Consumer complaint received 2020-04-23
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (CA)

My Federal Direct Student Loans have been repeatedly manipulated and overcharged on interest. 

I have written a number of email correspondences regarding this recurring issue and my attempts to have the issue solved have been repeatedly ignored. 

The interest that has accrued has, at times, been two to three times the legally authorized amount. For example, from XX/XX/20 toXX/XX/20 Interest Accrued was over {$15.00} per day.

This is the most recent example of many. Based on my student loan balance, the interest that should have accrued betweenXX/XX/20 and XX/XX/20 should have been roughly {$8.00} per day. On XX/XX/20 my payment of {$250.00} was applied, {$52.00} to the Principal and {$190.00} to the Accrued Interest. On XX/XX/20 another payment was applied of {$500.00} and {$430.00} to the Principal and {$60.00} to the Accrued Interest. At roughly {$8.00} per day, over four days, the interest for the second payment should have been around {$32.00}. This is a snapshot example of how Nelnet is manipulating Interest Accrual in their favor and stealing from the American people. 

I have documented other similar examples through email correspondence and nothing has been done about it. 

Now there is a federal order in place stating that no interest is to accrue between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX of this year, XX/XX/2020. ( https : //studentaid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus # zero-interest-questions ) OnXX/XX/20I made a payment of {$1000.00}. {$730.00} was applied to Principal and {$260.00} was applied to Accrued Interest. On XX/XX/20 I made another payment of {$270.00}. {$170.00} went to Principal and {$100.00} went to Accrued Interest. On XX/XX/20 I made another payment of {$500.00}. {$360.00} went to Principal and {$130.00} went to Accrued Interest. 

This shows that Nelnet padded on interest to my Federal Student Loans despite the Federal CARES Act CoVid-19 Mandate. Nelnet added interest from XX/XX/2020 to XX/XX/2020 and again added interest from XX/XX/2020to XX/XX/2020. 

It's noteworthy to point out that not only did Nelnet add on interest despite the Federal CARES Act CoVid-19 order but they also padded on nearly twice the amount of interest than my current Federal  Student Loans should be accruing. 

Again, on XX/XX/20, {$130.00} of my {$500.00} payment went to Accrued Interest after I had paid off the interest on XX/XX/20 and while the Federal CARES Act order was in place. 

At this point, per federal order of the CARES Act, there should be no interest in the Accrued Interest on my account nor should Nelnet take this opportunity to deceitfully compound any interest to further manipulate the interest accrual in its favor. 

The lack of transparency and the outright manipulation of interest by Nelnet is unethical. 

This has been ongoing for some time, while my requests for correction have been ignored, and it must stop. 

Please fix this issue immediately and demand that Nelnet stop overcharging our Federal Student Loans on interest. I hope for and expect a full and complete audit dating back to the origin of the Federal Student Loans. Please make all reimbursements for principals not being paid down accordingly and for the additional falsified interest that accrued as a result of the interest padding. 

Thank you for your attention into this important matter. 

Best regards, concerned American XXXX