Consumer complaint received 2019-12-07
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I have been in communication with the Federal Department of Education since of XXXX  of 2019, when I received my first collection notice for payment of my defaulted Student Loans.  I was aware that my loans had gone into default, but when presented with the amount owed, I was floored to see that I was being asked to pay $XXXX.  

I originally took out $XXXX in student loans, and after graduation, when I consolidated all my outstanding loans with the Department of Education, I was charged an additional $XXXX in fees, because I chose to consolidate my loans into one loan.  At that point, my debt ballooned to $XXXX in student loan debt, which is an accumulation of both a XXXX and XXXX  and interest due to the Department of Education.

I have not been able to make any of the proposed student loan payments and have had my loan deferred over the years.  While being managed by the Federal Department of Educations' servicer Navient, I have seen that the interest for the amount owed has tripled and for the last 7 years, no one has been able to provide me with an accounting.  Navient supposedly accounted for over $XXXX in additional interest charges for my education loans for a total close to $240,000.  With this said, I was very concerned at the balance and have made three attempts to get a full accounting of what the Department of Education is stating that I owe.  As of the date of this letter, I have not received this information accounting, at least on a annual basis from year's past and I am now being charged some mysterious interest charge of $XXXX from what period I am not sure because it is not clear, and I am also being charged $XXXX in collection costs.  

There are two items that cause me the most concern.  First, the fact that I have received 4 different, but similar, sets of numbers owed, which causes me a lot of concern especially when I am being asked to pay almost $240,000 for my Education; and this collection fee of over $35,000.  If I cannot make the payments on the amount the Department is stating that I owe, which I cannot, I am wondering why the Federal Department of Education feels that I will be able to pay an additional $XXXX in an "unreasonable" fee on top of this ballooned amount.  Even the "promissory note" that has been provided states that collection fees will be reasonable, but it appears there is no limit to this "reasonable" standard.  The last communication that I received from the Department of Education states that charging 18% (17.92) of the "balance owed" is deemed as reasonable, and I simply disagree.  I feel that these tactics are bullying tactics to make me accept this payment amount without proper verification of the accounting.  The Department of Education has not provided the accounting that I have requested, and has ignored my request to remove this "unreasonable" collection fee.  

I am asking that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assist me with getting the information that I have requested from the Department of Education, showing how my student loan balance ballooned to such a large amount, and the removal of this unreasonable collection fee.  I am willing to set up a payment plan for the amount that I owed that is based off of my income and discretionary items, seeing that I am resident of the State of California and I am personally in a financial crisis, having to pay extremely high housing and living costs.  I understand that it is my best interest to resolve this matter with the Department of Education, however, I would like to dealt with in a fair and reasonable manner for resolution.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation