Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Consumer Complaint: I was contacted and scammed on XXXX of 2018 and I was XXXX enough to believe it was the department of education. They knew all of my information and where I went to school and everything and told me about a student forgiveness program I was eligible for ; based on my income. They said if I paid in {$550.00} then I could get into the program and I ended up putting it on credit thinking I could get my debt erased. I was tricked to believe that If I ended up making an substantial amount of money next year then worst case of scenario I would get my money backs I have the email where it was confirmed that I was accepted into the program and everything. It identified them as XXXX. Now I realized they just set me up with Nelnet, who I was paying my loan to for a forbearance and I was mislead this whole time. Now the number they gave me has been disconnected and everything.
Company Response:
State: AL
Zip: 36301
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Thanks for your help in getting this resolved. My credit report is 100 % unblemished aside from this dispute. Nelnet has elected to destroy my credit rating over a {$150.00} loan payment from XXXX, XXXX that should have been in forbearance since XXXX XXXX. I have repeatedly and sincerely asked Nelnet to please update the payment status of my loans from XXXX, XXXX in their records, and to the credit reporting agencies, as on-time or some other non-negative status. They have repeatedly sent me conflicting reasons, denials, and excuses for not updating my payment statuses, of which I have documentation. My student loan payments with Nelnet were supposed to be on an income driven payment plan as I re-certified this plan in XXXX XXXX, I have ample documentation of my efforts to re-certify from the time. I mailed in all the necessary documents just like I did in XXXX and Nelnet never processed my paperwork. The payment amount was supposed to be XXXX. I mailed in documents after submitting my application. Instead of processing my forbearance plan, they began billing me without my knowledge. I do not understand, and still have not been given a reason, why my paperwork was not handled in XXXX, even though I had no issues in XXXX. My sense is they lost my application and are now refusing to take responsibility while simultaneously accusing me of not paying my loans. I absolutely take responsibility for my loans and would never have knowingly paid them late and I 100 % dispute the characterization of my payments as late. Nelnet reported me to credit agencies without properly informing me that I was being billed or that my repayment plan application was rejected. I paid the due payment the moment I knew about it and now I just want the record to show I was NOT paying late ; I didn't know I had a bill due and would never have waited to pay. I am sincerely asking you guys to please help force Nelnet to update the payment status of my loans from XXXX, XXXX in their records, AND to the credit reporting agencies, as on-time or some other non-negative status. I paid the due amount the moment I learned about it and have made no other errors with these loans throughout the 6 year life of these loans. I'm am traumatized that I would be treated like this after all my good faith actions and patience in trying to get this resolved. Attached supporting documents are chronological receipts of actions from XXXX XXXX that I followed to a " t '' to complete my re-certification plan. I did everything necessary and was never sent any indication that my plan was not accepted. Please let me know anything you need to get this fixed. I appreciate you guys handling my request.
Company Response:
State: AZ
Zip: 85251
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account information incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Great Lakes, the private company the government pays billions of my taxpayer dollars to provide incompetent loan servicing to Americans, has reported that my student loan is in deferment due to coronavirus, which is a lie. My credit score went down! Please investigate and fine this terrible company which is actively harming Americans.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: CA
Zip: 92116
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, Great Lakes added a remark to my account that dropped my credit score 26 points ( XXXX ) and 20 points ( XXXX ). It was the only change on my report, and I'd done nothing differently- I was up to date on payments and hadn't requested a deferment or forbearance. I tried to contest it with the major credit bureaus on XX/XX/XXXX, with no luck. On XX/XX/XXXX, Great Lakes removed the remark from my account, which combined with other things ( credit card payments decreasing my balances, a hard inquiry expiring ) raised my score 20 points ( XXXX ). Still haven't gotten the points back on XXXX. The erroneous mark dropped my score so much, and it hasn't recovered totally. I should have gotten those points back, but I didn't. Great Lakes hasn't communicated with me at all.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: PA
Zip: 19143
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: Great Lakes has wrecked my credit score by improperly reporting my payment status as " deferred '' in violation of the CARES Act to the credit bureaus when I have continued to make payments on time, every time and advised that I did not need to enter forbearance as I was paid ahead through XXXX of 2020. They attribute this to a " coding error '' but have not rectified this with the credit bureaus. THEY NEED TO HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY and the Department of Education has no system in place to penalize servicers for errors of this magnitude.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: OH
Zip: 43078
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-21
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: I have a federal student loan account with servicer Great Lakes Educational Loan Services and they have incorrectly reported my account as being " deferred '' when it is not in deferral status. I never requested a referral and have been made aware of a credit reporting error made to many people with this same loan service. I am on a {$XXXX} IBR plan and have been for years! The only change that should have been made to my federal student loan account was bringing down the interest rate to 0 % until XXXX due to the COVID-19 crisis. This horrible error in reporting has caused my credit score to be lowered by 20 points ( XXXX ) and 27 points ( XXXX ) respectively. I can provide proof. I have not had any other changes made to my report or caused anything to alter my score and it wasn't until my federal loan account changed statuses that I was made aware of the lowered score. This needs to be resolved immediately as I have now been placed in an entirely lower category of credit scoring. This is an extremely negligent business mistake on the part of Great Lakes. I contacted them to make them aware of the error and there was nothing the customer service representative could do to direct me to resolve this grave error.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: TX
Zip: 75227
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-21
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-20
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Consumer Complaint: I have disputed this account and have reached out to the company/creditors MANY times but failed. This account is being reported inaccurately and incorrectly on my credit report.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: MA
Zip: 02301
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-20
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-19
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: My federal loan servicer ( Great Lakes ) automatically enrolled my account in the CARES act, suspending my monthly student loan payments until XXXX XXXX, 2020. On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed my credit scores with XXXX & XXXX both tanked by 40-50 points -- the only difference in any account payments has been my student loans. There was no indication from my loan servicer that this AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT into the student loan forbearance program would sabotage my credit score - I would have opted out immediately had I known.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
State: NC
Zip: 27610
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-20
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Investigation took more than 30 days
Consumer Complaint: I have not received confirmation not certified testimony that your offices complied with the FCRA and all its mandated rules when it comes to reporting accurately. Therefore, you are to present to me with a certificate in testimony that the fraudulent accounts present in Exhibit C are in fact compliant and not subterfuge? ( Copied from AFFIDAVIT** ) All items listed in Exhibit B are fraudulent, invalid, inaccurate, not timely, and carry no documented evidence of their existence.To the least, they have not be authenticated as per my requirements as you are damaging my character, creditworthiness and well-being by falsely stating those fraudulent non-compliant unverifiable accounts on my report. ( Copied from AFFIDAVIT** )
Company Response:
State: GA
Zip: 305XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-05-19
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: In XXXX of XXXX, I started an Income Driven Repayment ( IDR ) plan with Nelnet, because I just could not afford my standard loan payments at that time ( {$280.00} ). I was working two part-time jobs, fresh out of college, with a toddler and another baby on the way. Applying for the IDR qualified me for monthly payments of {$0.00} for the first year of that plan. During that year my financial situation improved as I was hired full-time by the XXXX XXXX XXXX of Wisconsin. While I had several reasons for choosing a fulfilling career in state service, one of them was Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ). When I was due for XXXX IDR recertification with Nelnet I started sending in documentation in late XX/XX/XXXX. Since I had recently been hired on full-time ( mid XX/XX/XXXX ) I also inquired about PSLF with customer service representatives ( CSRN ) at Nelnet and went through what I believed was the PSLF application process from XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. I recall being reassured by multiple CSRNs that my new recertified payments would qualify toward the PSLF program as long as I submitted the PSLF certification documentation of my state service after about a year of making payments, and nothing else needed to be submitted regarding PSLF at that time. Therefore, I continued to make 10 payments of {$110.00} to Nelnet ( payment history attached ) that I was led to believe would retroactively be approved for PSLF later. When I was due for XXXX IDR recertification I started sending in documentation in late XX/XX/XXXX ( notification attached ). I also submitted a completed PSLF Certification document ( confirmed in attachment ). In XX/XX/XXXX my loan was unexpectedly transferred to another servicer ( notification attached ), XXXX, and I was given a new monthly payment ( {$39.00} ) for an IDR, which I continued to pay monthly under the impression that these payments were also qualifying for PSLF ( which they are, fortunately ). In XX/XX/XXXX, I received a PSLF Qualifying Payment Update ( QPU ) document ( attached ) from XXXX that stated my loan payments between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX did not qualify for PSLF ( contrary to what I was led to believe by Nelnet ). When I inquired about why, a CSR at XXXX ( XXXX ) told me that the four non-payment or $ 0 months ( XXXX XXXX ) payments did not qualify ( which Nelnet originally made clear ), but the other ten payments of {$110.00} should qualify for PSLF, and there was most likely an error made by the automated system when my loan was transferred from Nelnet. This XXXX led me to believe that this happens frequently and it gets rectified quite easily with human intervention. Also, she acknowledged that an early payment made in XXXX, should be evident in the review that it was intended for XXXX. Therefore, she marked my case for review ( in XX/XX/XXXX ). I followed up with XXXX a couple months later, and was told the case was still under review, and the XXXX had no idea how long it would take. Over the ensuing months to more recently this situation got deprioritized, as I was going through family hardship, separation/reconciliation, and a global pandemic broke out. On XX/XX/XXXX I was sent a letter ( attached ) by XXXX notifying me that my annual IDR recertification was coming soon and " In about 2 months, [ I should ] look for another communication from us with easy instructions and a direct link to recertify online. '' So I waited about 2 months before starting the recertification process ( as I've come to understand the XXXX system gets finicky if you do something too early ). So I set a reminder for mid XXXX. So today, I called XXXX to inquire about my PSLF status, and it was revealed that on XX/XX/XXXX I was sent an email ( that I mistakenly deleted, because that super important email showed as junk mail, I'm still not sure why that happens, but luckily recovered and attached ... I digress ) that included a link to a response regarding the PSLF review ( which is currently not accessible ). No letter was sent to my inbox on my XXXX account or my home ( since I'm signed up for paperless correspondence ), so I currently have no documentation regarding my PSLF review that took 10 months. The XXXX explained that, my 10 payments are not eligible for PSLF, because they payments were not " fully satisfied, '' and that one payment was made too early. I was basically told it was Nelnet 's responsibility to give me the correct information and transfer my loan appropriately originally. So I called Nelnet stating my grievances, and was told a contradictory story from what my understanding from them was from multiple CSRN exchanges over the better part of a year. They told me I was supposed to have submitted PSLF Application up front back in XX/XX/XXXX ( news to me ) and that my loan would have been transferred right then. Further, they take no responsibility for the misunderstanding, and I should take up my complaint with XXXX. My official complaints I would like Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to investigate are the following : I feel Nelnet 's representatives consistently misled me and/or failed to notice/determine that I somehow did not correctly apply for PSLF eligibility, even though I had several exchanges with them over the course of a year, costing me an extra {$1100.00} or 10 months of payments at the end of my 10 years of Public Service ( which I expect will amount to even more money ). I feel XXXX 's review process takes much too long ( 10 months for me ), and their written communication regarding results or status of reviews is inadequate due to extremely limited/brief accessibility. I will take responsibility for my misunderstanding that a series of inquiries to and verbal assurances from Nelnet staff officially deemed my future payments eligible for PSLF. However, I feel that both XXXX and Nelnet have failed to provide fair and adequate service that has resulted in a personal financial loss of at least {$1100.00} and a mistrust in their competence, transparency, and responsiveness.
Company Response:
State: WI
Zip: 53545
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-05-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A