Consumer complaint received 2017-07-19
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: IL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I have been a   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   for 25 years. I was told by my loan servicer, Navient, many times over the past 7 years ( Navient took over my loan in   XX/XX/XXXX  )  pursuant to my incessant inquiries, that my consolidated student loan is eligible for public service loan forgiveness and that my loans will be forgiven in     XX/XX/XXXX , wh en I will have made 120 loan payments.
On   XX/XX/XXXX  , I received notice from the U.S. Department of Education that my consolidated loan is not eligible for forgiveness because it 's a federal consolidated loan, not a federal direct consolidated loan. Needless to say, I was shocked and angered by this news, as Navient has repeatedly assured me that I have nothing to worry about and my family and I financially relied on those assurances.
I called Navient, and I received a defensive stance from the representative I spoke to, not to mention dubious answers to my questions. I asked for and received a floor supervisor and explained that not once did Navient inform me that my consolidated loans were not direct consolidated loans or that I would have to convert my loans to direct consolidated loans in order to be eligible for forgiveness. I told the supervisor that, in fact, Navient representatives have consistently assured me over the years that my loans were eligible for forgiveness.
Of course, Navient says they have no record of any such calls. I am an   XXXX   of the   XXXX  , and I 'm not about to lose my   XXXX   XXXX   by lying about my repeated calls to Navient over the years and their assurances that my loans are eligible for forgiveness and not to worry.
The supervisor informed me that it is the duty and policy of all Navient representatives to steer   XXXX   XXXX   like myself toward direct loan consolidation so that they can take advantage of public service loan forgiveness. The supervisor seemed surprised at my situation. I then asked the supervisor what it takes to convert a consolidated loan into a direct consolidated loan. She informed me that it 's a simple phone call and that the monthly payments are substantially the same!
I then submitted that had I been properly advised by Navient to convert to a direct consolidated loan, I most assuredly would have done so. It would be foolish not to!
I then asked what happens to the loan if I convert. She informed me that the loan is purchased from Navient. Considering that my loan is not expected to be paid off with Navient until the year  XX/XX/XXXX  ( even though I 've already paid over {$100000.00} on an initial {$45000.00} or so debt ), I posited that it sounds like coverting my loan would be against Navient 's interests, as they would lose the loan and all the interest that comes with it. The supervisor, to my surprise, agreed.
I then floated my suspicions that Navient 's officially published policy requires representatives to steer public service debtors toward direct consolidated loans, but that, unofficially, these representatives are told to withhold this material information to avoid losing loans to conversions. The supervisor had no comment here.
Navient 's answer to me : Convert to a direct consolidated loan now and start over with my qualifying 10 years of public service and 120 qualifying loan payments! I 'm 6 years away from retirement! I 've got 25 years of public service and over 20 years of loan payments. But, because public service forgiveness is not retroactive, I only get credit for the last 10 years of service and loan payments.
I spoke to two colleagues that also have consolidated loans through Navient. I told them my horrific story and they were both shocked. They too were assured by Navient time and again that they are fine and not to worry about their eligibility for public service forgiveness. But now, they 're not so sure if their expectations will be fleeced like mine were. My colleagues have no idea if their loans are direct consolidated loans or not. In fact, my colleagues never heard from Navient of any distinction between direct consolidated loans and other consolidated loans. They simply relied, like I did, on Navient 's assurances that their loans are eligible for forgiveness.
I 've already written and sent off letters to the CEO of Navient ; my U.S. Senator,   XXXX   XXXX   ; and my U.S. Attorney in  XXXX . After an extensive internet search, I thought that submitting this complaint to your agency would be a good idea, as you appear to be all too familiar with Navient 's dubious, if not illegal, loan servicing practices. Please help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation