Consumer complaint received 2017-02-02
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: MD
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Sub-issue: Can't decrease my monthly payments

Complaint:
I obtained my 1st private loan through XXXX XXXX, now known as Navient, XX/XX/XXXX for {$20000.00} and eventually borrowed a total of {$33000.00} to finish school. I was XXXX without a clue to really how these private loans work. They just told me that I did n't have to pay until I graduated. Allowing a XXXX year old with limited income and no education to borrow {$20000.00} in itself is a mistake and predatory lending. Before XX/XX/XXXX I never received detailed documentation about my loan balance, nor my Mom who cosigned on XXXX loans. When I went into repayment XXXX XXXX said I owed approximately {$56000.00}!! The repayment option they gave me was about {$700.00}, that I told them I could not afford. XXXX XXXX said my options were to pay interest only. So I took the option they gave me and paid {$460.00} a month of interest only. I did this for 2 years with no impact on reducing the loan. Between starting repayment XX/XX/XXXX until now, I contacted them many times with concerns of my inability to barely pay interest only. I told them I do n't anticipate being able to make these types of payments any longer and I am not getting anywhere as far as actually paying off my loan. I was told that I could pay {$50.00} per loan, to put it into deferment for 3 months. This is the only option I was offered and I took it because I was on maternity leave XX/XX/XXXX for a couple months. So during these months my loan balance increased, interest was accrued, and the interest was capitalized. I did this again for another maternity leave XX/XX/XXXX. Once deferment ended my balance was {$59000.00}. I started researching online trying to figure out what I could do because XXXX XXXX seemed to not be able to offer me any help or just did n't care. I stumbled upon a comment on a blog that said I need to call and ask specifically for the " rate reduction program ''. So I called them and I qualified for the program for 2 years in a row and received a 4 % interest rate. With this I was able to make an affordable payment of {$350.00} that actually contributed to reducing the loan balance. Then all of a sudden they want to ask for my cosigner 's income information. Navient sees that she cosigned for a car for her husband and says that I no longer qualify for the program because of that even though her finances reveal she nor I have the ability to pay the full payment on 10.250 % interest rate. The first two years of the program they never considered her finances as a part of the requirements for me to qualify. They never provided any guidelines that needed to be followed to continue in the program. My interest rate has increased and is now between 9.75 % and 10.25 % with a {$590.00} payment. I was never aware that I had a variable interest rate until I noticed the rate change after they disqualified me for the rate reduction program. I asked to be sent my promissory note. It 's a simple one page application that does mention anything about the interest rate. They sent supplementary documents that do not have any connection to me other than sharing the same year on the paper that talks about variable interest rates. How can I be sure I agreed to a variable interest rate? Is there a cap on this variable rate? They ca n't seem to provide me with this information when I asked. How can I possibly pay back what I owe with unreasonable interest rates and helpful repayment programs being hidden from me, and taken away, all the while interest is accruing and capitalizing. I believe this is a bad practice and service. Had I been offered the rate reduction program XX/XX/XXXX I would have been able to make affordable payments towards the balance and interest to actually pay off my loan. May have been halfways through repayment. Because of XXXX XXXX and now Navient 's predatory practice, misleading, and lack of forward information I now owe {$56000.00} with no way to actually pay it off.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation