Anyone on SAVE with $0 payments get hit with unfair interest? Here's what you can do…

I’ve been trying to fight AidVantage about unfair interest added to my account, but they barely respond. So I had to file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When I asked AidVantage for an explanation, they gave me generic, useless responses. Eventually, I used AI to help me write a detailed complaint to the CFPB, and that finally got them to send me a loan summary. But still, the interest was added on 7/19/24—the same day the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the SAVE plan.The Department of Education put out a statement that same day saying no interest should be added for anyone on SAVE, yet my letter from AidVantage still showed interest being charged.I even spoke to a supervisor, but he had no clear answer and promised to call me back—he never did. So I kept sending complaints to the CFPB and made sure they were published for public record.If you’ve been hit with unfair interest after the SAVE ruling, I’ve put together a response you can send to the CFPB. The more complaints they get, the better chance we have at getting real answers and making sure they follow the law.

Didn’t the 0% interest start on August 1?

Marlon said:
Didn’t the 0% interest start on August 1?

No, it started right after the court ruling in July.

Bliss said:

Marlon said:
Didn’t the 0% interest start on August 1?

No, it started right after the court ruling in July.

My loans showed 0% starting August 1, and I was responsible for the interest before that. Mohela told me that, and I saw a lot of people panicking about it on this forum.

@Marlon
Do you have a link from a government site that says that? I haven’t been able to find anything official.

Bliss said:
@Marlon
Do you have a link from a government site that says that? I haven’t been able to find anything official.

I tried finding press releases, but the only thing I came across was an MSNBC article from early August. The link they provided to the official site is now dead.

I filed a CFPB complaint too, and it worked! My SAVE loans were put at 0%, and the extra interest was removed.I included screenshots showing how my loan balance kept increasing and attached chat logs with customer service reps who gave me incorrect info. Also, AidVantage had sent out letters saying no interest would be added—I included that as well.Some people said their complaints didn’t work, but it’s worth trying.

@Drue
I sent in a complaint too but haven’t heard back yet. I didn’t include as much detail, so I might submit another one.

Really appreciate this, thanks!

I saw interest adding up on my account, and my Nelnet rep told me not to worry because they clear it out every quarter. I need to check my balance again.

Devi said:
I saw interest adding up on my account, and my Nelnet rep told me not to worry because they clear it out every quarter. I need to check my balance again.

That’s strange because during COVID, Nelnet never did this. Now with SAVE, we suddenly have to wait and hope they clear interest? Feels like they’re messing with us.

Saving this for later. Thanks!

Is there a way to check my original loan balance right after I was accepted into SAVE on Nelnet?

They consolidated my loan but never put me into SAVE or any other plan. I kept applying with all my documents, but they kept saying they couldn’t find them. Then they changed lenders, and I had to start over again.I signed paperwork that pretty much said they could do whatever they wanted, and that was a huge mistake. I have a couple of old loans that I never touched, and they’re doing fine—they’ll hit the 20-year mark soon. But everything they ‘helped’ with has been a disaster.

Thanks for posting this!

I just sent in a complaint because AidVantage added $475 to my balance for no reason. I have screenshots, so hopefully, I get this resolved. Thanks for bringing this up—I thought I was just out of luck.

Interest adds up at midnight each day, so by the time they announced the ruling on July 19, it had already been applied. The Education Department can only fix things moving forward—erasing past interest requires Congress to step in, like they did with COVID.If you’re only fighting over one day’s interest, there might be bigger battles worth focusing on. Best of luck, though.

@Mason
If that’s true, then…