Consumer complaint received 2018-08-14
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (MD)

Attention Navient : My name is XXXX XXXX and my Navient account is # XXXX. 

I graduated from The XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. I have been involved in federal student loan repayment off and on since XXXX through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Sallie Mae, and now, through Navient. Throughout the course of my repayment, I had periods where I was unemployed and experienced severe financial, physical, and family hardships. In every instance, I have taken responsibility for my loans and applied for forbearance and deferment when required. It is unfortunate that these options, which add extreme interest to an already high interest rate to my existing loans, are the only options available to borrowers who experience hard times. 

When I graduated in XX/XX/XXXX, my final federal loan amount through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was exactly {$26000.00}. I have proof of payments I made between XXXX and now ( checks and bank statement e-bills through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Sallie Mae and Navient ) that total {$28000.00}. This amount does not include possible payments I made by credit card or XXXX for penalties or fees to get me back into good standing, nor does it account for lost or shredded checks or bank statements. As of now, I owe Navient {$29000.00} due to the interest accrued through deferment, forbearance in addition to penalties, and fees during periods of hardship. 

I have always strived to make good on my responsibility and not go into default of my federal student loans. The {$28000.00} I have paid more than illustrates that point in good faith. I always have tried working with all student loan financial aid institutions and I wonder if institutions, like Navient and Sallie Mae, are more lenient towards borrowers who actually defaulted on their loans. After all, we now live in an era where bad behavior is paramount and rewarded while good behavior is penalized. Id really like to know how Navient handles accounts of borrowers who have defaulted versus people like me who take responsibility. 

I am by no means wealthy. In fact, I have been almost at poverty-level between the years XXXX where I had virtually no income and I had to rely on Medicaid from XXXX and food stamps from XXXX in order to survive. Although, I now have been employed full-time since XX/XX/XXXX, my job pays very little. I live at home with my mother. My Sallie Mae and Navient records reflect these facts. I have paid back a large sum of money that is estimated in the amount of {$28000.00} ( shown in my records ), only to discover I am starting all over, once again, in XXXX with Navients consolidation Income-Driven Repayment Program. I am unable to attach proofs of payments because the documentation exceeds 110 pages. I will be more than glad to make copies and submit them if needed. I have been enrolled in IDR since XX/XX/XXXX. 

Prior to XXXX, I was enrolled in Navients Hardship Deferment Program. I exhausted the standard forbearance and deferment options and the Hardship Deferment Program option was the only one available to me. A Navient representative stated that if I didnt  apply or qualify for this deferment my federal loans would go into default. In all honesty, the only thing the Hardship Deferment Program did was to keep my Navient account in good standing. It did nothing to benefit me since the interest was no different than any other Navient postponement program. The requirements for Hardship Deferment Program were proof of food stamps and proof of Medicaid. 

Please note that Navient is the third student loan financial aid institution that has taken over my loans since I began repayment in XXXX. Each time, the interest rates increased through each consecutive financial aid institution, thus adding more burdens to my initial loan debt amount. I also dont know why my federal loans are allowed to be transferred from one student loan financial aid institution to another. Each student loan financial aid institutions seems to change the loan terms and conditions from the previous student loan financial aid institutions loan terms and conditions to where it benefits them. If I am bound to my original loan amount promised in the original through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX contract ( which I still have ), then why are Sallie Mae or Navient not obligated to honor the original contract ( s ) terms and conditions? 

Here is a brief repayment status of my federal loans as of XXXX. While working as an XXXX XXXX for XXXX XXXX, my Sallie Mae records showed I paid the federal loans down to approximately {$19000.00} by XX/XX/XXXX. Then, due to company downsizing, I was let go from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. My intention was to use my savings in order to continue to make payments while I searched for employment. Unfortunately, a few weeks later during the first week in XX/XX/XXXX, I had a XXXX XXXX XXXX which adversely affected me physically for over two years. I still have issues today. 

Throughout XXXX my savings went towards Cobra benefits, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and car payments. My bank account was almost depleted by the end of XXXX. Back then I was not a candidate for Medicaid. This injury also hindered me from gaining employment for almost two years because I was considered a risk due to my injury and XXXX. After that, the gap in my employment became a red flag to hiring agencies and employers. Then, between the years XXXX I had to settle for temporary full-time heavily physical employment positions for short 3-month stints with promises of integration. The reality was when company benefits were to go in play, I was let go. I must emphasize that this all occurred during the recession. 

Here is a brief history of the hardships I experienced after losing my job in XX/XX/XXXX and incurring XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I was in a minor collision at a speed less than 25 MPH on my way home from XXXX XXXX for my XXXX XXXX. The man I collided with was not injured, but he tried to sue me for {$300000.00}. XXXX would only cover up to {$100000.00} for the suit. I was unemployed without job prospects and I was fearful I would be paying out of pocket the rest of my life for a mere fender bender once I became employed. Eventually, a settlement was made through XXXX in the amount of {$32000.00}, but the case took three to four years to settle. In XX/XX/XXXX I was XXXX at my gym. Video evidence and witnesses confirmed it was a XXXX XXXX on me. My XXXX was XXXX in XXXX places. It took almost 2 years to recover from then physical damage. My attacker was not made responsible to pay for my medical bills that exceeded {$21000.00} because the Judge said he could not afford to pay. Within the month I was attacked, medical creditors and collection agencies were demanding medical payments that I could not afford to pay. I was fortunate enough to have the Maryland Injuries Compensation Board take care of those medical burdens, but it took 4 years to clear. Also, please note that the Maryland Injuries Compensation board only takes on cases for victims of violent crimes. Then on my road to recovery, my father grew ill and between XXXX and early XXXX. I had to help assist my ( then XXXXyear old ) mother as a XXXX to my father. I was unable to work during that period, at all. 

As you can see it has not been easy for me. I was in a position where I didnt have a job and in addition to an increasing student loan debt, I thought I was going to be paying an additional {$200000.00} - {$300000.00} ( collision ) for an honest mistake. On top of that, the {$21000.00} for medical bills associated with an assault on me. I was stressed for years. In addition to all of this, my father passed away in XXXX of XXXX. I dont wish this on anyone. Ultimately, these are factors and facts that student loan financial institutions like Sallie Mae and Navient do not take into consideration. I can provide documents and letters of confirmation to everything I listed above. 

Regardless of my circumstances, I never shirked my responsibility from repayment. I think its a travesty that student loan financial aid institutions seem to take advantage of people like me, who are not only struggling with the federal student loans, but who have experienced unfortunate life events that adversely set them back. Adding fees, penalties and interest does not help the burden for people in my situation. Deferment and Forbearance are well and good for postponement, but the interest that accrued is absurd. Income-Driven repayment is all well and good too, but it really does nothing to decrease the overall loan amount. 

During my struggles, Sallie Mae and Navient representatives suggested I make interest payments throughout the course of these postponements. Unfortunately, no income means no income! If I was not able to make the loan payment due to a depleted bank account and I had no income, there was no way to pay monthly interest payments regardless of how low Sallie Mae and Navient determined the interest payments would be. 

As I stated, I am currently enrolled in Income Driven Repayment through Navient. I started this repayment plan in XXXX after gaining full-time employment. This year I applied for renewal early in XXXX, XXXX to avoid application problems. In reality, I had to apply for Income-Driven Repayment multiple times during the course of three months! I have included correspondence in the attached PDF documents that accompany this complaint letter. 

Ultimately, I was told by woman Navient representative on XX/XX/XXXX that the first application and XXXX in XXXX, XXXX ( I originally submitted ) was correct. Again, depending with whom I spoke I was given a different answer. The woman told me my application would be approved and I would receive an email letter within 14 days. She said my payment amount would be approximately {$87.00} per month. Then I received an email stating my IDR was approved and I would be paying {$120.00} per month. The day after, I received another email stating my payment is {$170.00} per month. This is all way too confusing and convoluted. I have included the pertinent correspondence with Navient in a multi-paged PDF attachment regarding my recent Income Driven Repayment application problems since XX/XX/XXXX. Why it took over 3 months to approve a simple application is beyond me. I also question the allocation of my payments and whether or not the allocation benefits me.