Consumer complaint received 2025-03-19 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Personal information incorrect
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against my student loan servicers-Great Lakes , Nelnet, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) -due to significant communication failures and servicing errors that have unjustly led to delinquencies on my student loan accounts. Despite my proactive efforts to maintain updated contact information, I did not receive critical notifications about my loan payments, resulting in 60-day and 90-day delinquencies reported on my credit reports. This situation has severely impacted my credit score and personal finances. 

Timeline of Events : XXXX - Updated Email with Great Lakes : In XXXX, while my federal student loans were serviced by Great Lakes, I updated my primary contact email address through their online system. Great Lakes confirmed this change via a verification email, and from that point on ward, I received all account statements, payment confirmations, and other correspondence at my new email address without issue. 

XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX - Payment Pause and Servicer Transition : During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal student loan payments and interest were paused. During this period, Great Lakes continued to send occasional account updates to my updated email. In XXXX, the Department of Education transferred all Great Lakes accounts to Nelnet as part of a servicer reorganization. Unfortunately, I did not receive any email notification about this transfer, likely because my updated contact information did not carry over correctly during the transition. 

XXXX XXXX - Payments Resume, No Notices Received : After the payment pause ended, student loan payments officially resumed in Fall XXXX, with my first payment due in XX/XX/XXXX. Nelnet, now servicing my loan, should have sent a billing statement or reminder to my email ahead of this due date. However, I received no communication regarding the payment schedule resumption. Because I had no notice or billing statement, I inadvertently missed the XXXX payment. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Nelnet was sending payment reminders to the wrong email address-an old email that I had replaced back in XXXX. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX - Delinquency Due to Communication Failure : By XX/XX/XXXX, my loan payment was 30 days past due, and by XX/XX/XXXX, it was 60 days past due. Still, I had not been contacted at my correct email address or informed about the missed payments. I presumed everything was in order, as I had not received any delinquency notices at my valid contact. In reality, the servicer 's failure to reach out to my updated email led to two months of delinquency without my knowledge. I did not receive any phone calls or letters during this period either, so the issue remained undetected by me. 

XXXX XXXX - Credit Report Damage ( 60- and 90-Day Delinquencies ) : In XXXX, my loans reached roughly 90 days past due. At this point, Nelnet/XXXXXXXX  reported the delinquency to the credit bureaus. I discovered that my credit reports showed serious derogatory marks : a 60-day late payment and a 90-day late payment for my student loan. This was alarming, as it was the first indication to me that something was wrong. My credit score dropped significantly as a result of these reported delinquencies. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Discovery of Error and Contact with Servicer : As soon as I saw the credit report entries, I attempted to contact Great Lakes but discovered they were no longer my servicer. After further investigation, I realized that Nelnet had acquired Great Lakes and assumed servicing of my loans. I contacted Nelnet to understand what had happened. In a phone conversation with a Nelnet customer service representative, it was confirmed that the email address on file for my account was outdated and not my current email. Nelnet admitted they had been sending notices to this outdated email address-one that I had replaced in XXXX. Additionally, they mentioned that I had somehow opted into email-only communications. However, I did not opt into email-only communications with Nelnet, as I was unaware they were my servicer and had no access to an account to make such a preference. If I had opted into email-only communications with Great Lakes XXXX this further underscores that the wrong email was used on my behalf. This acknowledgment indicates that my updated contact information from Great Lakes had not been properly recorded or utilized by Nelnet, leading to the lack of payment notifications. 

Supporting Evidence : Great Lakes Email Update Confirmation ( XXXX ) : I have a copy of the email verification from Great Lakes dated XXXX confirming that I successfully updated my contact email address in their system. This shows that the servicer had my correct email on record going forward. 
Nelnet Call Transcript ( XXXX ) : I also have a recorded phone call ( and transcript ) from XX/XX/XXXX with Nelnet customer service, in which the representative explicitly confirms that Nelnet had the wrong email address on file for me. The customer service representative stated that I somehow opted into email-only communication. I had no access to an account to do this with Nelnet. If they used that preference from Great Lakes, they still used the wrong email. This proves that the servicer 's records were in error and directly led to the lack of communication and resulting delinquencies. 

XXXX Call ( XXXX ) : I reached out to XXXX about the issue and was able to set up an account with them to ensure I could make payments on my student loan using the correct email. They confirmed that they had received the incorrect email address from Nelnet, just as Nelnet had received incorrect contact information from Great Lakes. Neither XXXX nor Nelnet mailed or contacted me about this change in servicer. I only discovered the transition when I called Nelnet myself. When I requested that XXXX review my statements to determine whether Nelnet had attempted to reach me through any method other than the incorrect email, they found records indicating that delinquency notices had been sent. However, when I asked what method was used, the representative stated their system showed the notices were sent via mail. This is incorrect-I never received any mailed notices from either Nelnet or XXXX. Additionally, the XXXX representative advised me to disregard everything that Nelnet had said regarding my alleged opt-in to email-only communication. This was extremely concerning, as it implied that XXXX had incomplete or conflicting information about my account history. Given that the delinquencies occurred while Nelnet was my servicer, their records should be more reliable than XXXX 's, further demonstrating that servicer mismanagement led to my delinquency. 

Conclusion : I did everything a responsible borrower should do-I kept my contact information up to date and was prepared to resume payments. It was the servicers ' duty to use that information and inform me of my obligations. Their failure to do so led directly to missed payments and harmful credit reporting. I am respectfully asking for the CFPB 's assistance to ensure that these servicers make this right. This includes clearing the inaccurate delinquencies from my credit record. 

Thank you for your time and consideration in reviewing my complaint. 
I am hopeful for a prompt resolution that rectifies this situation and prevents similar issues going forward.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation