I’m about to consolidate my second & last batch of student loans. It would appear that Nelnet is my best option. Why?

[list]Same rate as everyone else, of course.
Retain Federal rights, e.g. forbearance (not that I ever intend to need it)
0.25% rate reduction with monthly automatic debit
1% decrease in rate after 36 consecutive on-time payments.[list]
Now, the last feature is key because while Sallie Mae appears to offer the same thing, they don’t necessarily. My 2nd batch of loans are only worth about $7.6K. Sallie Mae requires a minimum consolidation of $10K for the 1% rate reduction after 36 consecutive on-time payments feature. So, for me, Sallie Mae aint offerin’ didley.

Is anyone aware of better offers?

NELNET stinks. But no, I don't know of a good alternative. NELNET has engaged in negative amortization, which is illegal, on a friend's SL. Also, they screwed him out of the rate reduction for automatic payments.

Try this link to Christine Baker's site for info on Nelnet and their terrible reporting methods.

http://www.creditsuit.org/blog/archives/000019.html

Thanks for the info.

The problem is I've got a consolidated loan with William D Ford, which has reported correctly, but they're offering zero incentives. No reduction in rate after 36 months. Sallie Mae, on the other hand, in addition to not offering me a rate reduction in 36 months us reporting 8 TLs incorrectly and I've been battling them since August. Not only have they not fixed their reporting problem, it's grown worse!

I have no doubt that NelNet has some gliches, but so does SM and neither appear to be responsive. I've never been late or given SM one lick of trouble. All I want them to do is to report the true opened date of my SLs. They update it every few months to make the loans appear as brand new. So, they're screwing over a perfect payer & do not care. I'm doing everything possible to twist their arm. They are doing everything possible, including engaging me in hours of phone calls and repetitive requests for all my CRs, to not fill out a simple UDF that couldn't take more than 5 minutes to do to get me to quit bugging them. I've sent them 9 faxes, had at least as many phone calls, and I've sent several letters. It's truly absurd.

I guess what I'm saying is that no matter who you consolidate with someone will have had real, substantial problems with them. I'm glad you took the time to tell me about those problems, but I don't see anyone with clean hands as it were. Given this I just want the best financial deal.

I defaulted on my Nelnet loans and then consolidated with the William T. Ford federal program. This was in Dec of 2004 and as of my last credit report, it looks like the bulk of my student loan debt ($17K) is listed as OPEN. I have tried to contact them several times via fax and snail mail but have NEVER gotten a response. I then contacted the CRAs and asked for a METHOD OF VERIFICATION for the debt. So far Experian is the only one to respond and they have refused to take action because they stated the request didn't originate from me! Can you believe that crap!!?? I then has to resend all my past correspondence as well as proof that I am who I say I am (copy of DL and SS card).

I swear the CRAs and the original debtors are working together to prevent people from repairing their credit!

I'm probably consolidating with Educational Loan Company, as their rates seem better than anyone else's, but I think they have a $10,000 minimum. (Oh, if only that was a problem for me.)

Nelnet doens't offer anything special. There are a dozen companies that also offer the .25 for autodebit and 1% decreases after 36 months. I think the large banks have low minimums (Citi, BofA, WF). No idea what kind of reputations they have.

I am pretty sure Cynic will pipe in, but I do not recommend going with any secondary consolidation loan marketer. Keep in mind they cannot offer you a lower base interest rate....your interest rate is calculated as a weighted average of your current loans. They might offer nice back end perks on rate reductions. However, a lot these companies consolidate with big promises and then promptly sell your loan a year or so down the road. Poof!......there goes your incentive as the new holder has no obligation to honor these perks.

Go with one of the big guys....you can then be assured that your loan will not be sold

How are they reporting as open?? Are the balances zero'd out??

Defaulted student loans, even paid off ones, will continue to report your final status after they are paid off. 150 days past due, defaulted claim, etc. However they should be reporting a zero balance. Nothing you can do about it.

Yep. Who cares what "Educational Loan Company" 'promises'* after 4 years of on-time payments when they don't even service the loans they originate, have a vanity lender code, and have been in business since... 2002.

Their website fails to disclose who their servicer/secondary market purchaser is, the fact that they (or the subsequent loan holder) can change or terminate the "borrower benefits" at any time, and how long they have actually been in business.

Their defamation of the Direct Loan program is particularly disturbing to me. The badmouthing of reputable lenders is normal from the used-car type consap resellers, badmouthing ED isn't.

*Their fine print indicates that after an on-time payment incentive is earned, one late payment can result in loss of the incentive, but that they/their lender will "work with" the borrower by providing an "opportunity" to have the incentive reinstated.

Nelnet is currently trying to screw us out of the .25% for auto debit also. They are claiming they never offered that to us and have no such program. We told them we have the emails and snail mail they sent and faxes we sent to them to set this up. They said that is no proof. What is proof then?

Do not use Nelnet. They are dishonest and rude. We should have stayed with Sallie Mae.