Consumer complaint received 2018-11-07
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: DE
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
The payment allocation system was well-balanced and effective, in my case. I mailed a monthly payment of {$75.00} which was 50 % higher than the {$49.00}, a previous minimum payment that appeared on several loan statements. This paid the monthly interest charges and an amount to the principal of each of my remaining three student loan amounts. However, Navient chose to make changes to their payment allocations that directly affected my account approximately XX/XX/XXXX. Now, even after making an adjustment by phone, my payment allocations are being applied in such a way that I am slowly accruing interest and principal on a subsidized account that has not received proper payment allocation since Navients XX/XX/XXXX changes. Subsequently, my statements now show a past due amount reflecting the exact balance increase of subsidized loan. Does this effect my credit, and if so, how? I requested this credit information in writing by phone with customer service agent XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. He informed me I am twelve days past due even though they processed my payment of {$75.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX also informed me that I was reported to the credit bureaus two and a half years ago for being 90 days past due, which is impossible given that I have made monthly payments since the end of XXXX, approximately four years ago, which was before my repayment status began. I requested in writing all pertinent documents to this previous false delinquency report to the credit bureaus. 

Each loan statement provided by Navient includes an additional one sided page that reads, first to Unpaid Fees, then to Unpaid Interest, and then to Unpaid Principal. This is how they explain payment allocation in writing but in a previous customer service call in XX/XX/XXXX, I was told essentially the old payment allocation is no longer available. Even though the above quote is how they continue to explain allocation in print with each monthly statement, Navient still chose to make changes to my payment allocation, without my consent. Their changes were also without formal notice or explanation of options. I once took advantage of their instructions to include on a separate piece of paper included with your check the directions of how to apply a larger than usual overpayment. I still had to end up calling their customer service to reallocate the payment because they ignored the directions I gave on separate paper directly provided per their printed instructions. 

The loan statements provided by Navient are unnecessarily confusing with, at times, contradictory due dates. On my most recent loan statement, there is an amount and due date in the upper right corner, ( i.e. {$38.00} due XX/XX/XXXX ). There is a past due amount and pay by date to avoid late fees ( i.e. {$19.00}, XX/XX/XXXX ), which given mail times of their statement and how quickly they receive and process mailed payments, it is impossible to mail a payment and avoid a late fee upon receiving a printed monthly statement. It is further confusing because my last payment was not applied to the past due amount at all and the late fee to be assessed is {$0.00}. It is no wonder that a cursory internet search for Navient complaints shows several on-going lawsuits filed against Navient. 

Given I have good credit and I make above my minimum payments regularly, my student loan account is and should remain in good standing. I can only imagine what the needless stress and avoidable financial penalties are like for the myriad of other United States citizens that are struggling to make only their minimum payments.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation