Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/24/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was approved for a co-signer release due to a disability. Firstmark and ******* has reported this account as delinquent.
  They have not removed me as a co-signer, which had affected my credit. I have made calls to the company and filed complaints with the credit bureaus.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/31/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ************, from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for
  all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/23/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been lied to repeatedly over the phone by Firstmark. My payment due and due date have changed 6+ times with no explanation. I was told that I am not entitled to a bill or explanation for these changes, including what my actual payment is and my due date. My loan just dispersed with them, and I haven't even made the first payment and I am already experiencing all of these issues. I have been on the phone with them for 9+ hours in the last 20 days and sent countless emails with no solution or explanation. This company is fraudulent and criminal.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/20/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have additional comments or
  concerns, please contact us at ************, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday
  – Friday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/17/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I secured an educational loan for my son with Wells Fargo in 2019. In 2021, received a letter from this company stating that they would now be servicing this loan instead of Wells Fargo. I have been paying approximately $128/per month since 2019. And for an original loan of $10,000. Which means, I have paid approximately $7800. When I called today, I was told my balance was $8,945. How is that possible and I have been paying for 5 years. I spoke with ****, who was nice enough. I asked him, how is this possible, and that at this rate, I would be another 15 years paying this loan, which is absurd. I stated that I would going to file a complaint, go to media or whatever I needed to do. He said ok; I asked him what happens to my complaint, and said he just notes it. I asked who what body did they report to, he could answer. To make along story short, he transferred me to supervisor, ******. ****** was mechanical, rude, unempathetic, and rehearsed. I also asked if they had a Board of Directors or main office, he was just too much to deal with, honestly too smart for his own good. He was so busy reciting his rehearsed response, he was not interested in my problem. He claimed that they are supporting the original terms of the agreement that I signed. When I said i didn't sign anything with him; he then said they were upholding the terms. I want to be provided with the original agreement that I signed and agreed to. Once I have this document, I can determine if I need to pursue legal action. There has to be some law against this type of predatory behavior.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. Please note, any attachments will be included in a
  separate email. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ************* from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for
  all of our contact information.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/27/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I am again requesting a copy of the original promissory note; my agreement was with Wells Fargo, not Firstmark.  This is the 3rd time I have requested a copy of the agreement.  You continue to reference the terms of the promissory note, but you have yet to provide it.  You are not the original entity; you took over the loan from Wells Fargo. I am requesting a copy of the "promissory note" that you continue to reference, signed by me.  I am entitled to this document.  Please provide it.  

  Once I see this document and the terms are as you have described, then I have no issue.  Please provide the promissory note, that you reference, that I signed.

  Thank you.
  

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ****

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ************* from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for
  all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/09/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have made regular payments as well as additional payments that have not been applied to my loans. Every time I contact Firstmark Services to get something fixed, I end up with late fees and more accrued interest because my payments aren’t being applied correctly.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/20/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ###-###-####, from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at FirstmarkServices.com for
  all of our contact information.

  Dear *******,
  
  We are writing in response to the complaint you filed with the Better Business Bureau. We
  service your private student loans on behalf of Firstmark Serviced Trust. As your loan servicer,
  we provide billing, payment processing, and customer support. We take your concerns seriously
  and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
  
  Your concern, as we understand it, is that you have made payments to your account that have
  not been applied and that you have experienced late fees and other penalties as a result. You’re
  asking us to correct this, possibly by locating or crediting a payment of $1,277.10.
  
  Late fees have not been charged to your account, and you have not been penalized in any way
  for late payments. In order to assist you, we would like you to clarify whether you have made
  payments that are not credited to your account at all, if they have not been applied to the correct
  loan, or if they have not been allocated to your principal balance the way you have expected.
  We will address each possibility in order, and request you to take action accordingly.
  
  Missing Payments
  If you have sent us a payment electronically or via check, we will need a confirmation number
  and a copy of your bank statement showing the transaction, or a front and back copy of the
  check. Once you have submitted these documents, we will work on locating your payments and
  applying it to your account.
  
  Misapplied Payments
  You have two loans active in our system, with the third loan having been paid in full in March
  2024. Loan ******* has a current principal balance of $14,400.71 and an interest rate of
  11.24% and Loan ******* has a current principal balance of $35,800.31 and an interest rate of
  11.99%. Currently, we have special payment instructions on the account that every time you
  make an additional payment, the extra funds are applied to loan *******. These instructions
  were set up at your request on May 21, 2024.
  
  Without understanding what you specifically believe to be misapplied, we can only make
  general suggestions to ensure payments apply the way you would prefer. If you would like to be
  able to make extra payments on loan ******* to pay it off early while still being certain that
  both loans are always kept on track, we would encourage you to set up auto debit for the
  minimum monthly payment for both loans and then make manual or additional payments solely
  to *******. With your current payment instructions, any payments made that would push the
  next due date out further than 30 days are applied to loan *******, so setting up auto debit and
  only making manual payments when you want to pay a little extra on that loan would help you
  pay it off early while being sure your other loan is always current even if you don’t make extra
  payments each month.
  
  Payment Allocation between Interest and Balance
  Each time a payment is made, the interest that is currently outstanding on the loan must be paid
  before funds can apply towards the current principal balance. Interest accrues each day based
  on the simple interest method. As you have not been making payments on the same day each
  month, the amount of interest that is paid with each payment likely varies more than you expect.
  Setting up automatic payments would minimize the fluctuation in payment allocation towards
  interest, as your payments would pull on the same day each month and have 30 to 31 days
  between payments each time.
  We value you as a customer and appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

  Sincerely,
  
  **** **
  Firstmark Services Customer Service
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/30/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had my student loan for almost 20 years with no issues until this. At the end of April 2022, Firstmark reported my account as over 60 days past due. I thought my student loans were on hold under the Cares Act, however, I had continued to make payments and work towards payoff. Historically, if the loan was even just a few days late (into the grace period), I and my cosigner would be contacted by phone, text, and/or email in an effort to set up payment or discuss forbearance/deferment/other forms of assistance. Appropriate arrangements were always made. Since Covid, and my belief the account was on hold, not one phone call from Firstmark has been received by me or my cosigner. Additionally, even though I had one consolidated account (one account number, one login, one due date, one monthly payment), they reported the account as though I missed four separate payments (apparently they divide my one consolidated account and one monthly payment across four loans). This is very deceiving on my and my cosigner's credit report. We both had exceptional credit and now we each have four negative marks and suffered a drop in credit score in excess of 130 points. This was all unnecessary. A simple phone call to me and/or the cosigner could have resolved the issue. Why wasn't I made aware of any Covid Relief that was being offered by Firstmark at that time (which I only discovered existed following the negative reporting) and why wasn't I given an opportunity to take advantage of any available deferment/forbearance/Covid Relief (that I have since learned was available to me)? Upon learning of the delinquency through credit monitoring, I immediately brought the account into good standing and paid the balance off in full. As a longtime customer, I am disappointed and at a loss as to how this could have happened. My credit dates back to 1995 and never a late payment until this.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. Please note, any
  attachments will be included in a separate email. If you have additional comments or
  concerns, please contact us at ###-###-####, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday
  – Friday. You can also visit our website at *****************.com for all of our contact information.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/19/2024

  
  Firstmark Services
  P.O. Box 82522
  Lincoln, NE 68501-2522
  
  
  Monday through Friday 7:00 am – 8:00 pm CT ###-###-#### FirstmarkServices.com
  
  Firstmark Services (Nelnet Servicing, LLC NMLS ID# *******)
  
  June 7, 2024
  **** * ********
  **** ***** ***
  ********* ** *****
  Account: XXXXX5378-25
  Dear ****,
  
  We are writing in response to the complaint you filed with the Better Business Bureau. We serviced your
  private student loan[s] on behalf of NorthStar, which you paid off in May of 2022. We take your concerns
  seriously and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
  
  As we understand it, you believed your account to be deferred as a result of the federal CARES Act which
  had paused payments on federal student loans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. You’re asking us
  to retract the delinquent payment that we furnished to the credit agencies on April 29, 2022, as you state
  you were not contacted regarding the delinquency and believed your loans to be in a forbearance, and to
  retro-actively apply any forbearance that would have been available to remove this data from your credit
  history.
  
  Or records indicate that you did not request any payment relief from the end of your Graduated
  Repayment status in June of 2018 to when you paid off your full balance, and you were making monthly
  payments online around the period when the delinquency occurred. Your account was in a rolling
  delinquency status but did not exceed 60 days past due until April 29. We received notice of returned mail
  on March 22 and updated your address the following day from **** **** *** ** *** Petersburg, FL 33710
  to **** ***** ***, Seminole, FL 33772. We continued to reach out to both you and your cosigner via
  phone and letters, but did not receive a response until May 9, 2022 when you called us to discuss the
  delinquency.
  
  Based on your request and the information you provided, we carefully reviewed your loan and the
  corresponding data furnished to the consumer reporting agencies. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,
  we have an obligation to ensure data we furnish to consumer reporting agencies is accurate. Our
  research indicates the data accurately reflected your loan status at the time it was furnished, and we are
  unable to retroactively apply any payment relief to your account.
  
  If you have evidence or documentation that your loans should have been in forbearance or that payments
  were made during March and April of 2022, please send additional information along with supporting
  documents for additional review. Once received, we will investigate your dispute and communicate the
  results of our investigation.
  
  We value you as a customer and appreciate the opportunity to serve you. If you have questions, please
  email us at [email protected], visit our website at FirstmarkServices.com, or call
  us at ###-###-####. Our business hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday through Friday.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** **
  Firstmark Services Customer Service
  
  Enclosures:
  March, April, and May 2022 delinquency notifications
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/30/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The company has done nothing to resolve, or even acknowledge, their errors. They continue to argue that I missed four loan payments when in actuality, I was late on one single payment for one consolidated loan (one loan, one payment due date, one monthly payment amount due). This was a loan believed to be on hold under the Cares Act. They argue that because I continued to make payments, that is evidence that I did not believe the account to be on hold. However, I was acting prudently based on the Government's encouragement to continue to pay these loans as able (even while on hold). Additionally, they refuse to apply any deferment, Covid Relief, etc that I have available to me (although there is nothing preventing them from doing so except their unwillingness). They continue to argue that they exercised due diligence in contacting me to resolve the matter, which is simply not true (returned mail, no phone call, no email, no text message). They now "consider this matter to be closed" but they "value" me as a customer. This is laughable. In their minds, since this account was paid off in full immediately upon the credit reporting agencies advising me of what Firstmark Services was reporting, they have nothing additional to gain from me, so why make this right? They forget that many of their customers that they are treating unfairly will either continue their educations/seek additional loans and/or have children that will seek student loans. They will not receive any additional monies and/or business from me or my family. Hopefully potential customers will see all of these BBB complaints as well as all of the poor reviews and utilize a more reputable Student Loan Service Provider. This company is shameful.

  Sincerely,
  

  
  
  
  **** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/21/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Firstmark purchased our private education loan from ***** ***** 3 years ago. Both ***** ***** and Firstmark both sent letters stating the terms of the loan will not change from 240 months, however FM changed the repayment term to 300 months. This means for the last 3 years we've been paying on the incorrect interest schedule. a year ago, I sent a letter disputing this and received no resolution. I have made a total of 13 phone calls with the current resolution being they returned us to a 240 mo loan, however they created a new loan without our consent disregarding our previous 13 years of repayment/ adding 13 years to the end of our loan. They didn't even credit the balance of the excess of interest we paid under the incorrect payment schedule. Now they expect us to begin repaying an entirely new loan they arbitrarily created with an end date 13 years later than the loan we signed. We have never been late or missed a payment and have all documentation from both them and ***** ***** supporting our argument of incorrect term and contractual end date. I have already reached out to attorneys from the National Association of Consumer Advocates specializing in the Fair credit billing act and hope this will help prevent fraud by this and other businesses like this.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/10/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ###-###-####, from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at FirstmarkServices.com for
  all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/07/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My ***** ***** student loans were sold to Firstmark Services in 2021. While I was with ***** *****, they offered loan modifications and deferments when I was having financial difficulties.
  
  I recently transitioned to a new job, and lost some salary during my training period. I asked Firstmark for a loan modification or deferment, but I was denied. They told me the loans can only be deferred or modified once for a temporary period, afterwards there’s no other options.
  
  I spoke with a company that specializes in refinancing private loans, and they stated they wanted to help, but Firstmark is difficult to work with. The company representative stated Firstmark will try to hold on to the loans as long as they can, and will be unwilling to release them right away.
  
  I miss ***** *****’s repayment options and services. This company has been a nightmare to my credit score.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/17/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have
  any questions, please call us at ************, from 6
  a.m. to 9 p.m. (Central), Monday – Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central) on
  Saturday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for
  all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/26/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have private student loans through ******** Bank dba Firstmark Services. I have automatic payments set up and last month I made a double payment. My account shows that my next payment is not due until June 2024; however, the company tried to take out an additional payment on 4/25/2024 and it shows that another autopayment is scheduled for May 2024. I called Firstmark and questioned them and they told me that because I am on autopayment, they will continue to pull funds out even though a payment is not due until June 2024. This is incredibly predatory and needs to be stopped. CFPB needs to intervene and shut this predatory practice down!

  Business Response

  Date: 05/10/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. Please note, any
  attachments will be included in a separate email. If you have additional comments or
  concerns, please contact us at ************, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday
  – Friday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/24/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid a settlement on my student loans in the amount of 19000 in January of 2024. This item continues to show on my credit report and it's still showing delinquent.I have contacted them directly on several occasions to have this reported to the credit bureaus and removed from my credit report. Please help in getting this corrected and deleted from my credit report.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/03/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. If you have additional comments or
  concerns, please contact us at ************, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday
  – Friday. You can also visit our website at ********************* for all of our contact information.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Firstmark Services granted a forbearance on the current loan after an unexpected lay off. Upon contacting the company to discuss options to remain in good standing the first customer representative spoken with told me the company was offering no forbearance options or willing to allow for reduced payment period. However, as the aftermath of the COVID pandemic continued we were aware that loan companies were offering these options and recontacted them and were quickly provided a forbearance. As the ending period of the forbearance came about we logged into the website to ensure all our information was up to date and prepared for renewing payment. However, we discovered the payments had generally doubled! DOUBLED! We contacted Firstmark to discuss reduced payment options and why the payment had increased. We were told that interest continued to accrue and no options for reduced payments. The primary complaint is around the information about forbearance on their website where it clearly states that principle AND interest is postponed and that as a customer in good standing they could not find a way to reduce payments, which would actually benefit them because we would be paying more interest over a longer period of time. The only option is to take our business elsewhere.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/26/2024

  Firstmark
  Services values your feedback and we’ve attached a formal response. Please note, any
  attachments will be included in a separate email. If you have additional comments or
  concerns, please contact us at ************, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central), Monday
  – Friday. You can also visit our website at *****************.com for all of our contact information.