Consumer complaint received 2026-05-25 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Nelnet ( my student loan servicer ) for providing misleading and inaccurate information that caused me significant financial harm. In XX/XX/year>, I was considering switching from the Income-Based Repayment ( IBR ) plan to the SAVE plan due to the push that this was a far superior plan than the IBR. I reviewed official SAVE program information and also spoke directly with a Nelnet representative. Both the program materials and the Nelnet agent assured me prior to signng the consolidation papers in XX/XX/year>, that if I consolidated my loans to enter the SAVE plan, my existing qualifying payment history of approximately 13 years would be preserved and my forgiveness timeline would not reset. I spoke with a Nelnet representative during a call that was recorded for quality control purposes, and the representative assured me that my forgiveness timeline would not reset upon consolidation. Based on this misleading information, I proceeded with consolidating my loans. However, after consolidation, Nelnet created a new Consolidation Loan originated on XX/XX/year> and was not brought to my attention until after the loan went through and did not have any " fine print '' anywhere that this would occur when filling this out online. This new loan has effectively reset my forgiveness timeline, and my previous 13 years of qualifying payments were not carried over. This misinformation has caused me substantial financial damage : 1. My loan balance has continued to grow due to negative amortization. 2. My path to forgiveness has been significantly delayed. 3. I am now facing a much larger projected balance and potential tax liability upon future forgiveness. I believe Nelnets actions constitute deceptive practices. I am requesting that the CFPB investigate this matter and help me obtain the following relief : 1. A full review of my account and an IDR Account Adjustment to restore my prior qualifying payments. 2. Reinstatement of my original forgiveness timeline. 3. Any other appropriate relief or compensation for the harm caused by the misinformation. 4. Any and all other relief to which I am entitled due to this error. I believe Nelnet and the Department of Education engaged in a bait-and-switch regarding the SAVE repayment plan. I was induced to consolidate my loans based on assurances that my existing 13 years of qualifying payments would be preserved. However, after I signed the new consolidation agreement, the SAVE program was later deemed unlawful and terminated by the federal government. If the SAVE program was ruled illegal, then the consolidation that was specifically tied to entering the SAVE plan should also be considered invalid. The new loan agreement I signed was directly linked to the benefits of the SAVE program that were promised to me. It is unfair and unreasonable that the government can void the SAVE program while still holding me to the new, more burdensome consolidation loan that I only entered because of those now-defunct benefits. I have also filed a formal complaint directly with Nelnet, Federal Student Aid Ombudsman and Studentaid.gov and am hoping that the CFPB will take necessary actions to help myself and thousands like me who are in this same unreasonable position that only serves to protect the government and not the people who are actually affected by it's rulings. Sadly, I live in the embarrasing state of Florida where the local government actually pushed for this court ruling. At the very least, I fully understand my obligation to repay my student loans and am not requesting forgiveness. However, I am asking to be returned to the position I held before consolidating, prior to the termination of the SAVE program that induced me to consolidate in the first place. Thank you in advance

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation