Consumer complaint received 2019-04-19
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: UT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
When I first started working with Navient in XXXX in an attempt to start payment on my student loans, I was not given the option to enroll in income-driven repayment plans.I called to make a payment around XX/XX/XXXX and paid what I could, {$130.00}. I told Navient I couldn't afford this. They offered me the forbearance option for 9 months where I wouldn't have to pay for this time. I couldn't afford what they wanted from me. I was SO poor at the time. I wasn't offered a suite of options, just the life saver of forbearance. They said it was easy, just call back every time it expires and have it put in forbearance again. Every time I could not make/afford the payment, I followed their advice. When they would call to collect, like XX/XX/XXXX, I was offered to put it back in forbearance. They would tell me that it would protect my credit by bringing my account current and not requiring a payment for the time it was in this status. They encouraged me when I would call to tell them I can not make the payment to enroll in school and make sure the school updates some database that tells them I am going to school and it would put my loans in " In-school deferment ''. Navinet drove me down the path of forbearance, over and over, causing me to accrue interest interest and delaying my paying off of debt. I was unaware that with the amount I had that this would ultimately just make my loans near impossible to payoff without running into some windfall. Because the option to not pay was the only alternative offered to making payments much higher than I could afford, I took advantage of the use of their forbearance program for years and did not think of how this would continuously drive up the overall amount of my loans, both federal and private. They offered this option to me, to renew it over and over every time I would contact them when it ran out, that when they finally stated I could no longer use this option, they then offered me the income driven re-payment plan. I called to let them know in XX/XX/XXXX that I couldn't keep up withe the payments and was offered forbearance again. 

I was shocked at how much better this made my overall financial situation due to the ability to afford the payment and pay down my overall debt. I was unable to make one of these payments on time and Navient told me that I would need to re-enroll in the program. When I called back into the Rate Reduction department to re-enroll in the income driven repayment program, I was re-directed to their collection department and told call after call that I no longer qualify for income driven repayment and the only way to bring my status into good standing was to sign up for auto pay at the increased rate. 

As I look at my interest charged to date, I have accrued {$15000.00} because I was guided towards their " preferred '', and now I realize " money Making '', process. To someone who could not afford payments like this when I was no longer attending school, of course it is attractive to use the forbearance option. It was either lose my home and not buy food for my family by making the payment, or use the forbearance option.On top of this, I am making agreed upon payments, but continuously being charged late fees that stack up on the entirety of the balance. Almost {$1000.00} in late fees as I write this. How is that possible? That's another small loan in and of itself. Each late fee is about {$50.00}. Navient has drown me in debt. Then, they collect finance charges on top of those late fees.What a terrible business model for someone trying to " Help '' students with loans. That is predatory. My private student loans have an interest rate of 13.5 %. My federal loans have a rate of 4.23 % and Navient has been happy to help me as often as needed on those repayment plans ... 

I took out the total amount of {$24000.00} between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Thanks to their steering me towards forbearance, after paying over {$18000.00} in payments as I write this, I owe a total of {$29000.00}. After making an average payment of {$120.00} dollars since my first payment in XXXX, I owe MUCH more than I ever took out.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation