Consumer complaint received 2017-04-24
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: NC
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
I, along with millions of others, am a victim of the predatory and deceiving lending of student loans. Through shortcuts and deception,  XXXX   XXXX , now Navient cheated me and my husband out of our rights to lower payments and release our Co-Borrowers! It appears the voices of the consumers is finally being heard with the pending lawsuits from the CFPB, Washington state as well as Illinois lodging the unfair and deceptive practices performed by this company!     My husband and I attended  XXXX  school at  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  College in  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX . We enrolled in  XXXX   XXXX  and graduated in  XXXX   XXXX  with a  XXXX  in  XXXX   XXXX . During student orientation, the school had  XXXX   XXXX , now  XXXX , onsite completing loans for students who had been accepted into the  XXXX  programs. The process felt very structured and rehearsed as we went from room to room completing the orientation process. The final step on that day was being introduced to the  XXXX   XXXX  representatives. There were no other loan companies there which can easily make a new student feel unknowingly pressured and rushed into signing up for a loan that did not have his/her best interest at heart. It was on this day that I signed my life away without realizing it. The loan officer did not explain the difference between private and federal loans and they even approved my husband for far more than he needed or asked for. He initially turned down the large amount but the loan officer talked about how great of a loan it was and eventually convinced him to go through with it. They really took advantage of our age and immaturity. Now that we are older, we are able to think back and see all of the signs that should 've turned us away from not only the loans but the school itself!     Combined, my husband and I are over $ 100K in student loan debt for a degree that took us 1.5 years to complete. I am writing this letter because we have tried numerous times to consolidate our loans but we have had no success. Not long after graduation, we tried but at the time, no companies were accepting consolidations for Private loans. We have been stuck with astronomically high payments for over 10 years now, which still to this day, are very hard to afford. Our monthly payments combined is almost $ 2K.     After graduation, we continued to reside in  XXXX   XXXX  but we were temporarily separated when we were forced to move back home with our parents in order to afford our student loans. He moved to   XXXX    and I to  XXXX . That decision was made after we started receiving Collection calls from representatives who were rude and inconsiderate of the struggles we were experiencing as recent graduates. My brother started receiving collections calls as he was my co-borrower and my husbands aunt started receiving harassing calls as well. We both became highly stressed out due to the lack of access to alternative payment plans. We contacted customer service where they informed us of deferment/forbearance options. We applied for both and were accepted. It was a temporary relief from all the harassing phone calls we had been receiving.     My husband eventually found a job and was able to join me in  XXXX . We lived with my sister and her family until we were able to afford and establish a solid foundation in the midst of our high student loan payments. We have always made them our top priority because we do not want to ruin the credit of our co-borrowers, family members who believed in us so much that they invested in our futures. Never would we have thought, they would remain on our loans today. We were under the impression that our co-borrowers could be dropped after we  made 12 c onsecutive monthly payments ; however, although we did that several years ago, our co-borrowers can not be released because we requested deferments/forbearances soon after graduation. We were completely mislead and now we consistently live with the guilt of affecting our co-borrowers ability to receive more appealing offers on loans to help them live their happiest lives.   I recently read that some lenders target newer schools that need an enrollment percentage in order to achieve full accreditations. I honestly believe that is what happened in this case. The school was brand new and had not been accredited yet. I believe they partnered up to mislead students into loans in an effort to increasing their population of enrolled students so they could get their accreditation. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter. I have felt this way for a years but never knew what steps to take to have this investigated until I saw a story similar to mine on  XXXX   XXXX . I pray that it 's not too late and that my family and I will soon see the light at the end of this very long tunnel.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation