Consumer complaint received 2019-01-29
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: NY
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:
I graduated with my XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX   studies and started paying off my student loans in XX/XX/XXXX. Initially my loan was with Sallie Mae ( now Navient ) and it is now with XXXX XXXX. When I discussed my repayment options with Sallie Mae on numerous occasions, they always insisted I repay my loans using the standard payment plan and discouraged me from the income driven plan. They told me I would pay my loan off faster if I did the standard plan and encouraged me to pay more on top of the monthly payments when it was feasible for me. They did not present the public service loan forgiveness program as an option to me, even though I was clearly working in the public service department as a XXXX XXXX. 
I honored that plan, making my payments timely and in full over almost 6 years, even paying extra principal whenever I could spare, trying my best to get ahead as they advised. 
In XX/XX/XXXX I discovered the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) program and contacted my current loan company,  XXXX XXXX. They explained I would qualify if I simply switched to an income driven repayment plan. I immediately changed my payment plan, applied for the PSLF program and qualified. 
In retrospect, I was paying considerably MORE on a monthly basis and at a higher interest rate ( even without the additional principal I was trying to pay ), in the Standard Repayment Plan then I would have had I been enrolled in the Income Based plan from the start. Let alone the fact that I would have been accumulating credited time towards loan forgiveness. Had I been properly informed of my options, this one plan in particular, I clearly would have gone this route. 
When I was told by my loan company and PSLF that there was nothing they could do to for the 5+ years I lost out from participating, I contacted my lawyer who directed me to our state congressman, XXXX XXXX XXXX I explained to him that the previous 5+ years of loan repayment did not fall under the strict guidelines currently in place for eligibility of the PSLF program and I was interested in the possibility of the guidelines being amended going forward and possibly on a retro-active basis. Unfortunately, they were unable to help. 
I have recently discovered that I am one of many individuals that were wrongly advised by Sallie Mae ( now Navient ). If it wasnt for their misguidance to convince me to pay more using the standard loan repayment plan and steer me away from the income based plan, I would have qualified for PSLF 9 years ago. Not only would I have saved money a monthly basis, but I would qualify for complete loan forgiveness later this year. Instead I have paid thousands of dollars more than necessary and will be paying off my loans for an additional 5+ years. I have struggled at times to make my payments but have always made the sacrifice and kept it a priority. It is wildly unethical what Sallie Mae/Navient has done to me and apparently many others. Clearly they mislead customers like me for their own profit. Before I continue to pursue this legally, I thought it would be beneficial to make a formal complaint to your department.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation