As part of this process, theres been a large turnover in student loan servicers contracted with the federal government. The paused payments should have been reported as if you had made them. Through the spring of 2023, Great Lakes will transfer its portfolio of federal student loans to Nelnet and will no longer be a student loan servicer. MORE: How Nelnet Customer Service Can Help You. So if you sign up for this program or others like it, you may get a new student loan servicer. Your lender can sell your student loans to another company while this may be inconvenient for some borrowers, in reality, its a business move for lenders. If you dont re-enroll, you might go months without making a payment on your loans, which could result in them defaulting. Can I Transfer My Student Loans to Another Lender? This often happens when a loan servicer is sold or when a private student loan company goes out of business. Navient's contract currently remains in effect through 2023 but the FSA is "currently reviewing" Navient's request. Millions more could face the same fate over the next several years. Yes. However, this does not influence our evaluations. The Departments statement suggests that other loan servicers, in addition to MOHELA, may take over some accounts that have been with FedLoan: The transfer of borrowers from FedLoan Servicing to MOHELA and to other servicers (who will be determined and announced later) is expected to continue over the next year. The Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up for income-driven repayment. Our loans reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most the different types of lending options, the best rates, the best lenders, how to pay off debt and more so you can feel confident when investing your money. This system and equipment are subject to monitoring to ensure proper performance of applicable security features or procedures. Edfinancial is not transferring loans to a new servicer, but the company is in the process of changing its servicing platform. Nelnet can help you temporarily stop making payments or reduce your payment amount if you qualify. While loan terms wont change if your student loan servicer changes, it can lead to a confusing shuffling of funds, some of which take borrowers by surprise. Great Lakes is in the process of transferring its portfolio to. OK92033) Property & Casualty Licenses, NerdWallet | 55 Hawthorne St. - 11th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, Great Lakes Ending Student Loan Servicing: What to Expect in 2023. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Find an expert who knows the market. Box 82561 Lincoln, NE 68501-2561 Fax: 877.402.5816 California Residents: P.O. is a servicer for borrowers with federal Perkins loans. After the transfer, Nelnet will contact you with assistance to get you ready for repayment. Despite ongoing uncertainty, the Department has been urging borrowers to prepare for student loan servicing changes. Additionally, you can expect notices from us and from MOHELA once the transfer is complete. In this case, since FedLoan will no longer oversee federal student loans, borrowers will be switched to one of the following servicers: MOHELA, Aidvantage, Edfinancial or Nelnet. Contact Nelnet for help instead. This letter should include information on how to create an account and make payments. According to CNET, the student loan freeze halted payments and interest for 35 million Americans -- and collection efforts against 7 million borrowers currently in default. If a complaint doesnt help, you can contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group. Nelnet Federal Student Loan Services | Federal Loan Expertise The process of selling student loans doesnt affect what you owe, your interest rate or your repayment terms. If your student loan is sold and your servicer changes, your payments arent automatically transferred to the new servicer. It can, however, mean a change in your loan servicer, and it may take up to 60 days for that transfer to take place. If your servicer was FedLoan, you will be or have been moved to MOHELA, Aidvantage (loans serviced previously by Navient), Edfinancial, or Nelnet. The transfers started last fall but the process is still ongoing. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. You usually receive your 1098-E in late January of the following year. And while our site doesnt feature every company or financial product available on the market, were proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward and free. Bankrate follows a strict Past performance is not indicative of future results. WARNING This system may contain government information, which is restricted to authorized users ONLY. 1. You can also explore other ways to submit a payment to Nelnet. No action is necessary. NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS ID# 1617539, NMLS Consumer Access|Licenses and Disclosures, California: California Finance Lender loans arranged pursuant to Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Finance Lenders License #60DBO-74812, Property and Casualty insurance services offered through NerdWallet Insurance Services, Inc. (CA resident license no. Emma Woodward is a former contributor for Bankrate and a freelance writer who loves writing to demystify personal finance topics. While you may not want your student loan sold to another lender, there is unfortunately nothing you can do to prevent it. For one, you may experience a change because the U.S. Department of Education ended its contract with your servicer, as is the case with Granite State, Navient and FedLoan. Read in-depth credit card reviews to find out which cards have the best perks and more. If you were using a bill pay service with your financial institution prior to the transfer, and you want to continue making payments to Nelnet using a bill pay service, please update the payee to reflect your new Nelnet account number and the payment address shown below. At the end of 2021, the Department of Education announced that it had adopted new standards for the companies servicing student loans in an effort to raise the level of service borrowers receive. Student loans were transferred to Nelnet and my credit took a hit- any way to resolve? To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Youre not required to make payments until then, even if your servicer changes. editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. "In a perfect world, these transitions would be seamless to the borrower, but it may not be," says Kevin Walker, publisher of CollegeFinance.com. Plus, automatic payments are usually the key to getting a discount on your interest rate, so your rate could rise if you dont reinstate autopay. Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (OSLA) loans are being transitioned to Aidvantage. services only federal student loans in default. If youve had difficulty with Great Lakes that you have been unable to resolve, start by filing a complaint directly with a customer service representative. to find out. Phone: 888.486.4722 To find out when Nelnet advisors are available by phone, visit Nelnet.com/contact. At that time, Nelnet will reach out to help you prepare to begin repayment on your student loan(s). Your loan servicer is assigned by the U.S. Department of Education when your loan is disbursed to your college for the first time. He recommends making printouts of your loan balances, as well as your monthly payment amounts, before and after the transition. Once your loan(s) enters a repayment status, we encourage you to sign up for auto debit with Nelnet. editorial integrity, Some student loan holders log in to their accounts and see a balance of $0, as well as expected payments of $0, as close as a week before the payment due date. Visit our websites general FAQ page and refer to the section entitled Special Payment Instructions for more details. Welcome | Transfer to MOHELA Once youve received the initial communication about a transfer, youll likely already be able to set up an online account with the new servicer. MORE: Federal student loan servicers: Who are they and what do they do? Borrowers should start taking steps now to protect themselves by updating their contact information, downloading and retaining key student loan records (including important correspondence, payment histories, and other account information), and updating auto-debit information, which will likely have to be renewed following any loan servicing transfer. This is the company you send your payments to every month. To transfer your student loan, you will need to take out a new one to effectively shift the balance to a new lender. The IRS Form 1098-E is your annual student loan interest statement. If Great Lakes is your servicer, you can expect to be notified that your account will be transferred two weeks prior to your transfer date. (You can apply online on, and then recertify your income each year online as well.). When your loan servicer gets bought or your loans are transferred, you will receive a notice from your current student loan servicer and a welcome letter from your new servicer. If you use a bank or bill paying service to make your loan payments, update the new servicers contact information with the bank or bill paying service. The payment pause is scheduled to end on Aug. 31, 2022. Welcome to Nelnet, a Student Loan Servicing Company A loan might be transferred to a new servicer for several reasons: Private loans may be bought out by another company. During the extension, the Department will continue to assess the financial impacts of the pandemic on student loan borrowers and to prepare to transition borrowers smoothly back into repayment. However, they may handle the loans or process payments differently from your previous loan servicer. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Purchase College, State University of New York. Signing up for autopay will reduce your interest by 0.25 percentage point. Checking these three details could help borrowers avoid the negative consequences that could happen if they miss payments after their loans are transferred, Walker explains. So, whether youre reading an article or a review, you can trust that youre getting credible and dependable information. Your paused payments may have been reported as deferred as a result of a coding error. If you find discrepancies with your credit score or information from your credit report, please contact TransUnion directly. No, your eligibility will not be affected. If you find yourself among those whose loan servicer is being transferred, know that you can manage the transition with a few simple steps: Confirm your new servicer. If you plan to send Nelnet a payment by mail, use the payment address listed in the Contact Us section. process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. PSLF discharges for borrowers who meet the eligibility requirements will continue to happen during the transfer timeframe. It's possible you have other student loans serviced by another servicer. Nelnet is one of the largest federal loan servicers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimates that as many as 40 percent of student borrowers will resume loan payments this year with a different servicer than they had at the start of the pandemic payment pause. Great Lakes will continue to forward payments to Nelnet, for at least 120 days after your transfer date, but you must set up a new online account with Nelnet after your loan transfers. 2023 Bankrate, LLC. She joined NerdWallet in 2014. While it would be a welcomed miracle for an entire balance to get lost in the transition, its highly unlikely that will happen. Any form/application already processed or pending to be processed (for example, an Income-Driven Repayment Plan request) will be forwarded to Nelnet once the transfer is complete. Our opinions are our own. Once Nelnet begins servicing your federal student loan(s), you may see some changes on your credit report. Payments or applications that were in process before the transition should transfer seamlessly to your new servicer. A student loan servicer provides you with the tools and resources you need from the point your first loan amount is disbursed (delivered) by your school, to the point that the balance on your loan(s) is paid in full, discharged, or forgiven. , another federal student loan servicer. Under FedLoan Servicing, youve had a user ID and password; with Nelnet, youll establish a username and password. Transfer Information Nelnet welcomes borrowers from FedLoan Servicing! Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Why are my student loans being transferred to a new servicer? He recommends making printouts of your loan balances, as well as your monthly payment amounts, before and after the transition. Right now, the U.S. Department of Education has only one servicer that manages accounts enrolled in the PSLF program. Nelnet will send you a 1098-E for the interest you paid to us after the transfer. Your previous loan servicer and new loan servicer will work together to make sure that all payments you make during the transfer process are credited to your loan account with the new servicer. Nelnet can help you temporarily stop making payments or reduce your payment amount if you qualify. Heres Who Gets It, The New Income-Driven Repayment Plan: How It Works. As a result, the Department will have to transfer over 16 million student loan borrower accounts to new loan servicers in the coming months. Welcome email from Nelnet, the student loan servicer. You may experience a change in your private student loan servicer, as well. The servicer handles roughly 1.3 million borrower accounts that will be transferred. Pre-qualified offers are not binding. Borrowers can check who their servicer is using the federal . As a student loan borrower, your main point of contact when it comes to managing your loan is your loan servicer. What should I be aware of during the transfer process? One of the biggest disruptions is the transfer of federal student loan accounts that were previously held by FedLoan Servicing to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA). What Navient And FedLoan Borrowers Should Know As Major Student Loan Servicing Changes Loom, Huge Student Loan Servicing Shakeup: This Major Loan Servicer Is Ending Its Contract, Student Loan Borrowers: Expect These 4 Things By January, What A Potential Government Shutdown Means For Student Loan Borrowers. Keeping you up-to-date with information about your student loan(s). If you were current when forbearance began, for example, the status should be current.. If youve consolidated your loans with another company, you might lose some enticing features, like automatic biweekly payments instead of monthly payments. Follow CFPB on Twitter and Facebook . No. , which limits your student loan payments to a percentage of your income, by completing a paper form with Nelnet. Youll then get an update from the new servicer that the transfer has been finalized, usually about 10 days after its effective date. Skip the searching and find your next bank in minutes with BankMatch. The Department of Education has announced that MOHELA will be the new point of contact for participants in these programs. Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. is transferring borrowers to Nelnet. Borrowers can check who their servicer is using the federal student aid dashboard. Process monthly payments and extra payments. For instance, Wells Fargo exited the student loan business in 2021, and all existing loans were transferred to Firstmark Services. Previously, she reported on billionaires, investing and fintech for Forbes in New York, and she also covered private markets for PitchBook in Seattle. ET; Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. If your loan is transferred before Aug. 31, 2022, youll continue to benefit from the coronavirus forbearance and 0% interest rate until they expire. Process deferment and forbearance requests. You need to pay attention, Kantrowitz says. We will soon begin transferring some groups of FedLoan Servicing borrowers to MOHELA, said the Department in a statement posted on Wednesday. Being prepared for this change and understanding a bit about what a new servicer will mean for you can help you to stay organized and stress-free during the transition. NAVI Or it could be that it starts there. Follow the instructions Nelnet provides in its welcome communication to sign up at Nelnet.com. If your loans are currently being serviced by FedLoan Servicing or Granite State, this blog post can help you prepare for the transition to a new servicer. Box 2837 Portland, OR 97208-2837 General Correspondence and Qualified Written Requests: Nelnet P.O. Effective 10/4/2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will/has transferred the customer service of your federal student loan account from FedLoan Servicing to MOHELA, another member of EDs federal loan servicer team. MOHELA notes in its statement that loan servicing transfers do not impact the underlying terms, conditions, or program eligibility for federal student loans. Borrowers have no say in whether their loans are sold to another lender or whether the servicer can be changed, said Kantrowitz. Borrowers should check their credit reports from each of the three credit reporting bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com, the free, government-run website. We value your trust. This notice will provide you with the contact information for the new servicer and inform you of actions that you may need to take. Weve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making Des Toups is a former lead assigning editor who supported the student loans and auto loans teams. so you can know the right questions to ask. Multiple transfers will take place through June 2022. Read more, Eliza Haverstock is a lead writer on NerdWallet's student loan team covering loan repayment and alternatives to traditional four-year degrees. If you recently received notification from FedLoan Servicing that your loans will be transferring to MOHELA, welcome to MOHELA! reads the notice. Your federal student loan servicer could change for a few reasons. Anna Helhoski is a senior writer covering economic news and trends in consumer finance at NerdWallet. This money offers the capital that lenders need to produce additional student loans. A second letter from your new lender about the purchase. Managing your student loans can come with a learning curve, and navigating your servicers website may take some getting used to. Yes, Nelnet will be able to view your historical account information. ET. After all, some federal income-driven repayment plans last 20 to 25 years long terms that can be a lot of work for smaller-scale student loan companies or lenders. Because of this, my credit has taken a 30+ point hit, even though the amount I owe has not changed. "If you have made progress towards PSLF, submit another employment certification form now," he explains, stressing that this step is especially important for borrowers hoping to take advantage of the limited-time PSLF waiver that is being offered by the Department of Education until Oct. 2022. You'll have to set all new payment preferences with Nelnet. The switch from FedLoan to MOHELA will likely happen for you later in 2022, according to the department, but you can check your loan or grants transfer status on MOHELAs website. What if I dont want my student loan sold to another lender? Anyone else's Great Lakes loan being transferred to Nelnet?? - Reddit When Do Student Loan Payments Restart? - CNET If your loan payments havent begun or youre not sure which company is your servicer, log in to My Federal Student Aid to find out.
