Consumer complaint received 2019-03-27
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I currently owe {$98000.00} in private student loan debt with Navient from my XXXX  school education. The interest rates on the loans vary of 8.5 - 14 %. I am unable to afford the minimum monthly payments on the loans and have therefore made continual efforts to reach out to Navient to arrange payment plans so that I never miss a payment. InXX/XX/XXXX, I started Navient 's Interest-Rate reduction which, at the time, reduced by interest rate to 1 % and lowered my payments based on my income. I have reapplied for the program every year since then and although the interest rates and payment amounts have increased, they have maintained my payments at a level that I am able to afford, and therefore I have been on time with my payments every month for five years, never missing a single payment. 

Each year, I have to call before the reduction plan expires to request a renewal and negotiate an affordable rate. In XX/XX/XXXX, the plan changed, requiring borrowers to call back every six months rather than every year, to request a renewal. The rate also increases now every six months. 

I called to renew my plan on XX/XX/XXXX, one month before my most recent plan was scheduled to end. I spoke with a representative named XXXX and provided my current income information, my budget, and the cause for my business 's recent financial hardship. As has happened many times in the past, I was offered a payment plan that was significantly higher than before, which I could not afford. I honestly informed XXXX that there was no way that I would be able to afford payments above {$700.00} each month. XXXX said that the system was only offering a 6 % interest rate and that he would need to seek a manager 's approval to honor my previous six month 's 5 % interest rate for a continued payment of {$640.00} per month. 

In the past, this process has always resulted in subsequent approval of the reduced interest rate plan. Automatic payments are set up from my checking account which is already linked to Navient. In prior calls, I have always been told that if everything is approved by the manager, that I won't hear back ( e.g., " no news is good news '' ). When I renewed my interest rate reduction plan last fall, it appeared a month later that the plan had not been set up. I hadn't heard anything back about the manager 's  approval, but I was told not to expect a call. So I called Navient to find out why my account was showing as overdue online. The representative informed me that they were simply " backlogged '' and hadn't yet put everything into the system. 

For these reasons, there was no indication that my most recent renewal would be any different. I did my due diligence. I called a month before my plan ended to ensure I wouldn't be late on a payment. I provided all the necessary information. I took notes. I was told that a manger 's approval would be sought for my reduction rate and I trusted that I would hear back if there was a problem. I never heard back, so I believed that my plan would continue and my payments would be made as usual. 

Over the last two days, I missed several calls from a number I did not recognize. No messages were left for me. Because I run a military and veteran mental health center I am unable to receive phone calls during the day. However, today, I luckily was able to see my phone ring while I was walking to the bathroom, and I answered a call from Navient -- the caller who had been calling and hanging up without leaving a message for the last two days. 

A representative told me that I owed over {$800.00}. I stopped what I was doing and went over my notes with her detailing my XX/XX/XXXX phone call with the Navient representative, XXXX, who had said that he was going to seek a manger 's approval for my continued 5 % interest rate. She said that my account had not been entered into the interest-rate reduction program and that it was now overdue. I asked if we could put it back in the interest rate reduction program and she said that was not an option because it had gone overdue since the auto-pay was dropped when it left the program. 

I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that she could not offer me any repayment options. I told her that this seemed unfair because I had done everything in my control to keep my account current and that I never received a call to inform me that a manger 's approval was not obtained for my plan. She said that she would send an email to the managers of the representative XXXX with whom I spoke on XX/XX/XXXX and that they would review the recording of the call " when they could. '' I was given no indication of whether the managers would reinstate my eligibility for the interest rate reduction plan. 

For the last five years since I have been in the interest-rate reduction program, I have managed my Navient account responsibly. I have made every payment on time, and I have always called Navient before the interest rate plan has lapsed to request reinstatement. Now, Navient has failed to follow through as promised and made no indication to me after my XX/XX/XXXX phone call that my account was not approved for enrollment in the interest-rate reduction program. Furthermore, THERE ARE NO NOTES ON THE ACCOUNT TO INDICATE THAT IT WAS REVIEWED BY A MANAGER FOR APPROVAL. Navient 's failure to appropriately follow-through on my program application led to my account going into an unpaid and overdue status without my knowledge, thereby disqualifying me from participation in the interest-rate reduction program altogether. This negligence has now additionally harmed my credit and puts me in a position of even greater financial hardship. 

I am seeking Navient 's reinstatement of my eligibility for the interest-rate reduction program and removal of the overdue status on my account. 

Thank you for your fair consideration of this request.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief