Consumer complaint received 2024-05-28
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Getting a loan — High pressure sales tactics or recruiting
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (OR)

I have private student loans through Navient, for when XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX, now known as XXXX XXXX and owned by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have had my federal student loans discharged through the Borrower Defense program, as a full class member of the XXXX XXXX XXXX class action lawsuit. I am now seeking discharge of my private loans.

I have two Signature Student Loans through Navient, with a current balance totaling {$25000.00}. At the time I took the loans out, it was through XXXX XXXX, but they were converted to Navient without me doing any sort of refinancing. 

It has been well documented by a series of investigations ( US Senate ), lawsuits, and settlements that the school and other for-profit colleges were engaged in a number of predatory practices. In addition to the false advertising, high pressure sales tactics, and lies about school accreditation, XXXX was also involved with selling private loans to me in a way that seems predatory. I was told I could not enroll in the program without taking on private student loans. I was only given one company to choose from, when in reality there were many options available. I was told that I had to have a cosigner and my dad completed the application in a hasty manner so I could get enrolled. The original documentation was lost by XXXX XXXX, and we had to do it again. 

In retrospect, I see that the tuition amounts for the school was set to the exact dollar amount that federal loans would cover for junior and senior level students. Freshman and sophomore students had lower federal student loan limits, so we were basically forced to take on private student loans if we wanted to complete this program and did not have the cash up front. The school was eeking out every XXXX they could get away with, while providing us with an " educaton '' that has proven to not be transferrable to other schools. I have been denied entry to state schools for masters programs because XXXX doesn't have the right accreditation. 

At the time I just thought this was how it worked. But after talking to other students and seeing multiple lawsuits come to light, it is clear to me this was a scam. 

I did not qualify for discharge under the Navient settlement with XXXX attorneys general because my payments were never more than 7 months behind, despite my school being on their list of schools. Had I ever defaulted, my private loans would have been discharged. 

Furthermore, Navient has also been unreliable and predatory in its collection efforts. 

When I was having financial difficulties during the 2008 recession and again after a divorce in the XXXX time period, I would call to request forbearance or any help. They often did not tell me about programs that would have helped me, only giving me the options to continue a high minimum payment. Sometimes this was with my federal loans, when an income driven repayment would have been available to me with XXXX XXXX  monthly payments ; other times it was with private loans. Often both types of loans were discussed on the same call. I kept minimal records because I was trusting the process at the time. 

On the strictly private loan side, I did a few interest rate reduction programs where I was only paying interest. I would have to sign up for an automatic payment withdrawal and continue for XXXX  months with no missed payments, and that would make me eligible for a cosigner release. Or at least that's what they told me. A payment or two would be withdrawn, and then no more withdrawals would happen despite money being in my account. This would put my loan account in delinquency and I would receive a ton of harassment ( so would my dad, the cosigner ) and when I would call to make a payment, Navient would somehow claim to have no record of the payment plan. 

I have never been able to make changes to my account online, I always have to call. The call reps rush and then I have to listen to and approve verbal terms of agreement, which does not feel like a scenario where I can do my due diligence on what the actual terms are. Phone calls are not a paper record, and it was all too convenient for them to not have record of arranged payment plans. 

I have spoken to a few friends with similar loans, and they have identical stories. It feels like a systematic failure and generally predatory practice on multiple fronts. The sale of the loans and the collection efforts have not been transparent or ethical.