Consumer complaint received 2018-07-10
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: NV
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I have three ( 3 ) PLUS loans with a standard repayment term of ten ( 10 ) years. They were issued by the Dept. of Education in. The loans were later transferred to SallieMae in the year XXXX under the terms of the original promissory note. I then received a letter in XXXX from SallieMae and Navient stating they were now servicing the loan on behalf of the Dept. of Education. The letter stated there will be no changes to the terms, conditions and benefits of the existing loans.

I moved around a couple of times, retired, and I called Navient to discuss how I could repay my loans and get back on good repayment terms. The customer service representative ( csr ) recommended a forbearance or deferment period of one year. I agreed and understood my payments would resume as originally agreed upon. When I called back in a year, I was given more information about the forbearances and I eventually agreed to defer payments for a total of two ( 2 ) more forbearance years. 

I was informed that my payment of {$200.00} for 240 months would stay the same. I was also informed of income related plans but when I applied for them, I was denied. The csr then informed me that if I consolidated my loans, I would then be eligible for an income contingency repayment plan. I took the advice, consolidated my loans, applied, didn't qualify, and was denied again. I am now no longer eligible for forbearances and my repayment resumed in XXXX. 

Right before repayment, I received notice stating my payment amount had increased When I further delved into my repayment terms, I realized my payments had not only increased but an additional ten ( 10 ) years were added. 

My original loan in the amount of {$24000.00} for 240 months ( $ XXXX/monthly pymt ) has been updated to a pymt of $ XXXX/mo for 20 years ( XX/XX/XXXX ) for a total payoff of {$60000.00}!! When I called to voice a complaint, I was informed : " The 10 year Standard Level plan was the original repayment plan for your individual loans. When you Consolidate the Department of Education resets the Standard Level repayment terms based on the total balance of the loans being consolidated from anywhere between 12 and 35 years. The monthly payment is higher now because you have used 36 months of Voluntary Forbearance time. If you would like to pay your loan in 120 years, you can request that we increase your monthly payment to {$360.00} to pay the loan in full ''. 

I will be in my XXXX 's by the end of those repayment terms and would have paid double the amount owed. I was never informed of these changes when I talked to the csr. I would never have agreed to a forbearance or consolidation of my loans had I been told my loan terms would change to such a marked degree. I feel I was falsely coerced into these changes and also feel preyed upon as a trusting consumer. The phone conversations I had with Navient misled me into believing my payments and terms were still the same.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation