Consumer complaint received 2017-04-07
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Can't repay my loan — Can't temporarily postpone payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (CO)

When I first enrolled in XXXX back in XX/XX/XXXX, I was on unemployment, living with friends, barely making ends meet, and desperately looking for something to better myself and my future. I remember telling the loan advisor that I had no idea how to make payments, and that there was no way for me to make payments while in school. Even interest payments. The loan advisor told me not to worry about it, that after I was making money it would be easy for me to pay off any loans incurred. A couple months after enrolling, my father passed away and I was going leave school. I spoke with the XXXX of the school, XXXX, and he had me speak with the loan advisor, who told me to " stick with it '' and " make my dad proud '', which hit a XXXX chord and made sense at the time. Moved to XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX and still wanting to " make my dad proud '' talked with XXXX about re-enrolling, but ultimately decided to enroll in XXXX with a focus on XXXX. Again getting the " worry about it later '' song and dance from the recruiter. Lost interest in the program while enrolled, but was doing very well so I stuck with it telling myself I was makin my dad proud. Even had this exact discussion with faculty who encouraged me to keep making him proud regardless of financial situation. Graduated with a XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX, still had little to no interest in my area of study, and still had no idea how to pay off the loan, so I contacted Navient and was told to keep my loan in forbearance as this would n't negatively effect my credit but would keep interest rolling. While the interest did n't sound good, the non-negative credit effect sounded good, so I kept my loans in forbearance for a couple of years, just not worrying about it, out of sight-out of mind kind of mentality. I mean this is what the loan company said was best, so this is what I did. Now almost 5 years after graduating I have an almost XXXX XXXX XXXX daughter, work for myself trying to start up a small business, and also help with a friends non profit, and can not afford the almost $ XXXX payments that I was told not to worry about until later. It 's later, I still do n't know how to make these payments, and I 'm now worrying about it. For a couple of years I kept the loans in forbearance and at the end of each cycle I would contact Navient and they would well me how many months forbearance I had left, and I would tell them " keep it rolling ... '' I know I was an adult ( well, kind of ) when I enrolled in school, but ultimately I feel as though I was convinced by a good team of recruiters to enroll in something they knew I could n't afford, and then after it was all said and done I was misguided by the company handeling my loan to keep the loan in forbearance while racking up interest until it was too late and really pst anything that I could financially handle. If I knew then what I know now about student loans and credit ratings, I would have never made the leap into school, nor would I have buried myself further in debt to " make my dad proud ''. Looking back I was duped and cohersed into making bad finanacial decisions, and future decisions, by teams of people who did n't have my best interest in mind. Now in the end I 'm stuck with a massive debt that I ca n't afford to pay off, and a degree and credits from XXXX schools that are either out of business all together, or no longer recognized as a college/university.