Consumer complaint received 2023-12-19
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (ND)

I am submitting a complaint against Nelnet for mishandling payments, false reporting, and misinformation given to me by representatives over the phone. Nelnet is claiming I am behind on my monthly payments when I have paid an additional XXXX XXXXXXXX on top of my XXXX and XXXX monthly payments. 

Nelnet is reporting that I am {$20.00} behind due to a missed payment in XX/XX/XXXX. I have documentation emailed to me on XX/XX/XXXX stating my first payment will be due on XX/XX/XXXX. A billing statement for XXXX was also emailed to me on XX/XX/XXXX stating my monthly payment for XXXX would be {$0.00}. I have attached both of these emails. Although payments restarted for most borrowers in XX/XX/XXXX, I was on an XXXX  XXXX  which initially pushed my first payment out to XX/XX/XXXX. However, I consolidated my loans on XX/XX/XXXX which defaulted my loans to the standard repayment plan. This switched my first payment date from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. 

As stated above, I have made additional payments in XXXX and XXXX on my own accord, not by necessity. On XX/XX/XXXX I made a {$25.00} payment, a {$50.00} payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and a {$94.00} payment on XX/XX/XXXX. The payments on XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX were meant to go towards the interest ; however, both had gone towards the principal. I had called in to dispute the {$94.00} charge as I had specifically called them previously and asked them to put it towards the interest. The representative stated something was wrong with my account that he had to fix and he redirected the {$94.00} payment to the interest. I told him that the {$50.00} payment could be kept with the principal as I was paying the full interest on XX/XX/XXXX. Once again, Id like to state that these payments were not due but rather one-time payments I had decided to make due to having extra money in those months. 

I signed up for auto debit on XX/XX/XXXX for the amount of {$160.00}. I called on XX/XX/XXXX as the account still stated I had a payment due. I spoke to a representative who said it could take up to XXXX days to process. She stated that there were no late payment statements on my account, so she had assumed that the payment was being processed. This amount was taken out on XX/XX/XXXX. 

For XXXX, I did not receive a notice that my monthly payment had changed or that I had any overdue payments. When I went on my online account on the evening of XX/XX/XXXX I saw that my monthly payment had changed from XXXX to XXXX. I also had a late payment status of {$21.00}. This was reported to the Federal Student Aid as well as this appears on my Federal Aid account. 

I called on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about the late payment status and the additional charge. The first representative told me that the {$21.00} was from a missed payment from XXXX as I had only made a payment of {$140.00} ( combined amount of the {$50.00} and {$94.00} payments ). I informed the representative that I had no payment due in XXXX, and the XXXX charges on XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX were payments I had decided to make to try to pay off interest. The representative continued to tell me I was wrong and I ended the phone call to look back at my records to confirm I had documentation from Nelnet stating my first payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I spoke to a second representative and explained the situation to her. She was still stating I had missed a payment in XXXX. It wasnt until I told the representative that I had supporting documentation to go against what they were claiming that she changed her story. She then told me that I had made additional payments in XXXX which created a credit to my account for {$140.00}. She said the late payment was due to my XXXX auto debit not being processed due to the weekend. This made sense to me at the moment, and I asked to pay the {$21.00} so the late payment status would be taken off my account as I knew I had made all payments on time and did not want this to affect my credit score.

After ending the call, I went to view my loan accounts on the website and saw the payment information for XX/XX/XXXX. The current amount for XXXX reads {$180.00}. When I went into my statements on Nelnet 's website, I saw I had XXXX that stated I owed XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. This goes against what the representative said as this charge was on my account since XX/XX/XXXX. 

This is a very confusing and upsetting situation as Nelnet is stating my payments were due a month before the actual due date and has put false amounts owed on my account. I had made the initiative to make early/extra payments in XXXX and XXXX, yet I am being reported for not making payments. I fear this will affect my XXXX XXXX and will cause future issues despite making all payments.