Consumer complaint received 2024-02-21
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (CA)

Nelnet is reporting late payments on two of my student loans during the XXXX Pandemic. I not only applied for a deferment, but was on an income-driven/based payment plan at which time I had no employment income. The deferment was not applied to the reporting late months as requested. In addition, the months in question upon verification are eligible for payments in the amount of {$0.00} per month. When disputed with the credit bureaus, Nelnet continues to confirm the derogatory reporting and has updated my account as " In Deferment ''. However, the derogatory information remains, contributing to continued hardship and financial inequality. In a previous complaint, Nelnet claims that the XXXX CARES Act is inapplicable. 
According to the U.S. Department of Education XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) : XX/XX/XXXX Contact : Press Office XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX, XXXX Today, the U.S. Department of Education XXXX Department ) announced an expansion of the pauseon federal student loan interest and collections to all defaulted loans in the Federal Family Education Loan ( FFEL ) Program. This action will help more than XXXX XXXX additional borrowers burdened by debt during the XXXX emergency. 
At a time when many student loan borrowers have faced economic uncertainty, were ensuring that relief already provided to borrowers of loans held by the Department is available to more borrowers who need the same help so they can focus on meeting their basic needs, said XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Our goal is to enable theseborrowers who are struggling in defaultto get the same protections previously made available to tens of millions of other borrowers to help weather the uncertainty of the pandemic. 
Under the XXXX XXXX, private lenders made federal student loans to students and guaranty agencies insured these funds, which were, in turn, reinsured by the federal government. After these loans enter default, they are transferred from the lender to the guaranty agency. While some FFEL Program loans are now held by the Department because they were purchased by the federal government during the financial crisis over a decade ago, many others remain with private entities. 
Today, the Department is announcing that it will expand the 0 % interest rate and pause of collections activity to XXXX XXXX borrowers who defaulted on a privately-held FFEL Program loan . This action will protect more than XXXX borrowers who were at risk of having their federal tax refunds seized to repay a defaulted loan. This relief will be made retroactive to XX/XX/XXXX, the start of the XXXX national emergency. 
The Department will work to automatically return any tax refunds seized or wages garnished over the past year. Borrowers who made voluntary payments on any of these loans during the past year will have the option to request a refund of those amounts. The Department will also work with the guaranty agencies, who hold these defaulted FFEL Program loans, to implement the 0 % interest rate for these borrowers. 
In addition, any of these loans that went into default since XX/XX/XXXX, will be returned to good standing. The guaranty agencies that hold those loans will assign them to the Department and request that the credit bureaus remove the record of default. 
This action builds upon steps already taken by the XXXX XXXX to help federal student loan borrowers. Those steps include pausing student loan interest, repayment, and collections activity for tens of millions of borrowers with loans held by the Department through XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The Department also requested a waiver from the XXXX XXXX XXXX so that individualsdespite currently or previously defaulting on federal student loans or previously being delinquent on paymentswill still be eligible for a Paycheck Protection Program loan and related loan forgiveness. The waiver immediately helped nearly XXXX small business owners. 
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.