Nelnet
Reviews and Complaints

Nelnet & Nimbus 1 are choosing to charge interest on my student loan even though my income has been affected by the Covid-19 Crisis. I'm in hospitality. My income & hours have been cut in half.

Nelnet owns my loan while Nimbus is still considered my lender. I wasn't aware of this until today. Is this how they work together to rio people off?

I don't know how this isn't criminal.

In anticipating of making additional monthly payments, I contacted Nelnet last week to ensure that any additional payments over monthly interest payments would be applied to my principal. The rep I spoke with confirmed that this would be the case. Today (1/17/2020) I contaced Nelnet again to advise that I made a $1500 payment to my Nelnet accout and I want to make sure any amount above monthly interest would be applied to my principal and Nelnet flat out told me they would not do that and all my payment would go to their interest payments totalling over $40, 000 which leaves me in a quagmire of paying daily interest that will NEVER be reduced because it will continue to be calculated off a principal amount that will REMAIN STATIC until $40, 000+ is paid. Aside from being GROSSLY UNCONSCIONABLE, is this even legal? I don't recall Nelnet ever disclosing that no monthly payments exceeding interest would NOT be applied to principal and in fact I was told the opposite just last week. I need the DOE's intervention to mandate that Nelnet apply my additional monthly payments to principal and/or have my loans reverted to the DOE so that I will be able to pay both interest and principal simultaneously and ultimately eliminate this debt at a much faster pace. Are there any other steps that I need to take or any other department/entity that I need to contact?

Nelnet has been doing an old trick i've seen before done by another servicer called acs. What they do is that if you qualify for the zero payment when recertifying they will first send you a lower amount in the hopes it will go passed the due date so that they can enforce payment. If you happen to catch it like me, they will try to mislead you and misinform you. I was pre approved and screened on the phone and told by nelnet reps that I qualified. When I send in the idr, I don't get a zero payment. They will most likely half the amount they asked last time and during this cat and mouse game the days are going by and getting close to the deadline. Yesterday I escalated my call to a manager. This is the first time I do this because it appears to me the reps are not doing a very good job of explaining to me and helping me by giving me the best option. I could not feel they were concerned about the deadline coming up that was only 10 days away and not enough to process because they do that slow on purpose. Needless to say, this is my 3rd time sending in the idr because they said it was not filled correctly but it was filled either with support or pre filled by a rep. The manager filled it out again for me and guaranteed me it was done right, but I knew it wasn't going to beat the deadline and told her, she acknowledged that. So I stayed quiet for a few seconds waiting to see if she would say anything about the forbearance request and she didn't. I asked her about the forbearance request and she said that she was going to talk about it next, lol. So, right now, I am on a month forbearance to try to get my idr approved for zero due because I brought it up. She didn't have any intentions to offer it. Don't let them do this to you, fight them back, be proactive on your account and call them and speak to managers instead. Nelnet is cut from the same mold as acs. These companies are predators and scammers that lie through their teeth.

1. Told me that I qualified for teacher forgiveness. They sent me the application, I had two schools complete the forms, returned to Nelnet only to get a denial.
2. Original loan was for $59, 000 and now they are stating it is 78, 000+.
3. They told me on the phone that I would qualify for the income driven repayment, today on the phone they said that I would not.
4. They also stated that to complete an income driven repayment plan that it would have to go through a consolidation process which would be 30-90 days and another 30+ days for the income driven repayment while my loan would accrue interest during the application process.
5. Studentloan.gov told me that my income driven application wasn't going through because Nelnet had me under a different name, I called Nelnet and they said they didn't.
I haven't received one correct answer from anyone at Nelnet. Who do you go to for help? I feel we are being charged huge amounts of interest rates and don't have any idea of our loan balances are correct?

I was 15 days late on my payment, immediately I set up a forbearance, it was a tough time, as I had just lost my job. Before this, I paid nelnet consistently, every month, no late payments, nothing returned. Before they could say anything, I signed up for a forbearance. Next week, my credit scores drops from a 520 to 473. I was pissed, I emailed, four different times and no one got back to me. This was in august, by the way. Come october, I called to speak to someone after getting no answer from anyone. I was told they hadn't affected my credit at all. What the hell do you mean? I have proof if it was nelnet, and the fact that they get to deny this is, I think, is what pisses me off the most. I've been trying to raise my credit score after my first run in with nelnet. To be fair, the first one was my fault. Not this time. I did what I had to do. I made sure that my credit score wouldn't drop. Why wait 90 days to affect my credit score the first time, just to wait 15 days, after you've been consistently getting paid? Its unfair.

I took out school loans in 2010. Approximately $40, 000 worth and they have accumulated approximately $20, 000 in interest in about 6 years. Does that sound normal? In 2013, I got a divorce and was unable to make my payments. I asked for a forbearance and was granted one for two years. Then my forbearance ended and I was not aware of it. Finally a representative contacted me and said based on my income, if I paid $5 a month for like 285 month a portion of my loans would be forgiven if I did not miss a payment. Then my loan was sold to nelnet and paying $5 a month was no longer an option. I couldn't afford anymore than that as a single mother. My bills were more than my income and my parents were having to help me. So I just didn't pay them. And that's when my interest started to accumulate rapidly. I decided to go back to school, but my loans were in default. So nelnet put me on forebearance again and now since I am in school I am in deference. Does this sound legal?

When I paid a large amount off today, I check the repayment option they have offered to see what is the minimum interest I could pay over the period. In my case, I have 28000 in debt, around 6.5% total APR, this should adds up to $318 per month over a period of ten years. However, the "standard option" they offer is $390 per month, which adds up to 390*12*10=$46800 ! How can this be the case! Are they over collecting the interest? Totally a rip off! Shame on US for pushing college kids into enormous amount of debt at a inflating APR and probably overcharging the interest rate. I mean, 5% of processing fee and 6.5% APR are too much for a loan that is meant to help people to get education!

If you get an email notification, letting you know that there is an update in your account, you may eventually need to update your password. You follow the directions and you still can't get to the page which allows you to create a new password. You have to look for your account number and provide that as well as.your social security number, just to send them an email for help. All they will do is copy and paste protocol that you've more than likely already followed the directions to, which didn't help. So you email them again, asking if your account is locked and if there is a way to know if it's been locked without your knowledge. They email you back with the SAME copied and pasted response, with the first half from the previous response deleted. You realize that they're being sarcastic, when you remember that all of the copied and pasted information about various computer system is really them just telling you to not use your phone or tablet. That's all they could've told you and that still doesn't confirm if you've even guessed correctly, from having to read between the lines. So, you may be better off calling the number and actually talking to a rep...it's the only choice there is, apparently.

Nelnet I have called time and time again. I cant get anywhere with these people. These folks have intentionally all stuck it to us. I owe 175/month many times I pay much much more trying to get this thing down. They take my extra and do whatever they want with it. I simply want my overpayment to go toward principle, not to be credited to next month or whatver you wish. I want it done this way. SO i have a 4.5% rate, paid $250 last month and this month credit report shows a decrease in loan of $24. You have got to be kidding me. We have all got to take a stand against this loan practice. Had I ever known I would have been stuck in something like a triple interest mortgage style loan I would have never taken it and went to work. Like a idiot I stayed and got a masters degree. What can we do I can't get anywhere.

Notes are never kept on your account for transaction and issues that impact you. February 12, 2018, paid off one of the loans completely. The dept. accounts receivable / customer-care rep tells me they are not sure why it happened. They paid the full amount across two other loans that I am paying back. It paid interest and not principle, not sure how this is legal but they are doing nothing to correct the action. I have and kept the receipt plus the confirmation number stating the full amount being applied to the loan under the group I was paying off. This company is crooked and have no intentions of helping anyone to pay off anything. They thrive off high loan amounts and collecting interest. I refuse to consolidate my loans with the company, I am still a full time student, they do not honor any system at all. No record keeping of your accounts and previous tellers you have spoken with, they deny almost everything possible.

I currently utilize two Student Loan Servicing Companies and Nelnet is by far the worst and simply does not care about those for which they hold and/or service their loans.

I was reported as being 90 days late on 16 separate accounts (all with Nelnet). Not just one (although it is only 1 account, but Nelnet has it broken down in 16 separate groups).

I was never notified by Nelnet of approaching the late period as I was under the impression that the money was being deducted from my bank account as it was in the past. I am not sure what changed but nevertheless I never received a phone call, email, or general mail correspondence regarding the late date approaching. I was made aware of the late report when I had applied for a mortgage and was told that my payment history on my credit report dropped from 100% to 97% because of Nelnet's deceitful practice of reporting without notice. This led to a drop in over 100 points on my credit score.

I then called Nelnet after searching my email for some time of correspondence from them alerting me to the fact that I was approaching the late date. I found nothing. Not even in my SPAM folder.

I explained this to the woman on the phone and she stated that as per the Department of Education Guidelines, Nelnet is not allowed to send correspondence via regular postal mail when a client is signed up for electronic notifications. She then proceeded to tell me that they do not send emails but instead choose to utilize the "secure messaging" system in their portal.

During this call the woman then stated that if I were in school during this late period that they would have the late credit report removed. Thank God I was, however I explained that the Institution I was enrolled in was not a Regionally Accredited Institution and she had stated that it wouldn't matter. She went on to explain that I needed to fill out a document outlining the institution attended and then have the school fill out the information as well. I then had to send it into Nelnet and the reporting would be removed.

A few days after following their directions, I magically received an email from Nelnet asking me to check their portal for an update to my records. The message stated that they would not remove the late credit report because I was not enrolled in a qualifying institution.

I immediately called them and the representative on the other line stated that she didn't know why the original woman made me go through the process when the school didn't qualify and that the credit remark would not be removed.

After arguing back and forth about their practices, the woman stated, "We granted you a forbearance and reset your balance to zero". This didn't help me as it made zero change on my credit report and I did not request a forbearance. None of this was making sense.

A few days later, I had received an email from Nelnet again stating that they had attempted to call me but I didn't answer the phone. Because I didn't receive a call, I had called them at the number listed in the email and the woman on the phone stated that the email was sent "in error". I didn't receive an email from Nelnet during the entire time they claim I was late but now I was beginning to get them daily!

A few days later the same thing occurred. Another email stating that they called and I missed them.

I started a chat via their online portal and the woman stated that there was no call made and that this must have been "in error". She then stated that she did see that the dispute I filed with them regarding the request of the late credit removal was denied.

I lost it. I informed them how unhappy I was and how they never contacted me regarding the late period, had me unnecessarily file documents with them when they had no intention of removing the late reports, and granted me a forbearance without request...but now they were contacting me at an alarming rate "in error".

The woman on the other end of the chat stated, "We did try and contact you and the late credit reporting will not be removed."

I asked her for specific dates and times and after approximately 5-7 minutes she returned with a few dates and then stated a text message was sent as well. I immediately scoured my phone records on the dates and times and informed her there were no record from AT&T of these calls and/or texts.

She stated that the times could be off by a bit. Still, I didn't receive any call or text from Nelnet according to my phone records so I had inquired as to how they could rely on their system since it seems to be "in error" as of late.

She replied, "Your credit reporting will not be removed."

That was it. It didn't matter that I could prove they never contacted me via a slew of third party company records. It only mattered what their database said.

They have not attempted to work with me despite my offers of consolidating the loan to take it off their hands, pay them up to being current immediately, or simply agreeing to compromise on a number of terms deemed acceptable. I only wanted the sixteen 90-day late reports removed.

Nelnet will not work with you. They will lie to you. They simply do not care about you and should not be in business. In fact, they should be investigated by the Department of Education for their predatory and unethical practices.

Still...they have made it clear...they have the power.

So if you are using them, RUN. This is a very bad company.

So much so, that Nelnet had even gone out and purchased the domain www.nelnetsucks.com before it could be picked up by someone else, like myself, that would upload all of the documents and tell their story.

Do yourselves a favor...steer clear of this agency.

Hello. Recently I received a letter stating that my payment would be "zero" for the next year. This is most likely due to my change in income and the fact that I have other student loans that I now have to pay in addition to these. When it came time for my automatic payment to be deducted, they deducted $18.12. When I tried the "chat" feature with them, I was told that there was an error with my letter and that $18.12 is the new payment. I have yet to receive any letter indicating the change, but I still have the one that states "zero" is due for the next year. Who can I talk to about this, to have them honor their letter?

I would like to pay my student loans off more quickly than scheduled. I set up my monthly payment to pay slightly more than the required payment. To my dismay I learned that Nelnet was applying my extra payments towards the loan with the lowest interest rate.

I have loans through over servicing companies and they automatically apply extra payments towards the loan with the highest interest rate. Obviously it is in my best interest to put my extra dollars towards the loan with the highest interest rate. Nelnet is doing what is in its best interest and putting my dollars to the loan that would do THEM the most good.

I've contacted them multiple times to try and change how the extra payments are applied. The only solution I've found is to reduce my automatic monthly payment and make an extra payment each month towards the desired loan.

However, even that method has its flaws. I forgot to check the "Do Not Advance Due Date" button when I applied an extra payment. So they moved the due date of the desired loan back to a later date. Now my usual monthly payment doesn't go to that loan because it "Isn't due yet". So each month a portion of my usual payment is extra and that goes towards the loan with the lowest interest rate.

Scummy company and scummy practice. Should do what is best for the debt payer rather than what is best for the best collector.

The loan [protected]... first opened in 07/2007 was and has been consolidated. I have been paying this loan through Navent which holds the entire consolidated loan which includes the above loan, Please return my tax refund which was taken in error.
Julian Guerra
9 Spencer Ave
Clifton, NJ 07013 Cell [protected]
Please call me to resolve this issue, if my tax return was taken, how was it applied?, What is the balance? Why was I never billed? Please check your records this account was closed due to transfer. Thank you for looking into this matter, any questions please call the above cell phone.

I was 30 days late for my student loan payment. It just so happened that Hurricane Matthew had affected my area and the state of NC declared a state of emergency. I made my payment, and when I checked my balance a few days later, I noticed it didn't go down. I got an email later on from Nelnet saying because of the disaster, I could do natural disaster forebearance which is something I didn't want to do because 1)I made the payment already, 2)I didn't want to pay the extra interest.

I contacted Nelnet, and they had automatically enrolled me in the natural disaster forebearance without my permission. As a result, the payment I made, all went to interest. I had to get them to remove my enrollment from natural disaster forebearance and I had to make 2 monthly payments in December, one for the regular payment for that month, and then the one from the prior month.

Hi this is very serious for my family and i, please help! It is unfair for me having to repay nelnet for a school loan. Heald college honolulu closed down before I could take my last class which was a fly-out class for business: hospitality/tourism. Upon attending heald college, they guaranteed me a job placement which is false. They did not find me a career like they said they would. Also, I did not graduate with a degree because of the school's closure. But.. I found out later from a phone call that I have 9 loans with nelnet which I had no clue about and they are still asking me to pay them for a school which I didn't get to continue due to the closure? I checked my balance with nelnet and seen that they are asking me for nearly $35, 000! I feel like they are harassing me because they keep on setting my account on forbearance when I clearly tell them to stop because it's making my interest increase like crazy! I request for deferment instead due to no income and my economic hardship but they're still not listening.In fact, I feel that I shouldn't even be paying anything due to my situation of not getting the degree because of the school's closure. Please help me! My family and I will appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts if we could find justice in this issue. Because of this nonsense and unfairness, my account will go into default ans I may lose my home which my other half worked so hard for.
This is not right at all and is very stressful, disappointing and very depressing. Heald college honolulu and nelnet is a complete fraud written all over them and has been a burden to my family and i. As for today, I am still an unemployed mommy of 2 children and is still going through economic hardships struggling financially with no assistance at all. Please help. I need justice and peace away from this $35, 000 that they are asking from me for a school which I didn't even finish. Thank you for taking your time in reading this. I believe I deserve to get this loan completely forgiven and gone but nelnet obviously does not care but to have that much money from me. Please help!

There was a second payment made on my account accidentally. I called nelnet to resolve the issue and get the 2nd payment refunded. I was told it would take 4 weeks. Their reasons were that they had to prove the funds were removed and turned over to them. Also that the money came from my bank. Total scam! Make sure to send paper checks so they have no excuses to deny you your money.

I AM so stressed out. I paid off my balance in (almost)full the other day (quite a tidy sum of money) and i called Nelnet to ask them to close out my account after i pay the remaining .47 ¢. (oops!)They had the basic information right but no service rep to finish the deal. Their message denied my social security number then asked me to punch in the year i was born? The bot voice said: "Due to circumstances beyond our control bla bla bla... we are now closed bla bla bla." Now what? Did they get hit by a tornado? Are they snowed in by 8 feet of snow? Are Nelnet's Nebraska call centers in Nigeria and simply a scam-### boiler room getting flooded with dumb American's hard-earned cash? I never had any problem with them before. How can they get my 411 by the year i was born? I am pretty sure i am not the only one born that year. Hopefully they will see this extremely disturbing to a Bi-Polar person. I want to know where that money is because i am disabled on a fixed income Someone SHOULD HAVE ANSWERED THE PHONE CALL NOT A BOT. -na I probably won't sleep tonight for worrying about this weird company.

Last December I decided to consolidate my 3 student payments. I research it and decided to go with Nelnet. What a mistake! I was on a IBR and was paying about $250 a month total. When I filled out the application for consolidation, ALL of my student moneys had checkmarks beside them. There was one called "Plus". This is where the nightmare begins. I had NO idea that this was a Parent Plus I took out for my son who is still currently in college. No where on the app did it say Parent Plus. Now since a Parent Plus is not eligible for IBR, it jacked my payment up to over $600. My son's portion is only a small portion of the total amount, but tripled the payment. Other items about this nightmare is that my son's was with Nelnet, so they didn't have to do a ton of work to take it out, but they refuse to take it out and put me where I was. I told them I would pay off my son's. They said you can't it's consolidated. So I said ok, then since it is consolidated it should be eligible for IBR. They said no it's separate. I have spoken to the ombudsman and several other agencies to resolve this and all refuse. The Dept of Ed said that Nelnet has the power to fix it but Nelnet says they are only the servicer. This will affect me for the rest of my life with no relief. I wish I knew of a way that someone could fix this. I am not trying to get out of paying. My son will pay his portion off if he could.