Consumer complaint received 2024-03-28
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (CO)

So basically : I am a teacher who qualifies for {$5000.00} in teacher loan forgiveness because I have worked more than 5 years consecutively at a Title I school. I had my forgiveness application denied by Nelnet in XX/XX/XXXX. I then called their company line to ask specifically why it was denied, they claimed there was one box I left unchecked and this was the only error on my application. Section Two, the first question. 

Major red flags went off because I was exhaustive in making sure I filed my application correctly. I later upon investigation realized their website portal was broken, and would place the check box answer in the wrong place on the form, therefore making the answer " wrong. '' Note, you could not manually correct the error, so there was NO WAY to correctly, via their online portal, submit the form accurately even if you click the correct box. 

It was at this point, XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed nelnet 's help email ( at the time XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX MST with the following : " Your online form is broken. It won't download correctly with the boxes I check in second two, even though I filled it out correctly. I triple checked. This is extremely frustrating. Is it possible to refile the first page of my application by hand? I intend to refile this application as soon as possible though I may fill it out by hand and then upload that document as a .pdf. It is totally unacceptable that online form will not correctly check the boxes and save as .pdf. 

Please advise. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX '' I never received any response to this email. Literally no response. Zero. I'm happy to submit all of my emails mentioned in this complaint as a record if you'd like. 

It was not until XX/XX/XXXX that I reached out to Nelnet with another copy of the application ( this one with BIG BOLD X ) drawn on top of the original form ( original error still included as evidence ). At this point they told me they'll review my application that I refiled on XX/XX/XXXX, but with no expectation that it happen at an expedited speed based on their previous error, as I requested. 

I asked if there was anything that could be done but they basically told me it didn't matter that their portal was broken, because ultimately my form was incorrect. ( This puts the onus on me as if I'm the web designer of their web portal, that's crazy ). Let 's keep it real, they ONLY had the digital form, I could not have just uploaded the documents to their website during the application process. Nelnet should be held accountable for being so negligent. The idea that my student loans still havent been forgiven, much less I never even received a follow up email about their application system being broken is a system error. 

I'm a teacher, I already jumped through the bureaucratic hoops connected with my small amount of loan forgiveness. They denied me for something that was their fault, and that I had literally no other way to submit. If this wasn't such a tragedy it would be a comedy because it's so absurd. 

Highly relevant details : - The form you filled out for nelnet was via their online website portal in XX/XX/XXXX ( it was not just a pdf that I uploaded ) so anything I checked on their website was converted onto a digital locked .pdf that I could not edit. 

- There was no other way to submit the form, you could not just upload a .pdf document, so you actually HAD to use their broken portal. 

- My original application still has the visible error, the correct " X '' can be found one line directly below where it is supposed to be on the form. This is PROOF that Nelnet 's form is broken. 

- I emailed Nelnet 's help email on XX/XX/XXXX, telling them of this error and that their form was broken, that I tripled checked, and that this was a digital mistake. I never received any response to this email. They totally neglected that I attempted to address and attempt to rectify their error. 

- I can further prove that I know I checked the correct box, and that their website is at fault ( which in my mind makes them negligent ). Since I XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I asked both my direct principal, as well as the human resources department to verify which box I should check on this form. These email correspondence happened in XX/XX/XXXX, right before I filed my application. I wanted to make 100 % sure I clicked the correct box in the online portal. 

- Once I received paper mail notice that my form was denied ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I called Nelnet asking why specifically my form was denied. The person I spoke with stated there was only error, Section XXXX, XXXX question in which I clicked " at an XXXX XXXX XXXX '' - Apparently the application is now in a separate website attached to the studentaid.gov website, but that was not the case when I filled it out, it was just through nelnet 's website. 

Are there any other teachers experiencing this issue with Nelnet?