repayment plan. At that time XXXX XXXX  marked both loans as bankruptcy so I lost all visibility to these loans online, and I don't mail checks so I had no idea where to send a payment to or what to do. I called XXXX XXXX twice, both times I was told I had to talk to the bankruptcy department and the representative for Iowa was out so they put me in her voicemail. I left two voicemails explaining that I still wanted to pay on these loans and asked for help on how I could do that. No one from XXXX XXXX  ever called me back, so I talked to my dad who talked to his bankruptcy lawyer. His bankruptcy lawyer told me to stop paying on the loans and just leave them as is because the repayment plan will take care of them. 

Fast forward five years, I have heard nothing about these student loans and as far as I know they have been resolved. XX/XX/2019 I get an email from XXXX  saying that my credit score had changed. I reviewed my credit report and saw that a company called Firstmark dinged my credit for a late payment on a loan. Firstmark was not a company I had any accounts with that I knew of, so I filed a dispute with XXXX  stating the accounts were in bankruptcy knowing that it had to be related to the bankruptcy since it was not an open account I paid on regularly. XXXX  said it would take 60 days to resolve the dispute. 

XX/XX/2019 I get another email alert from XXXX  saying that my credit score changed again. I reviewed the report again and my credit score dropped almost 150 points because Firstmark dinged my credit for the second time saying I am now 60 days past due on these random loans. My score went from XXXX to XXXX. 

I have no idea what is going on, so I reach out to my dad and he said he doesn't understand because his bankruptcy was discharged in XX/XX/2019 so he thought everything was done and resolved. He sends me the discharge papers and there are two loans from Firstmark on the papers showing a {$1000.00} balance left. I have nothing from Firstmark, I didn't even know that they bought out my XXXX loans so I XXXX  them and was able to create an account online with my social security number. I log onto my account and see that they show I owe over {$4000.00} instead of {$1000.00}. 

It is still early XXXX and I call Firstmark to see what is going on, and get my credit report fixed. I explained the bankruptcy situation to the first customer service representative that I talked to and she responded with 'statements are just a courtesy, we don't have to notify you when your payment is due so you have to pay even though you didn't get a statement '. I asked to speak to a manager, because she had no idea what bankruptcy meant. She transferred me to an escalation agent, not a manager. I told the escalation agent the situation and asked if I paid the accounts current that they would remove the ding from my credit report. The agent said he could write up the request but it would only be denied. I asked him how I was supposed to know that these accounts were open, had a balance remaining on them, and that they were now past due. I explained that if it was not for XXXX alerting me to a credit report change I still would not have known about these accounts. The agent said he sympathized but that basically they expected me to follow the loans all the way through the bankruptcy and once it was over to start paying on them again. I advised the agent that my parents bankruptcy was discharged in XXXX so why have I not heard from anyone, or received any statements. The agent responded and said that they didn't know the bankruptcy was discharged, so they left the accounts marked as bankruptcy so legally they can't notify me of anything. I responded with, so you don't have to notify me of any amount I owe, or that my accounts are past due but you can ding my credit for it? The agent responded with, yes I don't like it but that is how it is. 

I then asked the agent about the discrepancy between the amounts owed, how the bankruptcy papers say that I owe {$1000.00} and Firstmark says I owe over {$4000.00}. He said it was probably a little off since they bought the loans from XXXX XXXX, and I said it's {$3000.00} off so he said to send in a copy of the discharge papers and they will review them. I asked him how they would contact me since he just told me they legally can't call me, and he said he put a request in the message for a phone call back. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX I send in a copy of the discharge papers and ask that an agent calls me back to discuss after reviewing the documents. On Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX someone from Firstmark emails me back saying that they noticed I called in and talked to someone on Monday so my question has been closed out because I got the answer I was looking for. On that same day I emailed them back stating that the agent on that phone call told me send these papers in, and that I need someone in their bankruptcy department to review them and call me back to discuss. On Friday XX/XX/XXXX someone from Firstmark responds and says they have forwarded my documents on to review and someone will contact me in 7-10 business days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I email Firstmark again, because I have not heard from anyone, and ask for an update on the status of the document review and for a phone call to discuss. 

On Friday XX/XX/XXXX someone from Firstmark emails me stating that the payments from the bankruptcy did not take interest into consideration and that is what the {$3000.00} difference is, that they can not comment on anything related to bankruptcies but to reach out to the co-signer or lawyer for more information. They also said they would send me a copy of the payment history to review, but no one ever called me to discuss after I asked multiple times. 

At this point I reach out to a financial help group and members of that group said to get a lawyer to help me fix my credit and negotiate the remaining debt. I reached out to a bankruptcy lawyer in XXXX XXXX who referred me to a student loan lawyer who said she would not help me. I called my work benefits that provide free legal advice and referrals, and they referred me to a civil lawyer who referred me back to a bankruptcy/credit reporting lawyer or to try XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX agency. I reached out to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and they said they do not work with student loans but suggested I file a complaint on this website to get Firstmark to work with me. 

I have not tried contacting Firstmark again since their last email on XX/XX/2019, but I have paid the accounts current to prevent further damage to my credit report. 

I pay all of my accounts and I work hard to have a good credit rating, but I feel like Firstmark doesn't understand what bankruptcy is or how it works nor do they care about working with me in a fair manner. Anytime I tried to discuss bankruptcy with Firstmark they either dismissed me or told me to contact a lawyer. When I asked for help they dismissed me, even when I did what they told me to do they still didn't do what they say they would do in regards to reviewing the discharge papers and calling me back. 

At this point you are my only hope, because I can't get Firstmark to work with me and lawyers keep referring me to other lawyers. Anything you can do to help me negotiate with Firstmark would be greatly appreciated.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation