Consumer complaint received 2019-09-26
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: MA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
I have been enrolled in Navient 's Rate Reduction Program ( RRP ) for my private student loans since XX/XX/XXXX. This program was offered to me by Navient only after I had spent years contacting them to offer me a lower, more manageable and affordable payment while I was repeatedly being pushed/recommended into forbearance for over seven years each time I called attempting to set up a payment plan. This action, in and of itself, significantly increased my total balance from {$96000.00} when I graduated in XXXX to over {$120000.00} after taking the recommendation from Sallie Mae ( at the time ) to enroll in deferment and forbearance programs, claiming they were the only option that was available to me since I could not make the full payment as required. 

Since I have been enrolled in the RRP in XXXX, I have not missed a payment on my loans held my Navient. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an update on my credit report that there was a delinquency added to my credit file. This was listed as a delinquency by Sallie Mae which I found out of sorts due to the fact that I am enrolled in an auto-pay program. Even in the past, when the agreed amount from RRP enrollment as expired, the terms agreed to in the RRP state that when that term expires, auto-payments will be taken out of the account set up at the full/normal payment amount. After having this situation occur every time my RRP needed to be re-authorized since XXXX, this had not happened for the first time in the past five years that I have been enrolled in this program. Neither myself nor my co-signer had received any letters in regards to the missed payments even though Navient has claimed to have mailed them out. Having never missed a payment since XXXX, any communication from Navient would have immediately caught my attention since my account has been in auto-pay since enrolling in the RRP. 

Upon calling Navient to sort out the error in my account, I was informed by an employee named XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), that I had been removed from the RRP in XXXX and my account was switched to scheduled payments. When I asked questions as to why myself or my co-signer had not been contacted by Navient in regards to my account being past due or for a reason why I was removed from the RRP, he did not offer me any reason other than, " Metrics change on a month-to-month basis for the RRP and now you aren't eligible, I don't really know why other that it just shows that you do not qualify for that program. '' There was no finite reason given to me as to why I had been removed from it. As I spoke with XXXX about what other options were available if the RRP was not one of them, I was given two choices which are ultimately going to do more harm than good. He told me that he looked at multiple different things but after quite some time of navigating through whatever available repayment options existed that the only way to get my monthly payment close to what I was paying in the RRP ( {$600.00} ) was to enroll me into a " Payment Forbearance Program '' ( {$740.00} ). It is important to note that this is an INTEREST ONLY payment plan that is also only temporary, for six months, and the only thing it was doing was bringing my account current. Nothing will be going towards the principle of my total loan balance which currently stands at {$100000.00} with interest rates between 5.75-8 % on the four loans currently held by Navient. The second option would be to make a payment for {$2400.00} to bring my account current to cover the three months of missed payments at the full payment of {$860.00} which I has made clear at the beginning of the conversation that I was unable to pay, I am also unable to afford the {$940.00} payment required of my account as the posted monthly payment going forward. {$260.00} is a large difference between the payment I was making while enrolled in the RRP and the standard monthly payment, {$340.00} is even more substantial and less affordable. 

XXXX then asked if I would like to speak with his supervisor to see if she had any options available to me that he was unaware of, I would like to note that this representative did seem like he was genuinely trying to help me find a payment option that I would be able to afford. I then spoke with the supervisor, XXXX XXXX. When I gave a brief explanation to XXXX of the contents to my conversation with XXXX, I also asked her if she was able to tell me why I was suddenly ineligible for the RRP. She too told me the same line about metrics changing month to month and had no reason to give aside from that. I explained to XXXX, just as I had to XXXX, that my enrollment in the RRP was the only reason that I had been able to afford payments and keep my account current and in good standing and I did not understand why I was suddenly ineligible for it. When I asked if there was another program similar to the RRP that I could utilize to keep my account current, she did not have anything to offer aside from the options that had been laid out by her employee. I shared my frustration that recommending me to enrolling in an interest only repayment plan is moving backwards in paying off this massive debt and only having one option for those who can not afford their monthly payments is not helping the customer. 

I then was belittled by XXXX XXXX during the remainder of our conversation while I was asking why there are no programs to help me and my only option is to go backwards. Ms. XXXX told me that she was reading my file and could see that I had used seven years of forbearance/deferment time on my loans which was when I was supposed to figure out how to make my payments and the RRP is meant only as a temporary program. I should not have to defend myself nor explain to a stranger working in customer service while I am trying to act in good faith to sort out an issue about my ongoing struggle trying to pay this student loan debt. I should not have to combat a morality lecture from a call center supervisor with the facts that when my loans went into repayment in XXXX, I was unable to find gainful employment in the height of the Great Recession and barely made $ XXXX working multiple part time jobs which made a student loan payment of over {$900.00} impossible to afford. At the direction of multiple Sallie Mae employees, my loans were sent to forbearance/deferment time and time again when I called to try and arrange affordable payments. Call center employees from Navient are NOT certified financial advisers nor do they have the right to speak to customers who are trying to work out plans in order to stay in good standing with their accounts that are acting in good faith and trying their hardest to make it work. There was no good faith from Ms. XXXX XXXX and that she is a supervisor is troubling. The fact that Navient only has a SINGLE option in the RRP ( which they are able to be dropped from without any explanation ) for those who are struggling to make payments is unthinkable. The fact that I am able to continue to pay around $ 600/month but have no option available to enroll in to keep me in good standing is frustrating and unacceptable.

I have been dealing with Navient/Sallie Mae for over 10 years. It is clear that Navient is not working with their customers in order to pay down ( and ultimately off ) their student loan debt. Their only goal is collecting payments and humiliating/shaming customers when they are seeking help and guidance to navigate their options.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation