Consumer complaint received 2018-12-01
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
Dear Sir/Madam, I am a student who XXXX  from XXXX XXXX  in XXXX and my family is continuing to pay for my student loans to Navient ( formerly Sallie Mae ) from XXXX to date. 

It is a very unfortunate circumstance my family and I find ourselves in with Navient, who have so far been very uncooperative & difficult to speak to on two issues : 1 ) Releasing my co-signer 2 ) Lowering the monthly payment amount To date we have continued to make regular monthly payments & have paid almost all of the actual loan amount, with mainly the principal interest amount remaining. Despite our due diligence in making these payments over the years Navient have refused to have an amicable dialogue with us on these issues or consider our requests. 

As things stand, since I XXXX  in XXXX my mother 's health rapidly deteriorated & she is currently a XXXXXXXX XXXX patient, awaiting a XXXX  opportunity for over three years now since her diagnosis in XXXX. My father has had to retire to be her full-time carer. I had to help my parents in the first few years after my XXXX & take over the running of the XXXX XXXX XXXX we had, which since my father 's retirement had to be closed. I myself have only now been able to embark on my own career trajectory since my marriage last year in XXXX, after moving to XXXX with my husband. 

Though I am in a good role now, I am earning in XXXX Rupees so my salary is significantly less than what is demanded to be paid on a monthly basis by Navient. Therefore the only way we are able to afford to pay for the loan amount every month is through the selflessness of my father who despite being retired is paying for the loan from his pension every month, leaving both him and my mother with virtually nothing to survive on month to month. In this twilight of their lives it is heart-wrenching for me as their daughter to neither have the capacity to help them and they continue to have to support me with the onerous amount owed to Navient month-on month. To put this amount in context for you, the monthly amount is near on {$2500.00} a month, which is around 1,900 at the current exchange rate - my fathers pension amount is XXXX a month. I dont think I need to spell-out the math here to emphasise the dire situation my family is in as a result of this onerous monthly amount. 

If this were not dire enough, more than this we are holding back my XXXX-year old cousin from her higher education in the US as her father is currently my co-signer and is therefore unable to take financial aid for his daughters education. He agreed to be my co-signer back in XXXX as at that time our family were in good financial standing & my mother 's health was not an issue. We had a clear plan to pay back the student loan amount within 2 years of my graduating in XXXX, which has been affected by various aspects primarily my mother 's health and therefore my father 's need to retire early. 

Though we have repaid almost all of the actual loan amount, the interest is still pending, which I would like to add is extremely high, and I am not a US citizen, so Navient are refusing to release my co-signer. They are also refusing us to change the co-signer to someone else to help us release my cousin from being a co-signer on this loan. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I submitted a co-signer release form, which Navient subsequently denied. I have attached this document for reference. Their claim that we have not made 12 consecutive payments on the loan is completely wrong. We have made over 12-consecutive payments, therefore the ONLY criteria preventing us from releasing our co-signer is that I am not a US citizen. However the fact that we have continued to dutifully make payments to Navient from XXXX to date shows our commitment to paying off this loan though I am not a US citizen and more than this it baffles me why Navient would refuse to allow us to simply change the co-signer so that my cousin can be free to seek financial aid for his daughters education. 

Furthermore I was shocked when I spoke to Navient and attempted to reduce the monthly payment amount and was told to default on the loan for a month & then I would be put through to a department called collections the following month, who MIGHT reduce the monthly repayment amount, but there was no guarantee of this. I find this shocking reactionary financial practice - there ought to be a preventative route to help those who have taken loans to reduce their monthly payment amount out of financial need. We are paying an exorbitant amount every month - we would really like to have an amicable dialogue with Navient to reduce this to an amount that both sides can agree on until we can pay off the total amount of the loan. 

I should add my father made a complaint to the CFPB not long ago- from which nothing was actioned. I have attached this for your reference. Hence I am attempting to go through this again with you from my side. 

I would like to end by emphasising however that my first and earnest request is that our co-signer should either be released or be allowed to change from him to another co-signer for the loan. This loan is now affecting THREE generations, my parents, me & my young cousin who has not even started her journey in life. We need a resolution to the issues I have laid out here and I implore the CFPB to help us have a dialogue with Navient to help everyone involved in this unfortunate issue. 

I anticipate a positive resolution from the CFPB. 

Kind Regards, XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation