Nelnet’s Approach to Addressing Third Party Student Debt Relief Companies

Recently, Nelnet has been receiving a number of Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) forms from third party student aid companies.These companies are claiming the ability to reduce or eliminate student loan debt and charging borrowers fees for services that Nelnet and other Title IV servicers offer for free. In addition, some are attempting to change borrower contact information to the contact information of their company so that our borrower communications go to the third party company instead of the borrower.

When an LPOA is received in which the borrower has granted a third party company overreaching powers to manage their loans, the form is denied and a denial letter is sent to the borrower. This usually generates a phone call from the borrower, during which the borrower is apprised of their repayment options and informed that the services they are paying for are available through Nelnet, free of charge.

In addition, a weekly report is run, matching the known contact information of these third party companies to those of our borrowers. If the borrower contact information has been changed to the contact information of one of these companies, we revert to the borrower’s original contact information and a letter will be sent to the borrower explaining why this occurred. If the borrower does not have a prior address on file, we will work to obtain current information.

Individual power of attorney requests or requests made outside the domain of third party debt relief companies are still honored by Nelnet.

At Nelnet, our customers come first. We want to make sure our borrowers are taken care of and will continue to combat this issue!