Consumer complaint received 2018-09-29
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (NY)

I have been officially XXXX since XXXX, and have been receiving Social Security benefits for the past few years. In spite of my current predicament, I have continued to make my monthly debt payments, including my student loan debts. One of my lenders is Navient, with which I hold both private and federal loans. The former are variable-interest, which means that my monthly payment has steadily gone up from {$240.00} to the current amount of {$320.00}. This is under an interest-only payment plan, which expires this month and which I can not renew. My new monthly amount is {$490.00}, which I absolutely can not afford to pay. At XXXX XXXX today, Saturday, XX/XX/2018, I called Navient in order to find out whether I qualify for any other repayment plan. I specifically called today because my father, who does not live with us, was visiting our family this weekend. He only speaks XXXX, and as my co-signer he had to be present in order for Navient to take a financial statement from both of us. I informed the representative of this right away, and she said that she would take my statement first while we waited for a translator for my father. 

This impertinent customer service representative who answered my call told me that if approved, I would have to make a payment of the new, approved amount both for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX over the telephone today, and asked me how I would manage to do that, if I could not pay {$490.00} for just one month. To this undue and impertinent question I replied that just because I could not pay almost {$500.00} on a monthly basis for an extended period of time, did not indicate that I could not pay, say, {$600.00} total, for two months over the telephone in one day. 

She went on to ask me to list my monthly expenses. I stated that I pay my loans and my credit cards. Off the top of my head I said that I pay around {$700.00} in credit card bills, and she quickly said that I could not be approved because the difference between that and the monthly {$1500.00} check that I receive from Social Security was enough to cover the {$490.00}. I told her that I have other student loans besides Navient, and opened up a chart I have on my computer to actually look at my monthly payments. The non-Navient loans equal about {$370.00}, which brings just that to {$1000.00}. The difference between {$1500.00} and {$1000.00} is {$440.00}, which any first-grader will clearly tell you is less than {$490.00}. 

I recalled that besides these payments, which I schedule myself on the computer every month, I also have automatic debits. I started to tell her this, and she said to stop right there. 

Then she proceeded to call me a liar. And said that I was disapproved for a repayment plan. 

My impression from the beginning had been that this person was intent, from the get-go, on disapproving my request, and on not listening to any one but herself. Her calling me a liar was offensive, to say the least. Without further ado, I hung up on her. 

To clarify and continue what I stated above regarding monthly auto debits, I also pay, every month, {$40.00} in pet insurance and {$39.00} in health insurance premiums for prescription drug coverage. I also pay {$60.00} in office visit co-payments in cash every month. I have records of all this. The {$1500.00} check does not cover all of these expenses, and it certainly does not cover transportation, medication, and miscellaneous expenditures, so many times I have to pull from my savings or use a credit card or ask my family for help. 

Call it the reality of living in America these days. 

Maybe these should be taken into account.