Consumer complaint received 2017-08-20
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: GA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I had several issues with Navient.
I became ill in 2013 and had difficulty paying my loans. I was steered into voluntary forbearance. once I used up my limit of that, I had no means of paying my loan or deferring it until I was out of work for several months and they determined I finally qualified for a financial hardship deferment. I was not offered any alternative income based payment plans based on my lower income since 2013. I looked into XXXX discharge, however, I was still attempting to work. My work attendance was unpredictable as such so was my income but I missed 2+ days of work a month at minimum. During all of this, my credit has been destroyed. If I was offered a lower payment plan based on my lower income, perhaps I would have been able to make a payment, but I was receiving bills for over {$500.00}, I suppose due to late fees with interest? If I was given the income based plans based on my reduced income, perhaps I would not of had to use all of my voluntary forbearance. Which also, when I would request them, I would request 1 yr and then they would become due at less them a yr and then I would receive a bill with late payments.
During all this, my credit has been ruined due to all the late payments. I sent a goodwill letter to them as advised by my landlord because I can not afford to live where I am any longer and I cant move because of my ruined credit. I asked them If due to the circumstances they would remove the late payments. They denied the request and filed it on my credit report as a dispute. I called them when I received a letter saying they would not make changes to my report based on my dispute and I can make comments to my credit report if I wished, as I was not disputing the late payments. They said it was n't going to be on my credit report as a dispute yet when I received an update credit report it was on there as a dispute which I am told looks just as bad to the creditors, especially for mortgages.
When I first looked into the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program back in 2013 it said consolidated loans who make 120 monthly payments. I recently found out my loan was not the right type of consolidation and my payments were not the right payment plan. This information was not made clear from the beginning, at that time it said make your payments, and when it comes time you submit the information and proof of employment. Now, I read it says to verify the employment yearly. This information was not made readily available by either Navient or anyone. Prior to my illness and falling behind on my loans in 2013, I thought I was on the right payment plan towards the forgiveness. It was not until I was about to come off deferment recently and set up a new payment plan that I found out that I was never on the right payment plan or even had the right type of loan consolidation for the PSLF, so none of the previous payments I did make would count and I had to reconsolidate my loan and get on the correct payment plan. But any payments I previously made do n't count now. If I would have been informed properly, I would have reconsolidated years ago, and then instead of forbearance or deferment, I should have had my income based plans readjusted based on either lower or no income so there was no break in my payments.
Overall, navient failed to properly educate me on the PSLF program, the type of consolidated loan I had and the income based repayment plans. Instead of education me about income based repayment plans they chose to just collected late fees and increased interest fees. They left me with forbearance and deferment as the only options and when I did n't qualify for those and could not afford to pay I was left with default as my only option. Now, as a result of all this, my credit is ruined and I am starting at day 1 for the PSFL program with my loan reconsolidated with a different lender.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation