Consumer complaint received 2024-10-07
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (TX)

My issue is related to the other complaints filed with CFPB. Each time the servicer responds CFPB closes the complaints. Even when the answer from the servicer is inaccurate and does not answer my complaint. 

Nelnet/Education Department ( ED ) willfully violated the terms of the Sweet v Cardona ( SvC ) settlement agreement and disregarded Judge XXXX 's order to apply the Terminal Consolidation Discharge Procedure to my case. Nelnet/ED reallocated the remaining portion of my SvC refund to pay for non-SvC loans that were part of my terminal consolidation loans. The attached letters from Nelnet prove they violated the terms of the settlement and XXXX XXXX 's directive. 

I am a full class exhibit " C '' member, and I have been given nothing but the run-around from ED and Nelnet. I have filed multiple complaints with CFPB, the Ombudsman 's office, and with Student Aid. The only communication I have received about my case and refund has been as the result of complaints I made with CFPB and the complaint form on the Student Aid website. I have attempted to contact the ED Ombudsman nine times to get help. I sent emails on XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ( received canned response ), XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I received the one canned response from the Ombudsman 's office, but nothing since XXXX. 

My case is complicated due to my 25 years of public service and being granted Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) under the Temporary Expanded waiver ( TEPSLF ). If it were not for the waiver, my loans would not have met the original PSLF guidelines.

Below is a timeline overview to help illustrate the process of my case. 

XXXX Notified I was approved for TEPSLF. 

XXXX - Notified by ED I was approved for SvC class " C '' Borrower 's Defense ( BD ) case. 

XXXX - Received refund check for {$1400.00} ( no explanation ). 

XXXX - Received refund check for {$950.00} ( no explanation ). 

XXXX - Received letter from Nelnet in response to CFPB complaint that Nelnet had not received any additional approval to provide additional refunds. 

XXXX - Received a letter from Nelnet in response to another complaint filed with CFPB stating I would not be receiving my remaining refund monies. The letter stated that my refund was reallocated to pay for non- Svc loans that were part of the terminal consolidation loan. Nelnet indicated that after removing the SvC eligible loans, the remaining consolidation loan was no longer eligible for TEPSLF even though it had been discharged in full over a year earlier. Nelnet canceled my TEPSLF and used my SvC refund to pay off previously forgiven loans. They did this without my knowledge or consent. 

XXXX -Received a letter from Nelnet in response to complaint filed on Student Aid that reiterated the letter. They reinstated my discharged terminal Direct Consolidation loan and reallocated my remaining refund to pay off that loan.

The letters I have received and responses from previous CFPB prove that Nelnet disregarded Judge XXXX 's order to apply the Terminal Consolidation Discharge Procedure to my case and that they violated the terms of the SvC settlement agreement by not refunding me my total payments made of the SvC loans. 

According to my records, my remaining refund should be between {$10000.00} and {$10000.00}. I honestly believe it should be more, but at the writing of this letter I have not been able to confirm that. I am continuing to research this since I do not believe ED has my full payments documented. On XXXX in one of my many conversations with Nelnet, a Customer Service Representative indicated that the records in my file showed that on XXXX ED authorized refunds in the amounts of {$5100.00}, {$6700.00} and {$7900.00} totaling {$19000.00}, however, I do not have actual documentation of these numbers even though I requested the documentation from Nelnet. Nelnet indicated they needed to get ED 's permission to get me that documentation.

According to my Student Aid account, my terminal consolidation loans were discharged on XXXX AND AGAIN on XXXX. 

Additionally, I filed an internal complaint with Nelnet for their lack of communication. Nelnet indicated they were processing that complaint and would get back with me. I have never heard from Nelnet indicating why they failed to provide timely and accurate communication regarding my refund and student loan discharge. I also requested a rational why the verbal communication from Nelnet customer service providers is vastly different from call to call.