Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I graduated from college in XXXX of XXXX. At the time my loans, both private and federal were finnanced through Sallie Mae, totaling around {$160000.00}. With the collapse of the economy in the fall of XXXX and employment opportunities limited, I was unable to secure employment in my field but was able string along a variety of odd jobs to make ends meet. My income at the time was barely enough to live on forcing me to move back home with my parents in an effort to save money. Even then I still couldnt afford to make the required student loan payments to Sallie Mae. I needed to put my loans into forbearance till I could afford to begin repayment. After two years of this I finally was able to land an internship in my field. Along with the internship I continued to work side jobs and was able to restructure my payment plans through Sallie Mae. I began an interest only repayment program on my private loans and was able to defer some of my federal loans. While going through this, my debt was continuing to compound and grow but there was little I could do or afford to mitigate the growth. I did the best I could in managing my debt and after a year of interning I finally secured full time position in my field. Now armed with a decent salary I was ready to attack my student loan debt. I still continued to live at home with my parents in an effort to maximize my student loan repayment. Once again I restructured my repayment program. I quit the interest only program and begin making full payments towards my student loans. By this time though the damage had been done. My original debt of {$160000.00} had ballooned and skyrocket to {$240000.00}! Throughout this time Sallie Mae had made things difficult when it came to managing my loans. It was almost impossible to direct over-payments towards specific loans that allowed me to best pay down my debt. Either through their website or via the representatives over the phone, their allocation system was convoluted with seemingly no rhyme or reason. It seemed my loans were in a constant state of flux and I would regularly incur late fees which only added to my debt. Because of this state of flux myself and my family members would be constantly badgered by phone calls from Sallie Mae collection representatives. Some of my family members had no connection at all to my loans but were still roped in. As I continued to try and manage my debt the status of my loans constantly changed. From phone call to phone call with Sallie Mae I would get a dirlfferent stories from their reps. That too was s problem, each call was with different representative, there was never a way to deal with the same person each time. The only consistenticey in all of this was the constant state of flux and badgering phone calls. At some point I restructured my repayment plan and entered into automatic repayment for most of my loans, both federal and private. My account has since changed from Sallie Mae to Navient. It is is now XXXX and I have been repaying my student loans now for 10 years. After 10 years of repayment I have finally reached my initial balance of {$160000.00} that I graduated with. This debt has been debilitating. The dream of home ownership and starting a family is just that, a dream. This burden will continue to haunt me for another 10-15 years till it is paid off, a far cry from what I originally signed up for with Sallie Mae. Choosing to use loan Sallie Mae/Navient to finance my education has been an absolute nightmare. It is almost like signing a deal with the XXXX. To me they are nothing more than a glorified, legalized loan shark, that the government has empowered and allowed to prey on the masses. Thus far Sallie Mae/Navient has made almost an extra {$100000.00} off me, and at this rate I will end up repaying nearly double of what I initially borrowed. Yet there is no help for me and others like me. We are limited in our options. Claiming interest for taxes is capped at {$2500.00}, and dependent upon income, so in some cases not allowed to be claimed at all. There is no option of bankruptcy unlike most other debts. We are simply at the mercy of the lenders. This is not a cry for total loan forgiveness by any means, all Im looking for is to make things fair and equitable and to give myself and others like me a fighting chance.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 018XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Can't temporarily delay making payments
Consumer Complaint: Constant phone calls from Navient from morning til night. Spoke with representatives and was told there is no forbearance for private loans and no escaping payment
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 28215
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Don't agree with the fees charged
Consumer Complaint: My loans are calculated too high at the time at the moment I am currently {$35000.00} and more and that because of student loans I can't not get any personal loans 2 fix my credit to purchase a new car I currently do not get paid enough to make any kind of payments I think the the loan is this a lot of money. I want to know how to clear up my account back to zero without having to pay any monies if possible so that I can go and get a career
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 123XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: I read about the lawsuit and I believe I was directed to get a forebearance or default before any other option
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 148XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Subissue: Problem lowering your monthly payments
Consumer Complaint: Upon contacting customer service, I was told that the reason my monthly rate had suddenly doubled was that my income had been reassessed and now I had a new monthly payment. However, even though my income did not change appreciably my payment was now twice what it was before ( {$200.00} vs {$100.00} ). I am of the opinion that the IRS gave them the wrong information although I have no way to prove it. I am continuing to pay the {$100.00} payment I agreed to. If this causes further bookkeeping problems that is beyond my control. I am at least making an effort to pay my debt which is more than I can say for others. I am not asking you to resolve my issue, merely to air it. The publicity alone may solve the problem.
Company Response:
State: KY
Zip: 41042
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-15
Issue: Improper use of your report
Subissue: Reporting company used your report improperly
Consumer Complaint: Sallie Mae performed a inquiry without my knowledge
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 27526
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Consumer Complaint: I opened a Federal Student Loan to attend XXXX after I completed my XXXX I became XXXX XXXX and could not work. I requested that the lender forbear my account because of my medical situation. The Loan only had my account in forbearance for a short period and even after my continued request for Loan forbearance the servicer reported negative account information to the Credit Reporting Agencies. I have since had my XXXX Loans completed discharged because of my XXXX medical condition however the Prior Federal Loan Servicer continues to report my account negative even though it has even past the 7 year statue of limitation.
Company Response:
State: GA
Zip: 30122
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: I don't understand why I can not decided how my money is disbursed among my loans I pay XXXX a month and the loan provider won't let me split it in a manner that is beneficial to me. The loan provider is splitting my money in a way that creates the highest interest for them instead of actually paying off my loan. I don't understand why they wont let me pay the loans off the way it would help me by paying off the interests that collects each month. I have to make additional payments to cover the interests because my loan provider refused to distribute my payments in way to cover the interests that collects each month and the principle. The loan provider is making it harder to pay off the original principle, when asked why I could not say XXXX goes to this loan and the other XXXX for the other loan the customer service representative told me I could not do it because I would pay off the loan faster!!!!! This makes no sense to me.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 787XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Trouble with how payments are being handled
Consumer Complaint: This is the second complaint i have had to file against navient ... last year and again this year about income based repayments. They dont respond, push forbearance and after sending in a pay stub for income reduced payment, I received an email saying they needed more info and they were sending paperwork for me to fill out. 1 month later and after sending them an email and asking where my paperwork was i still have had no response and after working so hard to increase my credit score im endanger of it being once again messed up by navient because i cant afford {$500.00} in addition to the {$180.00} im already paying. I make {$400.00} a week. Navient still isnt trying to make things right for their customers. Nothing has changed with this company. XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 13850
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2018-12-14
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about your loan
Consumer Complaint: When I initially started paying these loans they were around XXXX dollars for 1semester of university which. Over the years they have ballooned to XXXX dollars due to interest. Due to XXXX XXXX and other issues i have always struggled financially and have never been able to pay anything consistently. The majority of the time my loans have been in default, forbearance, or deferment. I never really understood how this worked other than my payments would be put on hold. I never really understood how the interest accrued and could balloon. It wasnt until maybe the last 5 or 6 years i learned about income contingent payment plans as it was never presented to me when I called in for forbearance or deferment. Just in the past couple months i was told there are plans where the government covers the interest on some payment plans. This is something that has been a dark cloud over my life and has contributed to my XXXX as i feel i was taken advantage of or scammed because i am an easy target. The payment i owe is literally for nothing. I have no valid credits from my 1 semester of University. The interest on my loan begin removed would be ideal outcome. I'm not saying i shouldn't pay anything but i was never educated on the interest accrual. They just always said it will still accrue. Also i should never been allowed to put my loans in forbearance or deferment for this long. Income contingent plans should have always been the first option suggested to me. I didn't even know they existed for a long time. I'm sending this because i just saw a article navient is being audited for similar complaints and this is something i have stressed about for years
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 10467
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2018-12-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A