Consumer complaint received 2017-05-05
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (CT)

Eight years ago, my career in XXXX XXXX ended abruptly on a Friday afternoon when my employer told me they would no longer need my services as an XXXX XXXX. With the XXXX XXXX crumbling, all doors were closed and there were no opportunities for me to continue in XXXX. At first I applied to any position where I could utilize my skills and licenses. By the end, I was applying to any job that would help keep my family afloat. I found myself over qualified and underemployed. Over the next two years I lost my house, a marriage, and my XXXX. What I thought would be a temporary situation has turned out to be a long-term struggle to reinvent myself. I always had a passion for XXXX and XXXX. When I started in XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, I only had XXXX credits from a local XXXX college. I realized quickly that if I expected to have any longevity in the field, I would need an education. The young man I was at the time walked into XXXX University and started asking questions. I walked out with a class schedule and a stack of books. The following two and a half years, including summers, required a lot of hard work and dedication to graduate with XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and a XXXX in XXXX. While I was employed, I consistently paid my student loans. After several years of underemployment and unemployment, I have not been able to meet my obligations. I filed for bankruptcy in XX/XX/XXXX and wiped out all of my debt except for my car loan and of course, my student loans. I have not held a job since the end of XX/XX/XXXX that required anything more than a high school education. I have tried countless times to get back into XXXX with no avail. My most recent position as a XXXX XXXX at XXXX warehouse gives me {$.XXXX} per hour for my education. At 20 hours a week, that is {$XXXX} per week, {$XXXX} per month, and it is a temporary position. With over {$40000.00} in loans, you can imagine my compensation falls far short of minimum required repayment. To add insult to injury, my loans have been in default and I am no longer eligible for any further funding to possibly continue my education and maybe make myself more marketable. Here is what I do not understand about student loans and their relation to bankruptcy. XXXX XXXX is a private corporation, not a government entity. Millions of Americans, small businesses, and corporations were allowed to release the pressure either through bail outs or bankruptcy, yet here I am with a debt I can not afford to repay on an investment that yields me almost no return. My bank made a bad investment in me and my house and wrote it off. XXXX XXXX has written off my debt and passed my loan off to a third party, yet here I am. At best this obligation is a tax on the poor. My mother and father could not afford to pay for my education. I am the first person in my family that has earned a degree. At worst this is an obligation that due to our shallow pockets and small voice, poor students are forced to pay back loans forever. The nation has mortgaged a portion of its future on the backs of its poor youth.