Consumer complaint received 2017-10-02 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
Hello, I had called Navient ( my Federal Loan service provider, formerly XXXX XXXX XXXX I believe towards the end of XXXX XXXX, maybe XXXX XXXX. I called to try and get my payment lowered from {$140.00} per month. The person whom I spoke with gave me a few options to try to get it lowered and convinced me to do the re-consolidation to get a lower payment. Then, I had asked for an estimated payment or what it might look like after getting the loans reconsolidated. The gentlemen on the phone stated that it would be around {$90.00} something per month, which, would be something I could afford on top of the private student loans I am also paying back. I went ahead with this plan thinking it would be better and they went ahead an processed it, along with three months of forbearance because I was struggling to make payments on time. 

Flash forward a few months later, I gave Navient a call towards the middle of XXXX XXXX because I had not heard anything on the status of my application. After that, I received an e-mail of what my new payment would be in XXXX XXXX ... {$190.00}. Wow. I could not believe this. Why would anyone reconsolidate to have their payment be increased? I called Navient again. Apparently, going forward with the decision to reconsolidate was NOT the option I should 've been pushed into doing. The lady I spoke with on the phone went over my account and advised that I should NOT go forward with anymore forbearance because of all the interest that has accrued. What else was I supposed to do when I was n't able to afford payments? I told her that I was advised to do so and to reconsolidate, which she also told me I should not have done, either. I then asked, could I go back to what my plan was before?, and she said no. So, in the end, I ruined any chance of being out of financial debt any time soon. Not only could I not get out of the plan, but reconsolidating only added 10 more years onto a 10 year loan. And now, this is all a disaster. 

I do n't understand how a loan company could advise student loan borrowers to go through with this knowing that they are just banking on the interest they 're collecting, even when loans are in forbearance. I do n't know where else to turn, what other companies to look for or how to even qualify for loan forgiveness. It does n't seem right or fair for a company to expect payments like these, when our generation has other financial obligations like rent, groceries, credit card payments, other loan payments, a LIFE. 

I am not saying that I regret taking out student loans, because I would not have been afforded the wonderful and fulfilling education I received. However, if I had known then what I know now, I would n't have done so to be in the current financial loop around I am in. 

My feel stuck and do not know where to turn to at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated moving forward.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation