Consumer complaint received 2018-02-24
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (NH)

I wish I could succinctly give you my problems with XXXXXXXX/Navient ( I was originally with XXXX XXXX but they changed my loans to Navient when they split ), but there is so much history. I will say that right now I am filing the complaint because after my loans went into default I was offered a repayment plan through a Navient Debt collector ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and they told me that if I made regular payments they would not go after my cosigner and it would protect my credit. Now despite making these payments Navient continues to negatively report me to credit bureaus which drops my credit score approximately 15-18 points each reporting. Furthermore the original dispersement was for approximately {$22000.00} and over the years I have made ~ {$16000.00} in payments and my loan balance is still over {$20000.00}. The rest of the complaint is the detailed account. 

I graduated in XXXX. I had roughly XXXX in Federal Loans and Roughly XXXX in Private loans. After my grace period I began paying regularly from XXXX until I left my job after having my first child ( because the cost of childcare made me going back to work a XXXX sum game ). Eventually I applied for an IBR for my federal loans and it has been set at XXXX for years because my family does not bring in much money. My husband worked multiple jobs as an XXXX XXXX   and occasional XXXX XXXX while getting his XXXX and I spent a few years working as a XXXX XXXX, hoping to eventually go back to school to become a XXXX XXXX. We had times where we were on medicare and foodstamps and times where we could afford our own food. The IBR was always set at or near {$0.00} but the private loan department could not care less about my ability to feed my family. 

With my private loans I paid a fee and applied for a hardship forbearance in XX/XX/XXXX. I began making payments again XX/XX/XXXX, however I could not afford the full amount so they told me the only thing they could offer was interest only. I was so afraid of defaulting ( especially because my mother was a cosigner, I never knew that cosigner release was an option when I was making regular payments prior to my financial hardship as I believe XXXX XXXXNavient tries to hide this fact ). From XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX I made regular payments on this interest only plan. 

At that time ( XX/XX/XXXX ) they said I could no longer continue with Interest Only Payments and the only option was to pay more than {$300.00} per month. That amount was simply untenable. I spent hours and hours on the phone with them and they said there was nothing they could do. At most they said they could lower it to around {$270.00}, but that was just absolutely impossible for me to pay that amount and continue to feed my children and keep a roof over their head. 

There was nothing I could do and my loans went into default status. For a few months the Navient collectors would call myself or my mother and harass us or alternately offer us to pay off the balance of roughly XXXX with a one time payment of {$9000.00}. But of course, someone who cant afford {$300.00} per month can not come up with {$9000.00} they suggested I take out a loan or ask a family member to take out a loan for me. But again, naturally someone with XXXX in defaulted debt will not qualify for an unsecured loan and frankly I find it extremely predatory that they would ask me to ask family members to take out a loan for me. I had no house to take a loan against and my husband and I shared a modest vehicle ( which when we ultimately had to sell it, sold for {$1800.00}, not nearly enough to pay {$9000.00} ). 

At the end of XX/XX/XXXX XXXX offered me a repayment plan. They said that if I made regular monthly payments they could reduce my interest to .001 % and I only had to make an initial payment of {$200.00} and then monthly payments of {$150.00}. They said that this would protect my cosigner and myself from harassment and would protect my credit. I felt I had no choice but to accept the plan, especially to protect my mother who is now retirement age but still has to work at a XX/XX/XXXX just to pay her monthly bills ( she would have had a more secure retirement but she had XXXX XXXX in XXXX and the medical bills-even with insurance-destroyed her and my fathers retirement savings ). 

Since that time I have basically just been racking up credit card debt in order to pay this monthly bill ( it is charged to a credit card ). My husband and I and our kids had to move very far away from family because there were no jobs for him where we were. I can not yet work here because of language barriers. My husband is trying his hardest to support us, but he also has student loan bills ( upwards of {$1000.00} per month-which went into repayment more recently after my default since he was getting his XX/XX/XXXX up until XXXX ). He is also afraid to default since his father is cosigner and he had to stop working a few years before retirement and go on XXXX a few years ago after multiple massive XXXX XXXX left him unable to work. Despite my going into credit card debt to maintain regular payments Navient continues to negatively report me to credit bureaus causing my credit to fall from fair/good to fair/poor. 

When I contacted XX/XX/XXXX they told me that I was doing everything correctly and making my payments. They said that they do not report me to the Credit Bureau and I would have to contact Navient. When I contacted Navient they told me that they couldnt remove the loan from my credit report until it was paid or settled-to which I replied that I understood but that they continue to negatively report me ( as though I am not making payments at all ) despite the fact that the collectors told me that the payments would protect my credit. They told me I would have to contact XXXX with any questions. As you can see it is an infuriating run-around to deal with Navient and their umbrella collection agencies. No one will give me a straight answer, and frankly I cant understand the point of going into credit card debt to make these payments if they arent keeping me in good standing.