These 3 Firstmark Services Complaints Earned the Servicer a Poor Rating

If you took out a private student loan, your lender most likely partners with a loan servicer. Firstmark Services is one of these private student loan servicers, and it’s not making a good impression on borrowers at the moment. The Better Business Bureau (BBB)‘s complaints and customer reviews have given Firstmark Services 1.18 out of 5 stars.

If your private student loans are with Firstmark Services, you’ll want to be aware of the top complaints from borrowers and be aware of Firstmark lawsuits, such as a 2018 class action and a more recent one from 2022.

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What is Firstmark Services?

Firstmark Services (FirstmarkServices.com) works with student loan borrowers as a loan servicer and is based in Lincoln, NE. The company is a division of Nelnet, Inc. and manages student loan payments for private student loans. As a loan servicer, Firstmark serves as your main point of contact when it comes to any student loan repayment and issues.

According to the company website, Firstmark management has an average of nine years of experience dealing with student loans, and prides itself on delivering services of ‘the highest mark' (first mark). Unfortunately, many student loan borrowers have had negative experiences with the loan servicer.

What does Firstmark Services do with student loans?

Firstmark Services is a student loan servicer, not a lender. A lender is a company like Earnest or LendKey. The lender regulates all the terms of your student loan and is the issuer of loan funds. In other words, the lender is where you get your loan disbursement from. A loan servicer acts as the middleman for private student loan lenders and performs the following tasks:

• Handles and tracks payments
• Provides customer service
• Discuss repayment options
• Processes changes in repayment plans, including forbearance and deferment requests
• Maintains loan records
• Ensures the administration of loans is in compliance with federal law and other legal requirements

The student loan servicer disburses the funds, and you’ll partner with it during repayment for the life of your loan, unless you refinance. Firstmark Services is a branch of a larger student loan servicer, Nelnet. Nelnet services federal student loans, while Firstmark Services only handles private student loans.

The way that Firstmark performs as a student loan servicer can best be evaluated by customers. And borrowers aren’t impressed with Firstmark Services. They have many customer complaints for just about all of Firstmarks’ duties.

3 Recurring Firstmark Services complaints

Firstmark Services complaints are plentiful. Borrowers can file complaints with the BBB and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). There are three major complaints that keep popping up.

1. Mishandled student loans

When you make a payment on your student loan, you want it to go to the right place. Firstmark Services complaints recorded with the CFPB and BBB describe borrowers having trouble with how their student loans are handled.

One borrower with two loans under Firstmark Services reported that the payment toward one loan was split between the two. This caused the loans to then appear delinquent. The borrower emailed and called Firstmark Services many times. The borrower ended up making additional payments and paying $130 in interest for the servicer's mistake.

Many borrowers have had their loans transferred to Firstmark Services. In the transfer process, it’s been reported that previous payments weren’t applied to the account, and customers have a difficult time retrieving the mishandled payments. It's key to stay on top of this to avoid late payments and any damage to your credit report or credit score.

In one borrower’s case, the loan's interest rates were changed from fixed to variable upon transfer of the loan. When the borrower tried to get copies of the promissory notes, they were never sent. Firstmark Services refused to reinstate the fixed interest rate or refund the interest.

Having your loan terms changed is an extreme example of mishandling. This sort of mistake can truly wreck your personal finances. A Firstmark Services borrower should monitor Firstmark’s every move, all the way up to the loan pay-off date and make sure all payments are made by the due date.

2. Failure to close accounts and work with borrowers

Paying off a student loan is one of the best feelings — or at least, it should be. Firstmark Services has complaints from borrowers who have difficulty getting their accounts closed.

A borrower, whose account was paid in full, filed a complaint with the BBB stating, “I have contacted Firstmark every 2-3 business days since the college paid off the balance and I am continually told they are working on closing the account. To date, this account is past due and incurring late fees even though it has been paid in full for almost 45 days.”

In a case originally reported on the BBB, a borrower paid off their student loan in full. This was recorded on their bank account statement. The borrower then tried to buy a home. They requested a “paid in full” letter from Firstmark, as requested by the underwriting department for their mortgage. Firstmark claimed it could not issue a formal letter sooner than 30 days from the last and final payment. It did offer an informal letter, but this was rejected by the mortgage company.

When you pay off an account, it shouldn’t be a struggle. And it certainly shouldn’t stop you from buying a home and moving on with your financial future.

3. Terrible customer service and follow-through

The BBB and CFPB Firstmark Services complaints are filled with reports of terrible customer service.

Bad customer service led to a drop in credit score and threats of being sent to a collection agency for one borrower. They inquired about a forbearance request before the next payment, due to unemployment.

The customer representative had said the borrower was eligible and promised to send a form via email and U.S. mail. Two weeks went by and no form arrived. So the borrower called the Firstmark Services phone number again. The representative said the form was never requested, but they would put it in a request. Another week passed — still nothing.

Finally, after a month and a couple of days, the borrower received the form. By this point, they were called multiple times a day for payment on a past-due loan.

Communication about payments has been a major gripe as well. One borrower reported that their payments were reversed four times. Firstmark Services only contacted them once when this occurred. The rest of the time, the borrower had to log in to check and would find their account was past due.

Another customer tried to set up automatic payments four times over the course of having the loan with Firstmark Services, which reported not receiving the requests when the borrower inquired. The borrower never received notifications from Firstmark Services about the missing payments. Instead, the borrower was contacted by the loan issuer when the account was 148 days past due.

Gaps in communication make it challenging for any borrower to get set up for successful payments with their student loans.

If you have loans with Firstmark Services, check your accounts ASAP. Get the right contact information and stay in touch with the loan servicer so you’re always doing your part. For the customers referenced above, managing their student loans with Firstmark Services was a bit of a nightmare. This may or may not be the case for you.

What you can do if you have Firstmark student loans

If you have loans with Firstmark Services and you’re not happy with it, you have options. One of them is to increase your payments and pay off the loan faster. Look at your expenses to see if you can lower any of them or ditch them completely so you can throw more money toward your student loan debt. Doing so can help you pay less in interest overall.

Another option is to refinance your private student loan with a private lender, financial institution, or credit union. This allows you to apply for a new loan that would pay your original loans in full. With your new refinance loan, you might also get a lower interest rate saving you money from interest charges. If you’re serious about refinancing your student loans to avoid Firstmark Services, shop around for a new lender. Look at the loan terms to ensure you're getting the same or better interest rate and see if you qualify without a cosigner.

Through student loan refinancing, you can typically choose between fixed interest rates or variable interest rates and also choose a new repayment term. Your repayment term affects your monthly payments, so make sure you can afford the payments coming out of your checking account. Also, see if there are additional perks for refinancing with the new lender such as any deferment options or autopay discounts.

In addition to making it easier to compare refinancing offers, Student Loan Planner® partnered with several private student loan lenders to get you a cashback bonus. That way you can save money on your student loan while also putting money back in your pocket. Rest assured that you don’t have to put up with a terrible loan servicer.