Consumer complaint received 2020-10-03
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: VA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
The day applied for a Sallie Mae loan, now Navient, back in XXXX was the worse day of my future. I am struggling to pay my monthly loans payments. I took out 4 separate loans with Sallie Mae, when I decided to go back to school for XXXX. One in XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Three of the loans had a co-signer and the last one was approved without one. When I look back at it now, I wish I would have realized how easy they were approving them and how easily it got me into the debt that I'm in now. I owe over {$77000.00} and that's the 10-day payoff amount, with interest, it's more. 
I was in school from XXXX. I had to give school a break and I went back to working as a XXXX XXXX for a doctor 's office in XXXX. I remember having to pay {$700.00} for a 3-month forbearance with SallieMae, before the payment went back to its original amount which was about {$700.00} dollars/month back then. They did not offer any other programs to help reduce the monthly payment. I paid for another 3 month forbearance in early XXXX before transferring to another XXXX school. FromXX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX, I didn't have to pay the monthly payments because I was in school. I completed XXXX school and obtained my license in XX/XX/XXXX and started working as a XXXX. I still could not afford to pay the monthly payment. I was living paycheck to paycheck and had a young child at the time. Sometimes I had to choose between buying food or paying the SallieMae bill and I chose the food. There was an article in XXXX XXXX back in XX/XX/XXXX about my story regarding school loan debt. I had it attached to this until I read the instructions above but I would love to share. It affected my credit report as well as the co-signer, but I couldn't afford it and they never tried to help me with the balance. 
I think Navient took over my Sallie Mae loans sometime in XXXX because I was able to enroll in their Rate Reduction Program. This is just a temporary relief but I have to call them every 6 months in order to stay in the program. I've been enrolled since XX/XX/XXXX. I started out paying XXXXmonth which was reasonable but every time I call, the monthly payment increases. One of their representatives informed me that this will continue to happen until it gets back to its original monthly payment. They use to use your annual income and bills to determine if you still qualified and this also determined the payment amount. They stopped doing that and the monthly payment just increases. It's no longer an option to keep my interest rate low so that my monthly payment is low. The other option I was offered was to try to refinance the loan with XXXX, a financing company that they recommend. I was denied because of my credit and the Sallie Mae loan. I was able to get a copy of my credit report because of this denial and my loans are in the yellow, which indicates that it's always past due even though I'm in the Rate Reduction program. Also I've never been offered any type of Public Service Loan Forgiveness or offered for that matter. How am I going to be able to refinance? And what I learned is that a very small percentage of what I pay, which is now $ XXXXmonth, goes to the principal balance. I was going to attach a copy of my credit report, Navient Rate Reduction Letter, article, and the complaint by CFPB that was filed back in XXXX. I need help!!!!! I am emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. I get depressed every time I have to call Navient to reenroll because I know the balance is going to continue to go up and I can not afford it. At times I want to stop paying it, but I know it's going to affect my credit and my livelihood. The cosigner can not assist with the monthly payments because she's XXXX but they still send letters anyway. They are very persistent. 
I went to school to have a better life, thinking that I would be financially stable but I'm not. I want to go back to school to further my education and get my XXXX XXXX XXXX but I'm not because of my debt. I really need your help and would like for you to investigate my loans. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I HAVE TO DO!!!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation