Consumer complaint received 2024-04-23
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with your payment plan
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (MN)

XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : Reminder-your payment will increase soon! Correspondence : It's time to renew your XXXX XXXX XXXX! 
" XX/XX/XXXX - Date the XXXX XXXX payment you currently have will expire. If you don't recertify or if you no longer qualify for a reduced payment : Your Monthly Payment Amount will increase to {$93.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. '' ... " What to expect after you apply You'll need to continue making your Monthly Payments until we let you know whether your application has been approved. We'll update you after we review your application and income documentation. '' XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : Your monthly statement is ready Correspondence : Monthly Bill " Billing Period XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX '' ... '' Past Due Amount {$0.00} '' ... '' Current Amount Due {$0.00} '' ... '' Total Payment Due {$0.00} '' XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : Your Application from XXXX has arrived Correspondence : We have your XXXX XXXX XXXX  " we've received your XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) plan application from StudentAid.govXXXX. Once all your documents have been reviewed, you'll receive a separate notification regarding the status of your XXXX request- if approved, this notification will include your new XXXX XXXX XXXX. Until then, you'll need to continue making your regular scheduled Monthly Payments ( if due ). '' XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : New document ready to view! Correspondence : XXXX XXXX information approved " your annual renewal application for your reduced payment, under the XXXX XXXX plan, has been approved. There's nothing you need to do now. " ... " What to expect next We'll send you notification advising you of your new payment amount after your current plan expires on XX/XX/XXXX. '' XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : Your XXXX plan has been approved Correspondence : What to expect next with your XXXX plan " your XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) XXXX has been approved on your eligible loans. Your calculated XXXX plan repayment amount : {$0.00} Plan begin date : XX/XX/XXXX Plan end date : XX/XX/XXXX '' XX/XX/XXXX received email Subject : Your monthly statement is ready Correspondence : Monthly Bill " Statement Date XX/XX/XXXX Billing Period XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX '' ... '' Past Due Amount {$93.00} Pay Past Due Amount By XX/XX/XXXX to avoid Late Fee of {$5.00} Current Amount Due {$93.00} Current Amount Due Date XX/XX/XXXX '' ... '' Total Payment Due {$180.00} '' I never received a statement for XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. I received notice that my repayment amount of {$0.00} was ending XX/XX/XXXX and the new plan repayment amount of {$0.00} was beginning XX/XX/XXXX. Today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I received an email saying I missed a payment and have another month 's payment due that are not {$93.00} which was the amount I was to pay if I didn't recertify, but I had done that and been approved. 

I called Navient customer service. I explained that I had applied for XXXX XXXX and been approved, that my loans on StudentAid.gov all said I was current and didn't owe anything. I explained that I had not received anything that had told me I owed anything so I had no idea that a payment was even due. I also mentioned that it was my understanding that payments on my loans was temporarily paused while my application for XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was being reviewed. 

I was told my previous repayment plan expired before my new plan started, which according to the information I received isn't accurate. She didn't explain why I had another payment due for next month. I was told the information on StudentAid.gov isn't accurate since it's not Navient 's website, which is what I should have looked at. She had no response to my question as to payments being paused during XXXX review. She said she was going to send me an email with an application that I'd need to fill out and submit, which sounded like she was explaining the XXXX XXXX application which I'd already been approved for. She verified my email and I have been off the phone with her for XXXX hours now and still haven't received any email from them, so I haven't submitted anything new, but my " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' according to their website is all of a sudden {$0.00}. 

I don't know if I'm getting charged a late fee, if there's something I need to submit that I'm not aware of. Why I was getting charged after being told my payments were remaining the same amount of {$0.00}. Mostly I'm confused, but also, if I hadn't caught that, were they just planning on ignoring the XXXX repayment plan and charging me the regular amount for the entire year? How many other people are they doing this to that haven't caught that they are being billed more than they should be? 

Complete notices/emails that were referenced above are attached.