Consumer complaint received 2018-09-25
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: OH
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
I am in the process of a payment schedule arranged by the loan servicer in order to prevent my account from being any further delinquent albeit still reported late while making agreed to payments. When the payment arrangements were made, I was informed by Navient that I had exhausted the ability to be in the " interest rate reduction program '' which has been a great deal of help to me as it makes the payments under {$300.00} possible with earning a salary under {$30000.00} per year, 10 years after graduation from a for-profit institution in which predatory lending practices were undoubtedly deployed at the time of taking out the loan by both the school and the lender, Sallie Mae. 

Based on the fact of ballooned salary figures and promise of continued career services which unfortunately for myself and many other former alumni of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX have found the career services department to offer minimal help if residing outside of XXXX XXXX XXXX and a few locations outside of the metropolitan area. My experience with the department led me to be told I lived in " a black hole '' and they could not offer me any assistance. 

As for Navient, I contacted the company on XX/XX/XXXX as the final payment per the payment arrangements mentioned prior are approaching on XX/XX/XXXX. In an effort to be proactive and after being told to call back in XXXX as " we'll figure something out, '' I did as instructed. I was told that the company only offers the interest rate reduction program twice every 5 years which is a lie because I have continually been on the program for all of the payments made since XXXX because I can not and will not be able to afford payments of {$670.00} per month for the next 30 years or the foreseeable future. I was told that because I essentially failed out of the program 1 of 2 times, I am not eligible for the program again until XXXX. 

The customer service representative then offered me no further solutions such as, an income driven repayment moving forward. I have been told that my regularly scheduled payments of {$670.00} will be due starting in XX/XX/XXXX. I do not have the financial ability to make those payments as stated in this complaint and to the customer service representative. This fact is unfortunate that Navient does not want to find a solution that works and the reality that is I have no other options but to prepare for defaulting on a {$50000.00} loan with {$20000.00} in interest after 10 years of taking out the loan. The regularly scheduled payments of {$670.00} make it impossible for me to live and keep my housing bills paid along with other day to day bills. Navient and Sallie Mae have provided me with minimal solutions over the past ten years and usually unwilling to understand that difficulties arise like divorce, relocation, family illnesses and death which cause financial strain or the fact that I have a useless degree. Unfortunately, student loans and the XXXX XXXX student loan crisis is real and dragging down many people especially with lenders unwilling to offer solutions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation