Consumer complaint received 2025-11-17 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with your payment plan
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: OK

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint because I believe my servicer ( Nelnet, now transferred to Sloan Servicing XXXX has mishandled my federal student loan account in ways that have caused financial harm, inaccurate payment tracking, and a failure to apply federal protections and forgiveness programs. 

1. My repayment history spans 20 years, yet my progress toward forgiveness hasn't been granted.

I entered repayment in 2005. Under the Department of Educations IDR Account Adjustment, all time in repayment since then should count toward the 2025 year forgiveness timeline. Despite this, my servicers qualifying payment count does not reflect 20 years of repayment. I have paid over {$54000.00}, which is more than the original amount borrowed, yet my balance has not meaningfully decreased.

2. I was steered into an unnecessary consolidation right out of college.

Immediately after graduation, I was pressured into a Consolidation Loan I did not understand. This eliminated benefits from my original subsidized loans and placed me into a repayment structure that significantly increased the long-term cost of my debt. Steering borrowers into consolidation without informed consent is a known servicer violation.

3. I was placed on a Graduated Plan that caused interest to balloon.

I was kept on a Graduated Repayment Plan, which did not properly amortize my loan and caused years of negative amortization. Payments often failed to cover accruing interest, and interest was repeatedly capitalized. This repayment structure stalled progress for years, despite continuous payments.

4. Transfer to Sloan Servicing occurred without clear explanation.

My loan was moved from Nelnet to a newer/less established entity ( Sloan Servicing ) without proper notice, explanation, or justification. Servicer transfers are a major cause of payment miscounts and documentation loss. Since the transfer, obtaining accurate records or a clear payment history has been difficult.

5. My payment history appears incomplete or inaccurate. 

Given the repayment length ( 20 years ), the amount paid ( over $ XXXX ), and the minimal reduction in principal, it appears that payments may have been misapplied or improperly counted. I am specifically concerned about : Missing or incorrect repayment months Improper forbearance/deferral coding Misapplied payments Failure to credit past payments under IDR rules Interest capitalization without legal justification 6. My servicer has not applied the IDR Account Adjustment correctly.

The Department of Educations policy requires servicers to count : All time in repayment since 2005 Long forbearances Certain deferments Time before consolidation This does not appear to have been done.

What I am requesting : 1. A full audit of my account, including : Complete payment history Application of the IDR Account Adjustment months Month-by-month qualifying payment count Documentation of capitalization events 2. Correction of any inaccurate counts, misapplied payments, or servicing errors.

3. Clarification of whether I should now qualify for forgiveness under 2025 year IDR rules.

4. Immediate correction and communication from my servicer regarding my accurate status.

Harm suffered : Because of these errors, I have : Paid more than the original principal yet still owe a balance Lost access to repayment pathways I would have qualified for Spent 20 years in repayment with no clear progress Experienced financial and emotional stress due to misleading information and poor servicing I am requesting the CFPBs assistance to ensure my account is corrected and federal policy is applied properly.

Thank you for your assistance.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation