Consumer complaint received 2024-06-05
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (FL)

XXXX XXXX, I am writing to share my concerns with Navient, the services of my private student loan that I took out in XXXX to attend college. 

Since graduating in XXXX, I have consistently made my payments until recently due to financial hardship, both due to a loss of income and due to XXXX. My account is now delinquent, and I have made multiple attempts to contact Navient to adjust my payments to lower them or to extend my term giving me the ability to manage my health and wellbeing. Instead, I am consistently harassed by Navient, having received calls daily and sometimes multiple times a day. Additionally, these calls are made by people working from home across the country, so I was getting unidentified or unlisted calls which I avoided because I did not know legitimacy of the call. 


I am a XXXX XXXX with diagnosed XXXX, for which I have been trying to manage for 10 years. My original loan of {$17000.00} currently has a balance of {$20000.00}, for which I have already paid similar amount over the last 10 years. While I went to college for XXXX XXXX, I was unable to go into the field due to the paying of jobs and need for further education and instead went into another field. In these 10 years, I have made good faith efforts to pay my monthly payment and it was not until recently in the last year that I struggled, after changing XXXX  due to XXXX  in my XXXX for my XXXX and the challenges affecting my XXXX. 

I reached out to Navient, who placed me on a modified payment plan to lower the interest for 6 months, which at the end only increased my monthly payment even more. I applied again, and it dropped it only minor, and I struggled so for the past couple months have been unable to pay. 

I have shared with Navient that I am trying to pay for a XXXX XXXX for my XXXX, so this large monthly payment which only increases, drastically impacts my ability to address my health. I have been told that I am already on a plan, so I can not be put on any other. I have received harassing phone calls, often multiple times a day. When I shared I already spoke with someone, they said it wasnt reported. When I shared I physically could not pay, they marked it as me refusing to which I argued that I was not refusing, I just was not able to. I was told by a manager that I spoke with over the numerous calls that they can call as many times as they want in a day or week, even if they already spoke with me. 


I took out this loan to attend school, however it was a private loan that was sent directly to me and not the institution and covered more than the cost of attendance being used to cover other expenses at the time. I went into it knowing I would need to make payments, and over the last 10 years I have ensured my payments were received even when I was only paid monthly and dealing with other life events or the challenges of my XXXX. The harassing phone calls when I was unable to make a payment initially for the first time was so overwhelming. The multiple phone calls from unidentified numbers, from multiple different numbers and area codes. Calls while I am working. I have asked for options to make it more affordable, especially since I have already made paid back the total of original loan but owning double. But these come at a cost, because then the payments increase above the original amount I was paying, putting me even further behind which is where I currently am. 


As I have explained to Navient, I have a XXXX and am currently trying to afford just to go to XXXX  and get a XXXX XXXX which is expensive and then requires additional money for the care of XXXX XXXX. I have explained that I am basically needing to decide between my health or a loan payment that only increases. Still they continue to harass me with phone calls despite sharing I am unable to pay at this time. They say they can just keep calling, and it affects my health even more. There is no reason I should be getting calls every day, after having a conversation with them to explain my hardship, or to get multiple phone calls a day. The calls should be clearly identified as someone calling from Navient, and I should not be getting calls while at work or for them to tell me they can call however many times that they want to to collect. 


I never asked to be attacked and have this XXXX. I have had a difficult 10 years just being able to survive, and finally when I am trying to take the steps to live a better life, I am shackled by a company who has consistently raised interest rates or my monthly payment after helping. A hardship payment plan, should not mean after 6 months that they increase the monthly amount. 

When I removed my bank from Navient for the automatic payment, they still proceeded to charge my bank despite me having removed them from my account online. 

Yesterday, I got another call and shared I could not make payment with information above. Hour later I got an email that I had a payment scheduled, for which I called them and said I never scheduled a payment and that I shared I could not pay. 

This is not the first time that Navient has failed. Back in XXXX when they serviced my federal student loans- I was paying two payments a month for my subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I was contacted by them to lower my payment under the income driven repayment plan, which did help because instead of making two payments, I made one and it was about half overall. However, I then learned only AFTER consolidating them, that it restarted my PSLF qualification for those loans, eliminating all the months I had already made payments. I was then told there was nothing that could be done- and this further extended the timeline for me to pay these down with me having two more years. 

I need the CFPB to address the harassment of Navient calls, as well as their deceptive practices. They intentionally document a refusal to pay, despite trying to work out hardship or payment structure, and even then will schedule payments and authorize them even if removed. I understand fully my obligation and commitment I made to pay this, however at a time where my health is struggling and needing assistance, the harassing phone calls, failure to properly document, and increased payments after hardship plan has ended does not help. If a hardship plan is provided to assist, it should not be later increased as that is not a true good faith effort on their end.