Consumer complaint received 2024-01-07
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (PA)

I received three letters from Nelnet stating both of my consolidation loans were to be forgiven ( see attached letters PDFs ) under the new recalculated IDR plan. Upon receiving these letters, my balance was {$0.00} for both loans on the Nelnet website and the Student Aid website. Two weeks later, the loan for $ XXXX was reversed for no reason. I called Nelnet and waited 4 hours to speak to someone. I was told that a manager had submitted an appeal letter on my behalf to investigate why the loan forgiveness was reversed and the balance was set to the original amount. I called three weeks later to follow up and was on hold for 3 hours and 48 minutes. They were not able to explain if there was any decision made or when the loan would be forgiven. I was told that it could take between 2 weeks and 90 days to get a decision and to keep checking the website. Nelnet placed me in an admin forbearance for 24 months so I do not have to make payments, but the interest keeps growing. I am not able to sit on hold every week for 4 hours until they can answer my call. I am not able to speak to a manager or a higher-up person - all conversations must go through the person who answered your call, while you are put back on hold. 

The following is the timeline i provided to the Obudsman group at StudentAid.gov XXXX XXXX XXXX added a message XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  I contacted Nelnet today and discussed the loan reversal with a manager. She said that I have to wait up to 3 years to have the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX loans removed from the consolidation loan. One those are taken care of, the remaining loans will be reevaluated for IDR forgiveness. I spoke to a contact at your office this evening and he said the loan should have been forgiven since I received a letter stating the entire loan was to be forgiven - not just a portion of it. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX added a message XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Here is a copy of the letter from Nelnet stating that I am applying for the FSA Borrower Defense to Repayment Program - but I never applied for this. The manager at Nelnet was to apply for an appeal to the forgiveness reversal. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX added a message XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Here is a screenshot of my loans from Nelnet. It shows that I am on XXXX XXXX but I have never been in the military, XXXX XXXX XXXX added a message XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AM Both of my consolidated loans were forgiven under the IDR Biden-Harris Administration 's one-time account adjustment. One of the loans was reversed and now I am in the FSA Borrower Defense to Repayment Program. Nelnet told me they were appealing the reversal NOT applying to this program. This debt relief was processed as part of the Biden-Harris Administration 's one-time account adjustment because your student loan ( s ) have been in repayment for at least 20 or 25 years. An adjustment to your account updated the number of payments that qualify for income-driven repayment ( IDR ) forgiveness. This forgiveness is effective as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

Nelnet did not respond to the Obudsman groud or to me. I am supposed to be in Admin forbearance because the outstanding load is flagged for forgiveness but I am not able to get that applied by Nelnet. Every time I call Nelnet, the wait is 4 hours or more. I ask to speak to a manager each time after repeating this entire story every time I call. Managers give me excuses like they are back logged, receive to many calls a day, and are understaffed - making it sound like it is my problem and not theirs.

I have screenshots of the accounts showing a total balance due of XXXX on both Nelnet and the student aid site.