Consumer complaint received 2017-01-26
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Received bad information about my loan
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (WA)

XXXX XXXX, XXXX Re : Complaint Against Navient and XXXX XXXX To Whom It May Concern : In XXXX, I consolidated a loan with XXXX XXXX. Today, my total balance due to Navient is nearly double that mount, and this increase is from accrued interest. 

At the beginning of the loan, our monthly payments were very manageable, and my husband and I were able to easily keep up with them until we had our XXXX child in XXXX and I experienced XXXX which prevented me from working. In XXXX, just prior to the XXXX of our XXXX child, we went through a bankruptcy, however, the student loan was not dischargeable. Following that, as we tried to rebuild financially, XXXX XXXX began encouraging us to use forebearances and deferments. Since that time, Navient took over the servicing of my loan, but they continued to steer me toward using forebearances and deferments. As the interest accrued, the monthly payment amount became more and more unmanageable, and Navient would not allow us to pay any amount lower than their established monthly minimum, thus requiring us to use more forebearances and deferments. In XXXX, Navient informed me that all forebearances and deferments had been depleted, and at that point, they encouraged me to apply for an Income-Based Repayment plan. I still had not worked since the XXXX of our XXXX child, so my income was XXXX. I was told I would qualify for monthly payments in the amount of XXXX, and that as long as my income was n't too high, I would continue to qualify for the $ XXXX monthly payment. The man on the phone ( named " XXXX '' ) told me he knew of people earning {$4000.00} per month who still qualified for $ XXXX monthly payments, that in fact it was extremely rare to be disqualified. He also told me if I " renewed '' this plan for 25 consecutive years, my loan would be forgiven. I filled out the application and sent in documentation of income, which included the most recent income tax return filed jointly with my husband, and my husband 's 2 most recent paystubs. I was approved. 

Last year ( XXXX ), when Navient informed me it was time to renew my Income-Based Repayment Plan, I was surprised to learn I would have to go through the qualification process again. And this time, they informed me I did not qualify because my husband 's income was too high. My monthly payment amount is now nearly double the amount from the previous year. The first payment is due in one month, and there is no way we can afford it. Had we been offered Income-Based Repayment or Graduated Repayment back in XXXX, we would have gladly made our monthly payments, and those payments would probably be around one fifth of what they 're asking for now. I feel as though XXXX XXXX and Navient steered us toward forebearances and deferments with the intention of increasing the amount of money we would eventually owe them. It 's been a slippery-slide for us, and had they informed us that there were repayment plans for making payments manageable, we would not owe XXXX more than the amount I actually borrowed. 

This has left us in a terrifying position as Navient will very soon begin to take extreme measures to collect monthly payments. The impact on our family will be devastating. I believe XXXX XXXX and Navient deliberately encouraged us to repeatedly pursue options that would ultimately be harmful to us and lucrative for them.