Consumer complaint received 2018-02-05
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: IL
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:
Dear CFPB member, I have 5 different loans, which Navient never allowed me to consolidate. I have a cosigner, who Navient used as a " pawn '' when I asked to release him, saying I wouldn't be qualified, despite my high enough credit score, which I worked really hard to attain and my continuous full time employment since graduation in XX/XX/XXXX. Each of the 5 loans gets charged anywhere between 8.5-11 % interest rate ( which is preposterous ) and my total amount has reached {$88000.00}. I was in an income-based payment plan with Navient and my fixed monthly amount came $ XXXX/month ( a fourth of my income ), which was manageable. The money was being withdrawn directly from my bank account so all I would get from Navient is a statement showing the amount that was being withdrawn and the interest accrued. Given my high credit score I decided to refinance with a lower rate ( 3.4 % ) I got approved from XXXX XXXX XXXX, mid-summer of last year ( XX/XX/XXXX ). This is where I discovered the first issue : 1. When I asked for a detailed invoice for each of my 5 accounts ( as XXXX 's XXXX   requested ) I discovered Navient had been charging me late fees and listing them as late fees in my account. When confronted them with the issue, they stated that ( and I paraphrasing ) their software automatically does that but I shouldn't worry because I am not really paying any late fees or getting reported to the Credit Bureau. This explanation was not good enough for XXXX 's XXXX  even when I presented them with a 7 year record of repayment history. They requested that my late fees be removed and they extended their offer for low rate refinance to 90 days so I can get the issue fixed. When I reached out to Navient to ask them to work something out and explained the issue to them all they could offer was me paying my regular minimum payment of $ XXXX/month for the next 90 days to get it fixed, which I couldn't afford to begin with. They claimed they couldn't get the late fees removed because that was an automatic thing the computer did due to the fact that my fixed monthly payment was being withdrawn on the XXXX day of the month, but my payment due dates for 4 of my 5 loans were between the XXXX and the XXXX of every month. This was the first time I had been given such detail in all 7 years I had been dealing with Navient and their predecessor ( XXXX XXXX ). After a lot of back and forth from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX Navient never fixed the problem and I lost my offer for low rate consolidation. Not only that but Navient removed me from the repayment plan and reported me to the credit bureau for missing payments for 3 months on a row, ruining my credit and my cosigners. 
2. I finally got on the phone with them and reasoned so they decided to put me in a 6 month low amount repayment plan until I figure out another option ; they withdraw $ XXXX/month from my account, since XX/XX/XXXX. I have been keeping an eye on the account because not only they keep charging me late fees and interest rates but they are also reporting me late to the Credit Bureau, despite taking the money from my account as agreed upon. This trends continues with them. 
I want to figure out a solution that would allow me to refinance and now that shot has been stripped away from me despite having worked so hard to get there ; all because Navient lied about the terms of the repayment plan under one-fixed monthly payment, continuing to charge me late fees and interest rates and finally ruining my credit I worked hard to build. Last but not least, I really want my American dream, just like everyone else and I can not get there until XX/XX/XXXX or later if Navient continues to play tricks on consumer who are trying really hard to repay their loans despite the fact that our educational institutions tricked us into these loans without properly educating or giving us real choices. 
Thank you so much for looking into this matter for me. 
Respectfully, IL Resident

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation