Consumer complaint received 2016-12-31
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Sub-issue: Can't decrease my monthly payments

Complaint:
I have been taking care of my elderly mother who was not XXXX since XXXX. I co-signed for XXXX XXXX student loans. My son decided to leave California also in XXXX, to longer attend XXXX and leave me with the student loans. I take my financial responsibilities very seriously. Although saddened I knew that with him no longer attending these loans would not be deferred and I would be need to set up a better financing plan. With everything going on with my mom that was my main focus and I am currently not working. I received a very formal letter stating " Final Notice '' in the beginning of XXXX 2016. It contained Federal websites ending in " gov '' and appeared to be from the government. I did not notice the name of the company which was XXXX XXXX XXXX, nor did I notice the disclaimer on the bottom stating it was a fee service that I could do for free. I called them on XXXX XXXX, 2016 and spoke to XXXX XXXX at ( XXXX ) XXXX ext XXXX. She spent an hour on the phone with me. She did n't mention to me at anytime during our conversation that she was a third party and that I could apply for a student loan consolidation ( Federal Loans in the amount of {$30000.00} ) or the Income Contingent payment plan on my own for free. When she stated that there was a fee of {$890.00} I asked her why and she said it was part of the Federal Program for the ICR and that was the price to subsidize my interest for the first year and that the ICR plan was ending XXXX/XXXX/16 so I needed to act quickly. The emails I received from her showed subject line " White House ''. I thought I was dealing with the government. I called back after completing the paperwork for the ICR plan which I applied for due to not working. I was unable to get in touch with XXXX XXXX and left her a message. I did n't receive a call back so I called again the next day and spoke to XXXX XXXX at ( XXXX ) XXXX. I asked him again about the process and the fee. He did n't tell me that it was a third party fee. He stated it was part of the program??? I wanted to act as quickly as possible so I signed and sent back the paperwork. I did n't see a disclaimer regarding this being a fee based program. I called again when I had n't heard anything on XXXX/XXXX/16. I was told that the paperwork had been submitted for the consolidation on XXXX/XXXX/16. I asked what the hold up was since it was sent to them on XXXX/XXXX/16 and was told by XXXX that it was a normal turn time. I brought up my concern regarding the ICR plan ending on XXXX/XXXX/16 and asked her to expedite the process. I received a letter from Navient on XXXX/XXXX/16 stating they had the paperwork for the consolidation. I called and spoke to XXXX at ( XXXX ) XXXX. I asked about the ICR paperwork and she said she did n't receive anything. She asked me how I processed this and I told her that the only company name I could find was Assure Direct. She opened my eyes to a possible scam and referred me to the CFPB. I was in shock!!! I have already paid to installments of {$290.00} ( {$590.00} ) WHICH WAS EXORBITANT FOR ME due to being off work taking care of my mom who is not XXXX!!!! Due to my line of work, I am very familiar with and appreciative of the CFPB. I am a XXXX, my career for over 30 years. I complete my XXXX in a diligent manner with the utmost importance on fair and ethical treatment of the public and I felt VIOLATED!!! I am asking for the CFPB 's help in trying to recover my {$590.00} and to also expose XXXX XXXX XXXX so that someone else does n't get scammed. I will be educating my borrowers on this also when I return to work. I really want to see this horrible scam stopped.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation