Consumer complaint received 2017-08-07
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I received a student loan through XXXX XXXX College. While enrolled I found out the program I was attending was not accredited and the courses taken would not transfer to any accredited college. I was duped into the loan. Eventually I defaulted on the loan. XXXX XXXX College closed its doors in XX/XX/XXXX.
I was contacted by XXXX XXXX and through an offer I consolidated the loan to get me out of deferment. This consolidation occurred inXX/XX/XXXX. I am currently in default and this is ruining my life.
Navient now holds this loan. I reached out to the XXXX XXXX XXXX in order to request this loan be discharged due to fraud by the school. I received a call indicating that they do not have a federal loan showing for me. I contacted Navient and they indicate the loan should shown on the student aid website. My loan does not show. I believe some type of fraud has been committed and I am not able to avail of the correct discharge program due to the loan not being reported to federal XXXX XXXX.
Navient only wants me to enroll and pay for something I did not benefit from. To add insult on top of injury, my original loan was just shy of {$5000.00} and Navient is holding me hostage for over {$28000.00} for something that I can not benefit from.
I have been working to find a solution for this. A more detailed request that I sent to Navient has been cut and pasted below. XX/XX/XXXXXX/XX/XXXX Navient Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX Good Afternoon, I was compelled to reach out to you at this time. I feel as if I am at the end of my rope. Currently Navient has a defaulted loan for me in the amount of {$28.00}, XXXX. I believe that in a sense I have been taken advantage of and now I am in a situation where I have to exhaust all avenues available to me to find a remedy.
In XX/XX/XXXX, I enrolled in XXXX College a XXXX XXXX XXXX school in California. I was misled by school administrators to believe that upon completing the program I would acquire an XXXX XXXX with credits transferable to a university program. I soon found out none of this was true. I was deceived and defrauded and XXXX closed its doors in XX/XX/XXXX.
It wasnt until recently I found out I could apply to have my original loan cancelled by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX under the borrowers defense due to the schools fraud. I contacted the XXXX XXXX XXXX last week and was informed that I do not have a defaulted loan with them and would not be able to apply for cancellation of the debt because they show the loan paid off in XX/XX/XXXX.
What I was able to discover, and now realize, is that in XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by a representative from XXXX XXXX with an offer to get me out of federal default status by loan consolidation. I agreed to the offer in hopes to get some relief. No one from XXXX XXXX ever told me that by doing this my XXXX XXXX XXXX loan would then be considered a private loan. No one ever informed me of the statue I could avail of due to fraud by the school. Instead I was transitioned and could not maintain the payment schedule. By transitioning my loan to a private loan, I was deprived of my ability for the loan to be cancelled by the XXXX XXXX XXXX. ( Please note originally Navient told me I have a private loan with them. The advocate dept. states however it is a federal loan ).
This has greatly impacted me because the balance now sits at {$28.00}, XXXX and immensely affects my credit rating. I can not move any further in life without getting this resolved. When I first received by disbursement for XXXX College, the payment went directly to the school. There were two loans sent to them. Loan # 1 was a FFEL Supplement Loan for {$2300.00}, and Loan # 2 was a FFEL Stafford Subsidized Loan for {$2600.00}. This is a total of {$4900.00}. My life is indebted now for almost {$30000.00} and I have received nothing in return that will enrich me or allow me to benefit from. I was a victim of an unscrupulous organization.
Unfortunately, due to catastrophic events in my life including XXXX sick children ( out of XXXX  ), husband becoming addicted to drugs, divorce and being laid off over 4 times, I have done the best I can to just survive. This has been the biggest challenge. I have filed bankruptcy twice in my life in an effort to merely sustain. Most recently I was unemployed from XX/XX/XXXXXX/XX/XXXX. I have been employed since XX/XX/XXXX in a lower level position in XXXX XXXX and am still rebounding.
I am XXXX years old and currently paying off a bill to the IRS. There is no way I will be able to pay over {$28000.00} to Navient. I feel as if I am being held hostage. I can reopen my last bankruptcy ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and petition the judge for this debt to be relieved through an adversary proceeding. However, I am reaching out to you for help with issue to see if there is a way this debt can be cancelled. Your representatives have petitioned me with a payment plan in the amount of {$28.00}, XXXX that will not help my situation in any way and that is their only offer.
Please let me know if there is any other alternative. I can be reached at XXXX.
Thank you for your time.
XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation