Consumer complaint received 2019-01-16
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: OH
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:
Before I began XXXX  school, I contacted Navient and was told that my loan was eligible for in-school deferment. I chose this option, submitted the request, and budgeted my very limited assets assuming the deferment was legitimate and I would not be paying this bill for the time being. I began XXXX school and found out through collection attempts from Navient that I was not, in fact, in deferment status. On or around XX/XX/XXXX I was advised by the company that I was not eligible for deferment, and I paid {$100.00} to forbear my loan to bring it to current, in panic that my credit was being affected. I contacted Navient twice in XX/XX/XXXX. I believe the dates of these calls were on or around XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I was given information indicating I did have options to lower my payment, then later those statements were retracted, apparently in alignment with the contract I signed with XXXX XXXX XXXX. Since that day I have been in contact at least twice more with Navient ( I can not recall the next call after XX/XX/XXXX, and I spoke with a supervisor today ). I also made a monthly payment on XX/XX/XXXX in good faith to show I am not a person who is avoiding their bills, but rather someone looking for a realistic option to repay my loan until I am done with XXXX school and back to work. During the process since XX/XX/XXXX I asked Navient to send me a copy of my contract, which I did review. The contract verbiage did not align with what I had been told by a Navient representative. I was told specifically that my contract prohibited deferment since the loan was disbursed ( I believe a term of 60 months ) in the past, however the contract did not expressly or implicitly contain this provision. I was then told that I had no options to adjust or delay my payments according to the terms of my original contract with XXXX XXXX XXXX. Today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I spoke with a representative, then supervisor XXXX XXXX, who advised I did have an option ( one not previously communicated to me ) of making interest-only payments, however the discount was insignificant ( a {$30.00} difference, from a monthly payment of around {$170.00} ) and therefore did not help my situation. XXXX also advised I could place my loan in forbearance to bring it back to current, seemingly the exact option I took advantage of in XX/XX/XXXX. I had previously filed a complaint to the Navient office of the Ombudsman, however the results of the request were not communicated to me until I asked the representative on today 's telephone call. The results indicated there was no representative error, which is logically impossible since I was previously given options by the company that were mutually exclusive. XXXX was very understanding and submitted another Ombudsman research request within Navient, as well as an internal research request. She anticipated that I would receive a telephone reply ( and voicemail if no answer ) within the next couple weeks. I did advise XXXX that I would proceed with a CFPB complaint as well. My desire is not to get out of paying my loans. If I can find a way to make a reasonable payment, or to defer temporarily, that would be the best result until I receive income and can go back to making normal payments. Additionally, my contract did mention a minimum monthly payment of {$30.00}, which may or may not be relevant to my issue, but if this provision is implying that I could reduce my monthly payments to this amount, I would certainly be able to budget my loan payments. I have two loans total that were originally borrowed from XXXX XXXX XXXX and are now serviced by Navient. If there is any additional information I can provide please do not hesitate to contact me via telephone or mail.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation