Consumer complaint received 2017-04-05
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Received bad information about my loan
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (SC)

Complaint:
I have struggled to obtain accurate information about my loan, mainly repayment with First Mark Services. First Mark Services is servicing XXXX private loans. I received information from XXXX that my loan would no longer be serviced by them the first month after my loans came out of forbearance. My first month payment came from First Mark and was completely unaffordable. I called them immediately so see what I could do to get on a more affordable repayment plan. I was advised by a representative that I should call XXXX to see if they could restructure my loan so that I would be eligible to be enrolled in a repayment option that would work for me. When I called XXXX I was informed that it was " severely inappropriate '' that I was advised by First Mark Services to call them because they no longer had access to my loan and to essentially stop calling them. I called First Mark Services the next day to inform them of what I was told by XXXX the representative said that he did not know of any other options open to me and that I should seek a 3rd party to reconsolidate my loan. I have been paying interest on these loans since I first obtained them years ago and my credit is not that great so that option is not really an option to me. I received multiple calls in regards to my account being past due and each time I spoke to a customer service representative to see if they could find something that would help me make payments. I spoke with someone about making partial payments and they told me that it did not make sense to do that because the late fees were so heavy that I was just making payments on the late fees and not actually towards my past due amount. Yesterday I spoke with a representative who informed me that I was eligible to get on a graduated payment plan that would drastically reduce my monthly payments if I could pay the past due balance. I felt so relieved! I asked to speak to a supervisor to inform them that I was displeased with the fact that my account was now two months past due because I could not afford the high monthly payment but if I had been informed of the graduated payment plan that I would have been able to pay from the get go. The supervisor then informed me that the previous representative was misinformed and that my account was in fact NOT eligible for graduated payments. I am now back at square one. I am receiving information on my loan and repayment options that are not true and I am not receiving the assistance and customer service that I believe that I deserve. I have tried very hard to portray how important maintaining a good standing with the company and keeping up with my payments is to me and First Mark just does not seem to care. I am unsure of what my options are now. I can not afford the only option they are offering me and I am confused because I am getting information that is true and helpful one second and then nothing the next. I have informed the company of how disappointed I am with the services and they seem to care less and have not offered to assist me in anyway.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation