Consumer complaint received 2019-04-15
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (UT)

I originally took my loan out with Salle Mae back in XXXX. A few years ago, Navient acquired the student loans from Salle Mae. From day 1 they have been a predatory lender : the only give you half the information you need, and only AFTER you need it. I have spoken with their representatives over the phone on multiple occasions and each and every time I get different information. A year ago I found myself delinquent on my loan. I was a current student and upon receipt of the email notifying me that my loan was coming due, I responded that I was a current student ( like I have every semester ) and that the loan should be in an " in school deferment '' status. No response was ever received back ( I never received one in the past ) so I assumed that things were proceeding like they had every other time. Only after my loan was past due by 3 months did I start receiving phone calls from Navient. ( up to this point, no notification was received about the past due status : not by mail, not by email and no statements ) I was advised that my in school forbearance had run out and that was the reason my loan was now delinquent. ( Keep in mind that I received NO notification that there was a limit to this type of forbearance, or that I had exhausted it ) After several negotiations and speaking with multiple representatives, they finally agreed to put my on a payment plan ( something that I had previously been told I did not qualify for ).

As the payment plan came to an end, I once again called Navient to find out what my regular payment amounts would be. I was advised t
hey could not give that to me until the last payment of the program had been made. I called back when that payment had been made, and I was told that they could not give me the payment amount until the account had cycled. I called back on the date that I was advised the account would cycle and I was told I had to wait until the first day of the next month otherwise I would have to make 2 payments in the current month. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called Navient to find out what my current loan payment would be. Between my wife and I we work 3 jobs and we live on a budget - so this information was crucial for us to have. I spoke with a representative who offered a payment program that lowered my payment. It is still higher than really works with our budget, but I was told that there were " no other options '' to bring the payment lower. I agreed to the program, AGREED TO AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS, and was advised multiple times that I needed to check my account every 3 months to ensure that my automatic payments were covering the full payment amount because it could go up at anytime. ( If I'm on automatic payments, shouldn't they also adjust with the loan payment?!?!?!?!?!? ) So imagine my surprise today when I received a statement from Navient indicating that my loan was PAST DUE and that on XX/XX/XXXX I owed a payment of approximately {$16000.00}! When I called I was advised that this is how this payment program works, and for the next 3 months my loan will be considered past due/delinquent and there was NOTHING THAT THEY COULD DO TO change/prevent that. 

This is predatory lending in every way shape and form - they give you part truths and withhold critical information during the decision making process in order to trick consumers into going into a delinquent status so they can collect additional interest/late fees. 

Additionally, because my loan is now in a " delinquent status '' I CAN NOT refinance it with another more trustworthy company.