Consumer complaint received 2025-06-27 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Can't temporarily delay making payments
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
My federal loan servicer, Nelnet, has repeatedly mismanaged my account in a manner that appears deceptive, coercive, and retaliatory, despite my full compliance with the terms of an approved Administrative Forbearance. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received written confirmation that my next payment would be due XX/XX/XXXX. However, Nelnet issued a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX that unilaterally changed my due date to XX/XX/XXXX without explanation or justification. I discovered this after receiving a past due notice and called Nelnet on XX/XX/XXXX. 

During that call, the Nelnet representative acknowledged the due date change was a processing error, admitted Nelnets fault, confirmed my next due date as XX/XX/XXXX ( consistent with a XX/XX/XXXX notice ), and placed my account into XXXXdministrative Forbearance. I was explicitly reassured that no payments would be due until XX/XX/XXXX. That action was later confirmed in writing via email on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after receiving additional past due notices, I contacted Nelnet again. The first representative I spoke with appeared unaware of my current forbearance status and asked if I was still unemployed. After I honestly responded that I had recently returned to work, the representative abruptly shifted and claimed that my employment voided the forbearance. This employment-based justification was never stated in any forbearance documentation or correspondence and was not disclosed as a term or condition of the forbearance. 

It became immediately clear that the representative was not citing policy but instead fishing for information to manufacture a retroactive justification for Nelnets error. This tactic placed me in a coercive position, attempting to manipulate me into legitimizing their mistake and blaming myself for their internal failure. 

I escalated the matter to Account XXXX XXXX ( ID # XXXX ), who repeated the same unsupported claims. She failed to provide any documentation to validate Nelnets position and ignored the prior confirmations of my Administrative Forbearance. Despite her acknowledgment of my concerns, she refused to correct my account.

Nelnets conduct exhibits a clear pattern of servicing abuse, including : 1. Retaliation based on my re-employment status 2. Intentional misrepresentation of my account obligations 3. Failure to honor written forbearance terms, especially repayment due dates 4. Unlawful interest capitalization during a forbearance period 5. Deceptive omissions of relevant terms and refusal to provide supporting documentation 6. Coercion and manipulation in an attempt to shift legal responsibility onto me I had every reason to believe, based on the representatives assurance and written confirmation, that I was not required to make payments until XX/XX/XXXX. I only recently re-entered the workforce and am not in a financial position to make payments at this time. It was a complete shock to receive additional past due notices and see interest capitalized on my account as if the forbearance never existed. 

Nelnet has failed to correct this issue, failed to provide any legal basis for their reversal, and has left my account marked as over 45 days delinquent. I believe this constitutes willful mismanagement, abusive loan servicing, and a violation of my rights as a borrower.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation