Consumer complaint received 2017-02-12
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Don't agree with fees charged

Complaint:
The student loan company, Navient, has caused XXXX big faults in regards to my student loan account. These faults have led Navient to erroneously charge numerous late fees and higher accrued interest onto my account. 

First, from XXXX through XXXX, Navient has incorrectly charged late fees onto my monthly statements on average of 10 times each year, the total amount equaling XXXX late fee charges over seven years. I had been receiving paper bills before this, but Navient suddenly began sending me electronic statements instead during this time without my knowledge. Unfamiliar with the new billing method and reliant on the original paper method to properly schedule my payments, I was uninformed of the correct due date for seven years. Navient neglected to inform me that I was making payments according to the wrong date and instead charged late fees as well as imposed over-charged interest for seven years. If Navient was an honest business, they should have let the customer know so that he or she could correct this issue as soon as possible. When I finally noticed that my account had accrued all of these late fees and interest charges in XXXX, I called Navient to explore possible refunds or redress. However, Navient declined to retroactively resolve account transactions. 

Second, I decided to go back to college from XXXX to XXXX. During this period, they put me in forbearance without consulting with me. If I knew that there was a way to lower the monthly payment instead of being put under forbearance, I would have done so. However, this alternative was never presented to me. It is well known, especially with the recent lawsuit against Navient, that this company wants the borrower to be in forbearance, so that his or her loan balance will continue to increase as full interest is not being paid. When I brought up this shady practice that is designed to increase Navient 's profits at the expense of student loan borrowers trying to make something of themselves in late XXXX, Navient refused to resolve this issue again. 

Third, Navient has hindered my online monthly payment process from XXXX XXXX until now. Their online system is faulty, and I have spent countless hours speaking with Navient operators and technicians to facilitate my electronic payments. I have called a total of seven times. However, each time, the customer representative merely brought up different excuses for why my electronic payments were not being processed instead of actionable solutions. I have visited my bank to check my bank account to see if the fault was from my end ( it is not ) and have re-uploaded all of the necessary information on their website again and again in hopes that the Navient electronic payment system will be fixed. What 's worse, while I have tried my absolute hardest to try and make my payments on time, Navient has been absolutely unwilling to assist me. In fact, their constant neglect in face of my complaints seems intentional. It seems as if they are purposely ignoring this issue so that I continue to overpay in late fees and have my interest increase. In saying so, I ended up missing the due date in XXXX XXXX due to technical difficulties that Navient has refused to address, and so paid more interest this month. My usual monthly payment is {$86.00}, of which {$18.00} goes to interest and {$68.00} is paid to the principle. But in XXXX, I paid {$47.00} to interest and only {$39.00} was paid to the principle. Navient operators have continued to falsely inform me that my interest has not risen, when my billing statements clearly say otherwise. I know for a fact that this incorrect allocation of my monthly payments is not due to any fault of mine, but the result of mismanagement on the part of Navient. 
Navient has systemically deceived borrowers. This is fraud, and I firmly condemn Navient for committing such financial crimes against nave students.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation