Consumer complaint received 2017-01-24
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan — Can't temporarily postpone payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (IL)

I have student loans with Navient, previous known as XXXX. Over the past XXXX years, I have been hit with major financial set backs since being out of school in XX/XX/XXXX. I have been laid ( due to restructuring/position elimination ) off almost every year and in XX/XX/XXXX I was laid off. I was making payments when I started a new job and when they lay off happened, I immediately called to say I could n't afford the minimum payment monthly. I would call every XXXX weeks and I was repeatedly told that there were no options even though I was not receiving unemployment benefits initially and that I they would not take any amount other than a minimum payment. I was not told they could not lower my monthly payments because I was on the lowest plan despite now being unemployed. And that if they went off my income, I would still have to pay approx {$130.00} as opposed to {$140.00} per month. Now the loans have went into default, my credit score was perfect now its very low. I have never been late or missed any payments ( with any credit/loan lenders ) and I do want to pay them back, but I do n't even have unemployment benefits now as of XX/XX/XXXX because I 've exhausted all the funds. So, Navient told me that I still have to pay or I 'll be subject to legal action. I explained to them that the only reason I am not paying is because I have not income to pay at this time. Before this point, I told them I could pay $ XXXX until I established employment but they told me " that is not good enough. '' I experience a representative that told me how, when, and where I should spend my money and he literally yelled at me for calling to try and work out a plan with them ; he was not having any of it. So, now I 'm at the point that I ca n't make any payments and I am trying to figure out what to do in this situation. Also, I was told that I did not have anymore forbearance/deferment since I had used them previously when I was laid off. The other thing is that they also charge you {$50.00} to default the loans in XXXX month increments. And in this case, I had to borrow the {$50.00} to put them in forbearance. Lastly, Navient tried to give me a settlement of smaller amount than was owed and when I told them I did n't have the money they told me that I could use a credit card and if I did n't do that, then they would put that I was " refusing and unwilling to pay. '' I told them that they should tell the truth and stop lying because I never refused to pay, I did n't have the income to pay. The representative told me that " if he did that ( told the truth ) then he would be taking a risk. '' I just told him to do the right thing. I have been trying since XX/XX/XXXX to prevent this issue from happening and no one would help me nor give me options for a reasonable payment method. Most, if not all of the representatives got mad at me and argued with me when I told them I was unemployed and did n't have unemployment and I did n't even know how my mortgage was going to get paid. They did not care nor were they willing to help in any capacity. Also, I had every intention on paying back on the student loan but I have had severe financial hardships every year for the past XXXX years. My situation and what has happened to me has been so disappointing and discouraging since I have never been late or missed any payments on any credit cards or loans and I 've always had good credit.. But thanks to Navient for their unwillingness to work with me, my credit score has suffered.