Consumer complaint received 2021-04-27
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: IL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX, I applied for XXXX Loan Forgiveness for my student loans through my lender, Navient by submitting an application. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Navient stating that I was denied for not meeting the eligibility requirements for XXXX for 5 years. I called to dispute this in XXXX of XXXX and spoke with a customer service representative and a supervisor. I made them aware of my specific circumstance as stated in the conditions of the XXXX Loan Forgiveness Terms through the U.S. Department of Education. 

I began XXXX in a public, low-income school district in XX/XX/XXXX immediately after I graduated from a postsecondary institution. I was hired as a full time XXXX and have taught consecutively since then. I stayed at that position until XX/XX/XXXX until I was offered a position at a different school. This school met the low-income requirements as well and I have remained in that position for 5 years since that date. I currently am on the salary schedule in my district as a 6 year XXXX as well as on the XXXX  Retirement System in Illinois. 

You can click on the link below to see those terms : https : //studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/teacher " The requirements state half an academic year counts as If you were unable to complete a full academic year of XXXX, that year may still be counted toward the required five complete and consecutive academic years if you completed at least one-half of the academic year ; and your employer considers you to have fulfilled your contract requirements for the academic year for the purposes of salary increases, tenure, and retirement '' To confirm my employment, a Navient representative requested a letter from my former supervisor stating that I was hired as a full-time XXXX in XXXX of XXXX. 

My former supervisor wrote a letter confirming this information and I sent the letter to Navient in XXXX of XXXX. 

In XXXX of XXXX, my application was denied again. I called Navient in XXXX of XXXX and spoke to a customer service representative and was told that the letter needed to contain my hire date in the format of MM/DD/YYYY and the Assistant Superintendent needed to write in his position next to his signature. 

My former job provided this information in the correct format and I resubmitted my application as well as the new letter XXXX of XXXX. 
cher loan forgiveness by claiming that I have not met the five year XXXX requirement. 
Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I received another denial letter from Navient claiming that I have not met the five year XXXX requirement. 

I have called and spoken to Navient 4 times today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to dispute this after they have hung up and disconnected with me twice. I have talked to 3 customer service agents and a supervisor, who are all unaware of the terms of the program. After being put on hold, I was told by a final supervisor that I did not meet the requirements for years of XXXX and that if I submit my application again with my current employer at the end of this academic year, I will meet the requirements.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation