Consumer complaint received 2018-10-29
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: MI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
Good afternoon, I am having issues with Navient regarding the repayment of my private loans. I have been on their private loan " rate reduction plan '' for the past 3 years. The benefit to this plan is that it lowers the private loan interest rates so I am able to pay my loans on time every month. Without this plan, I am unable to pay the loans on time, therefore hurting my credit and how I make future purchases. On the rate reduction plan my monthly bill is {$360.00} for private loans and my federal loans remain at {$370.00}. The plan used to go for 1 year and I would have to call at the 12th month and renew the plan. Since my finances have not changed much, I have been accepted for the plan the last few years. Last XXXX when I called in to extend my plan I was told by XXXX XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ) that I was approved for re-enrollment, but the plan had been cut down to every 6 months, therefore would expire at the end of XX/XX/2018 and I would have to reapply again then ( please see attached Customer Financial Information document ). In XX/XX/2018 I received an email to re-apply to the plan by filling out some questions online. The email had a link that I could click that took me to an online XXXX page. I filled out the paperwork on this page about how much I make and all of my bills and sent it to Navient on XX/XX/2018 at XXXX. I did not hear back, so I called Navient on XX/XX/2018 at XXXX to check the status of my application. A man named XXXX answered the phone and then hung up at XXXX. I called back at XXXX and a woman named XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ) answered. We went through the details of the application I sent in on XX/XX/2018 and she was able to extend my plan. The new plan went from XX/XX/2018- XX/XX/2018. On XX/XX/2018 at XXXX I received an email from Navient about re-enrolling in the rate reduction plan again. The email was similar to the one I received in XXXX, but this time I was unable to click the link to the XXXX page to fill out my information. I waited to see if another email would come with a link that worked. I waited until XX/XX/2018 and since no email had come, I decided to send an email to XXXX. My email said, Good afternoon, I am currently enrolled in the Rate Reduction Plan for my Private Student Loans and I would like to re-enroll. My unique identifier is XXXX. Is there a way that I can apply online for re-enrollment? Thank you, XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/2018 XXXX responded, Hello XXXX, Because we aim to protect your personal information, we are unable to assist you with your request via email. However, we are happy to discuss your account over the phone. Please call us at XXXX. Were available Monday Friday XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX, ET. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX. I called the number given and the woman agent asked me the same questions that have been asked all the previous times. No major financials changes were made from last time to this time. I was told by the agent that she was not able to offer the rate reduction plan. She told me that the section that she would have to click was grayed out and that there was no way to even check if I could be accepted. She said that I should call back in XXXX and that Id be able to re-apply then. On XX/XX/2018 at XXXX I called Navient again and the agent who answered was named XXXX . She asked for the standard information ; my social security number, birthday, address, phone number and then asked why I was calling. I told her that I was trying to re-enroll in the rate reduction plan and she was happy to tell me that two weeks ago a policy was changed to make it easier for people to get approved for the plans. She said that its been so much easier on everyone involved and I was thrilled to hear that because the process has been very time consuming and stressful the past few years. After another minute she told me that the rate reduction plan was not available to me. I asked her why and she said that the section she has to click on is just grayed out. I asked her what that meant and she said that maybe my finances or FICCO score has changed, but that it doesnt give specifics and thats just what the management told them to say. She told me that my private loan payments would go up to {$530.00} a month, {$160.00} extra dollars every month. I told her that I am living paycheck to paycheck, so theres absolutely no way I can pay more than what I do now. She said that she could try to extend the terms on the loans to make the payments go down, but after she checked there were only 3 loans that would be eligible and it would barely make a difference in my payments. She said that another option would be to pay interest only and that would be {$480.00} a month. Again, I told her that I dont make enough money to pay that and that I need to stay on the rate reduction plan. I was told again that its not available, so I asked to speak to a manager or someone who could better explain why it wasnt available to me because Ive never missed a payment and Ive been on it so long. XXXX told me that the manager would tell me the same thing and that there was no point. She didnt try to get anyone else on the phone to help or give other solutions. She mentioned enrolling me in autopay and said that it would reduce the interest rates by .25 %, but that wouldnt help me much either. I asked her if she suggests that I should just pay all my loans late because that was what was going to happen if I couldnt be on the rate reduction plan. She said that she doesnt know what I should do and recommended a 3rd party to take over my loans for me. She also mentioned going on forbearance for 3 months, but my payments would raise to approximately {$550.00} a month after that and I told her that there was no way I could pay more. I was given different options, but nothing that will work with my current financial situation. Every month the private loan payment would directly come out of my account, so Ive never been late for a payment. I am unsure why I was declined this time and I want answers. I believe that Navient is making it as hard as possible to repay student loans. I am trying to be responsible and pay off as much as I can, but that does not seem to be enough for Navient. All I ask is that I stay on the rate reduction plan and continue to make the same payments that Ive been making for years. 

Thank you, XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation