Consumer complaint received 2023-12-21
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (MI)

TL , DR : I have been wanting to start auto-paying my student loans since XX/XX/XXXX and my student loan provider, Nelnet, is not allowing it while they capitalize interest on my account. 

It is my firm belief that Nelnet is being purposely unethical and predatory on my student loan account, racking up accumulated interest that will not be applicable for forgiveness in the SAVE Plan due to a forced administrative forebearance that I did not know or consent to. I have done everything on my end that I can to get this administrative forebearance off my account, yet they keep applying it, even after processing my IDR SAVE application with the help of Michigan Congresswoman XXXX XXXX. My due date has now been pushed to spring of next year. 

History of Correspondence : On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted my application for the IDR SAVE plan. I received confirmation of this email by the U.S. Department of Education. When I submitted the application, I selected the prompt that I wished to start paying back my student loans IMMEDIATELY. I did NOT select forbearance. I also selected the option for recertification through the IRS tool. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received my first account correspondence letter about my IDR SAVE application from Nelnet. Logging into my Nelnet account, the .PDF letter states that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account ( without my knowledge or consent - or without any other communications telling me that this had occurred ) and that my first payment will be due in XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received my first communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to Nelnet Customer Service for clarification as to what was happening with my account. After an over 2 hour wait, I spoke to a female agent who told me my account was placed into administrative forebearance, because of the volume of applicarions Nelnet was receiving, and that this administrative forebearance was a " courtesy '' to allow them extra time to process everything ; A courtesy, that can not be removed and was applied to my account without my knowledge or consent, as again, I selected that I wanted to start repaying immediately in my application when I first submitted it. She told me I could start repaying as soon as I want, but manually, and so the auto-debit discount would not apply. Furthermore, she told me that I would be responsible for ALL interest accured on my account due to this administratibe forebearance. She confirmed my application was still in process and that I should receive additional communications stating my loan applications have been approved no later than XX/XX/XXXX. She also told me that applications take an average of 26 business days to process and that my first payment is due in XXXX, XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that my application processing has been paused because they didn't have enough information from me in order to process it. Per their email, " To complete your application, we need proof of your income for the period of time you were not on the Saving on a Valuable Education ( SAVE, formerly the REPAYE Plan ) Repayment Plan. Please submit your income documentation from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. '' They also requested my spouse 's info for these same dates, whom I was not married to throughout the entire duration of the periods mentioned. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that I needed to complete an Income Self-Certification Letter and this would be the " proof of income '' that they needed in order to process my application. They provided an example sample letter as an attachment in their email : a hand signed letter with dates disclosing how much money the individual made per year. That's it. No IRS transcripts needed. I created a document with both my and my husband 's gross income, pay frequency, and the source of income, along with dates, to which we both handsigned and uploaded per the emails instructions. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to Nelnet Customer Service for clarification, again, as to what was happening with my account. I spoke briefly to a female agent by the name of XXXX who was at a loss on how to assist me. I asked to be transferred to her supervisor. Her supervisor, XXXX, told me that the email that was sent to me about income information is standard procedure from studentaid.gov based on " new legislation '' that was passed by Congress. But, I can bypass providing all this " tax information '' if I provide proof of income in the form of a self-wrote declaration letter. I inquired if this was standard procedure for student loan borrowers looking to switch to an IDR plan for the first time, then why wasn't it disclosed during the application process so I couldn't provided this information in advance to speed along my application without hiccups. XXXX replied, " it's in the fine print. '' I expressed concern and frustration at lack of transparency. XXXX said that after about 15 days of uploading this letter to my account that I should receive additional communications on the status of my application, and that if my application is not processed by XX/XX/XXXX when my first payment is due, that the administrative forbearance will be extended on my account. He echoed what the first customer service agent said, and stated that I am responsible for paying any interest due on my account even with administrative forebearance preventing my auto-debit from occuring, and the only way around this is to make manual payments. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that my IDR application has been received. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent out communications via email to Michigan Congresswoman XXXX XXXX expressing my frustration with Nelnet getting my SAVE IDR application processed in a timely manner. I sent out all communications in chronological order, showing my concern about all this extra interest compiling onto my student loans during an administrative forebearance that I did not request or consent to. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received communications via email from XXXX XXXX from Michigan Congresswoman XXXX XXXX 's office stating that my case has been sent to their program office for review. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that my IDR Plan Application in is process. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communications from Nelnet via email stating that new important account correspondence is available. When I logged in to my account to view it, it was a .PDF letter stating that the IDR Plan I had requested have now been applied to my student loans. The letter was dated XX/XX/XXXX, and provided the new monthly payment details that would take affect on my account. My account dashboard overview also reflected that fhd SAVE Plan had been applied, although, my account still showed administrative forebearance and no payment due. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another communication via email from Nelnet stating that an administrative forebearance has been placed on my account and my payments are postponed.