Consumer complaint received 2017-09-05
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: HI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Need information about your loan balance or loan terms

Complaint:
UDAAP VIOLATION : Letter requesting copy of XXXX certificate for co-signer and inability/unwillingness to inform me of how this would affect me as primary borrower and my rights ; failure to disclose that the XXXX  certificate would then be turned over to XXXX XXXX XXXX, a law firm for Navient to file a claim against the co-signer 's estate and lumpsum payment demand from me and/or " determination if I could still afford the loans '' ; and failure to inform me of an administrative forbearance being placed on my account which would increase my monthly principal and interest payments. 

I received a letter from Navient dated XX/XX/XXXX stating, " In order to ensure the appropriate servicing of the loan and to determine if any parties to the loan may be released, we require... copy of the XXXX certificate. '' Upon calling customer service on XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX and then her supervisor XXXX requesting information on how this information would be used and how this would affect me and my rights ; my concern being that this could be an attempt to accelerate my payments not " release '' parties to the loan. After all, my co-signer, as they are aware, XXXX and I 'd imagine that is the final release. Both were initially unwilling to provide this information, stating that it would be turned over to an " associate '' and I would be contacted by the Advocate Department who would then work with me, but that they could n't tell me anything because the " associate '' is not Navient. I repeatedly requested to speak with the associate third party so I can determine how this information would be used and how it will affect me as a borrower. Navient repeatedly stated that they could not provide me with the associate third party 's info. 

I set forth that basically they were asking me to provide private information that would then be passed through them and turned over to a 3rd party who would then use this information in a way that could and most likely would negatively impact me and have possible severe financial burden, which XXXX the supervisor essentially stated that the associate would see if I could still " afford the loan '' and either redetermine my payment or " negotiate '' a lump sum payment and file a claim against the estate. I informed her that their is no estate. Navient was obviously were informed of the co-signer 's passing probably by SS XXXX rolls and that he XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX and I have been making monthly on-time principal and interest payments for at least 24 months so obviously, I can " afford '' to pay the loan. Also, I questioned who the associate was, is it a collection agency? No, XXXX informed me it was an ATTORNEY FIRM. 

Nowhere in the letter was I informed that the letter is essentially an attempt to obtain information for Navient 's contracted legal firm to attempt to change my current payment and terms by possibly trying to obtain a lumpsum payment against me or re-determine my credit eligibility to again change the terms of my payment, nor was I informed that the information would also be used to file a claim against the co-signer 's estate ( which I already informed them that he has no estate ). 

My main complaints are as follows : - Navient 's failure to inform me of the true nature of their inquiry is an unfair and deceptive practice. 
- Navient 's failure to provide upfront disclosure that the information would be turned over to a law firm is an unfair and deceptive practice. 
- Navient 's failure to provide me with the contact information for XXXX XXXX XXXX so I can find out directly how this could affect my rights is unfair and deceptive. 
- Navient 's failure to inform me in writing of the administrative forbearance is unfair and deceptive. Because interest and principal continue to accumulate under forbearance, my future payment amounts would be increased. Navient was initially confused as to what I meant by this, but I explained that they put me on forbearance not deferment, so the interest was compounding. I had to manually have the customer service process the amount that should have been due because Navient stated they could not lift the administrative forbearance. Therefore, to avoid principal & interest compounding, I made a payment without an explanation of charges and the amount was higher than previous months. 

The failure of Navient to inform me of the nature of their demand and continued failure to inform me of how providing the information will affect me are unfair and deceptive. Apparently, Navient will not provide me information as to the true nature of their inquiry that I may rely on until I send in the XXXX   certificate and at that time it will be turned over to their attorneys. How is that legal?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation