Consumer complaint received 2017-07-26
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (OK)

After graduating college in XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter saying my loans were being serviced by XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX encouraged me to go into forbearance to lower my payments. Being a low-paid XXXX XXXX XXXX, I chose the IBR plan and continue to pay on that plan. After learning about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness enacted in XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX to complete my annual income based repayment plan recertification in XX/XX/XXXX. At that time, I called XXXX to verify what I needed to do to maintain my IBR status as I was a XXXX XXXX XXXX who would qualify for XXXX under the new rules. XXXX stated that I qualified for IBR based on my income. Each XXXX when I recertified, I submitted paperwork as instructed under the assumption that I would reach my 120th payment in XX/XX/XXXX. I faithfully maintained an excellent payment history and made certain that each payment was in the correct amount and on time. I spoke with representatives from XXXX/Navient many times over the years telling them that I needed an immaculate record so I could qualify for XXXX after my 120th payment. In XX/XX/XXXX as I was preparing for my annual recertification, I followed the link provided on the Navient website ( studentaid.ed.gov ) to recertify my IBR. This year I noticed a new link for a form entitled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Employment Certification Form ( XX/XX/XXXX ). Knowing I was approaching the end of my 10 year repayment required for PSLF, I followed the instructions and submitted the completed form to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Today, XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from XXXX XXXX stating that my loans were NOT eligible for PSLF as XXXX XXXX/Navient consolidated the loans into an FFEL back in XX/XX/XXXX. I was never informed that my loans were not eligible for PSLF because of the type of consolidation. Ive been faithfully repaying my loans on time for years but I 'm now told I need to start all over to qualify for PSLF! I spoke with XXXX at XXXX XXXX yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) who stated that my situation was quite unfortunate because while I did originally received XXXX XXXX XXXX Direct loans, XXXX/Navient  consolidated those loans in the early XXXX which changed them to FFEL direct loans rather than federal Direct (? ) loans. I have many documents stating that my loans are direct, Direct, Consolidation, consolidation apparently there is some legalese about whether a capital letter is used? The documentation from XXXX/Navient is intentionally misleading. Every year, I apply for recertification of my Direct Loan/IBR. I have documentation of my checking boxes marked Direct/IBR - no one every informed me that I was marking the incorrect box or that there was any confusion of any kind. XXXX XXXX/Navients own form has borrowers sign stating they understand that my loan holder will choose the plan that is likely to keep my monthly payment amount lower in subsequent years or provides terms and conditions that better limit the total cost of my loans. Im told the only remedy I have now is to re-consolidate with XXXX XXXX and start my 120 payments all over! I am XXXX years old, have XXXX in a XXXX XXXX XXXX for 17 years now. This is simply not an option, nor is it fair.