Consumer complaint received 2018-02-13
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: UT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
In light of your current suit against Navient, I would like to lodge a complaint against them as well in the handling of the loans XXXX XXXX arranged with XXXX XXXX in behave of my son, who attended from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ; ( D-6a, D-6b, D-6c ) but was unable to finish a program and graduate with a  degree. He was given the option to change his program in order to continue at XXXX and to receive additional funds. 

We are also in the process of applying for a Borrower Defense against Repayment claim with the Department of Education against XXXX XXXX for our federal loans. However, since my son was not attending XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX when they closed, we may not be able to be approved. And, of course, our two private loans will not even be considered. Therefore, we are appealing to the CFPB to have Navient ( who issued loan for students attending XXXX XXXX ; and XXXX recently closed due to fraudulent practices as well ) dissolve these loans based on the findings similar to the CFPB suit with Navient as mentioned in their statement dated XX/XX/XXXX : " XXXX XXXX created obstacles to repayment by providing bad information, processing payments incorrectly, and failing to act when borrowers complained. Through shortcuts and deception, the company also illegally cheated many struggling borrowers out of their rights to lower repayments, which caused them to pay much more than they had to for their loans. '' The private loans were called XXXX XXXX loans from XXXX XXXX who supposedly supplied the " federal '' loans. XXXX XXXX never called them private loans at the time of our first meeting ; rather with a co-signer these larger loans could supplement the federal loans our son qualified for on his own. Also XXXX XXXX had us sign as co-signers for these XXXX XXXX loans before we were ever offered a XXXX XXXX loan. ( D-1,  D-3, D-4 ) This is an obvious case of predatory lending between XXXX XXXX and Navient. The dates and amounts for the two private loans ( and the Parent Plus loan ) are as follows : Loan Date Original Loan Amount Outstanding principal XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( actual disbursement XXXX ) XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( actual disbursement XXXX ) XXXX XXXX We can corroborate each allegation of the aforementioned suit because of 10+ years of personal dealings with Navient and their servicing of our federal and private loans.

" Fails to correctly apply or allocate borrower payments to their accounts : '' XXXX XXXX   used XXXX XXXX ( now Navient ) in obtaining financial aid for their students. In our first meeting with XXXX XXXX to help our son get enrolled ( XX/XX/XXXX ), as parents, our signatures were obtained for his financial aid, but paperwork was not given with the type of loans, amounts, or distribution dates. As paperwork arrived through the mail, it was misleading and confusing. Each loan was reported separately, with different payments and due dates. When a payment was made we had no idea how it was being applied. Even later, when Navient emerged, and we were able to pull up our accounts online, it was still very disorganized. The amount due was a combination of the loan 's next payment, past due payment and late fees ; but we soon learned not to hit that button and, instead, individually select each loan. By XX/XX/XXXX their website became a little more user friendly in obtaining loan information and making individual loan payments. But by then, I was making payments on just three loans : ( D-A ) two private loans with parent cosigners and a XXXX XXXX loan in my name only. The 15 federal loans went into default.

" Steers struggling borrowers toward paying more than they have to on loans : '' Private loans come from lenders like XXXX XXXX XXXX rather than federal sponsored loans. The lender can apply their interest rates and payment requirements ; and are not eligible for the same repayment programs of federal loans such as income-based loan repayment. Depending on information taken over the phone for a Financial Statement of income and debts, the only avenues for private loans are : Rate reduction - reducing the interest rate if you qualify ; Extend repayment plan that lowers payments but increases the number of years you have to pay ; and Interest only payments for 24 - 48 months. These payment plans don't seem to help the borrower actually pay off any principal, but rather perpetuate the loan allowing Navient to collect interest longer from it. Navient sets the interest rates and what type of loan they are with these private loans. My husband co-signed on one and I co-signed on one. Both were called College Advantage loans, but his loan would be eligible for the Rate Reduction and Extend payment programs and my loan was only eligible for the Rate Reduction and Interest Only Payment programs. When I called to ask about these plans it was interesting that they would not allow me to give any information about my son 's income to try and qualify for a repayment plan, but insisted on talking to him first because I was not the holder of the loan ; but as a co-signer they would allow me to place the loans into forbearance without talking to him first. They require financial statements from the student as well as the co-signers. Knowing that my son 's income balance minus expenses was only {$40.00}, I asked if we could eliminate his income ( and the need to have him call ) and base things off of mine alone since I was the one making any payments for the last four years. She went to check with a supervisor when our line got disconnected. Since she had called me in an attempt to collect the debt, I knew she had my phone number, but of course, made no effort to call me back. Also for the last 4-6 years I have been told that my Parent Plus loan was a private loan, and was never offered income based repayment options. Not until XX/XX/XXXX when we decided to look into the charges against Navient did we review the paperwork and found my application for the Federal PLUS Loan and Master Promissory Note. ( D-4 )  " Obscured information consumers needed to maintain their lower payments : '' In-school deferment was the worst benefit given to a student, especially with loans ranging from 5-9 %. Initially, our son had 3 loans that took several phone calls to get all of the loans into in-school deferment. As the amount of loans increased so did the number of phone calls. Every time a call was made, a different loan agent answered ; each with different instructions as to what could be done. And when you finally thought all was taken care off, a late payment would show up on a loan that had not been included. Complaining accomplished nothing because it was always someone else 's mistake. During the time our son was attending XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) and later XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) he had in-school deferments. He also had a hard-ship forbearance ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) when he was unemployed. When he went back to work he tried the Interest only payments for 12 months. The income-based options were written on their quarterly statements, but never offered as a solution for our situations, even when we still had federal loans we were paying on. That is not until we stopped making payments last fall. After four months of receiving 8+ automated phone calls every day of the week, I returned the call to one that actually left a message. She asked about my income and bills, but since it left no money to make a payment, she suggested forbearance again. The forbearance offered lasted two months on my XXXX XXXX loan, and only one month for the two private loans. And since I had signed for one and my husband signed for one, we both had to make phone calls to request the forbearance. Needless to say, the phone calls are beginning again.

" Harmed the credit of XXXX borrowers, including XXXX XXXX   veterans : '' We are not XXXX  or veterans, however, through emotional, mental and health issues my son defaulted on his federal loans.  Consequently, it has been impossible for him to be approved for any major purchase like a house ; and just recently he entered a program from a car dealership that is offered to those with poor credit where they can shut off his car if payments are not made. As co-signers for the private loans, we have had to make his payments to protect our credit. Now we are at the point in our lives where we are on fixed retirement incomes and a small part-time job making it difficult to continue paying for our son 's school loan payments.

Attached Documents are indicated as : ( D-1, etc. )

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation