Navient

I told them I was in school and couldn't pay. They apologized, changed the date, but apparently, they also switched to having my entire payments moving forward just be applied to interest. I don't remember them telling me they were going to do that and never received anything in writing about that because I would have definitely said no way. Then when the transfer to Navient happened in 2014, I received a notice that the transition would be smooth, that my automatic payment information would be transferred over, and that I didn't need to do anything. So I didn't, and I thought everything went smoothly. Last weekend, though, after my husband asked me what my student loan balance was now, I checked and again, the same amount, if not more than it had been.

So I decided I had had enough and would up my payment amount significantly to have it paid off in two years. But then I went to Navient's site and remembered I had tried to do that in the past, but they don't have an option on the site to automatically pay an additional amount each month (like my other student loan site with a much better company has). You have to go in each month if you want to make an extra payment which is really annoying when you're like me and have everything set to happen automatically so you don't have to think about it. Anyway, I got frustrated, sent a complaint, and then googled them today once I got a weird response from them. Then I found all the terrible reviews about them. I went back into my account, clicked on the payment history, and saw that since 2011, when I had to start paying on the loan again, my monthly payments have gone ENTIRELY to interest.

They have not applied a single penny toward my principal. No WONDER it's taking me forever to pay it off, because I will literally NEVER pay it off with the way they set up my payments. Without paying anything toward principal, I will continue to accrue interest, so my payments will continue to go to the never-ending interest. I'm not the most financially literate person, but I know enough that your payments should be split between interest and principal. But then I noticed that the monthly alerts they send about your payment posting don't list the breakdown between interest and principal, nor does the account summary landing page. You have to go into the payment history part which I've never thought to do since I pay the same payment every single month, so why would I need to review it? PLUS, they don't have anywhere on the site where I could fix this and designate that I want my payments applied to principal. They truly are crooks.

I can't believe they've been stealing from me this whole time. I know I should have figured this out a long time ago, but who would have thought a company that is supposed to help students who don't have rich parents get an education would take advantage of people like this? Neither of the other two companies I had student loans with did anything like this. My automatic payments were taken out each month, I never had to think about it, and one day got my notice from the one that I had paid it off, and with my grad school loans, I have already almost paid them off. How is it this loan's balance has only gone down $2,500 in 10 years (and all of that being from the AmeriCorps education award I applied toward it in 2008)? They should be ashamed of themselves.

This year I had to recertify my income to continue on the plan. I received the notification of recertification in June and responded with the appropriate proof of income within the week. Today, October 4, I went to pay my student loan and noticed that the amount due for October was the same amount as what would have paid had I not recertified. I called again. At first they responded that they could not establish payment frequency (same excuse the prior year even though I had provided pay stubs and a copy of my tax returns). After a minute of typing on the part of the representative she said that she did not know why they would have indicated that they could not establish frequency since I had submitted a copy of my tax return (this negated the need to provide pay stubs which I had done in addition to the tax form).

In fact, it was the identical package of documents that was provided the year before and had been sufficient to establish me as eligible for the program. There was in fact, no issue whatsoever concerning the sufficiency of the paperwork just as there was not the prior year. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that this is deliberate, that the default position is to deny eligibility for the program despite the existence of paperwork establishing eligibility. They are acting in bad faith.

The communication with Navient was not very good and I got very frustrated. I would not recommend this company to anyone. They aren't honest and don't make it easy to pay it off. Plus I had a co-signer and finally when I paid off this loan to a bank they didn't even send me a letter, just to my co-signer. I was the one paying for the loan all these years. I am glad I have finally got around to doing this to let students know that this is not a good student loan company. Don't chose Navient.

This will keep my account in a status that allows me to send in my IBR form - the same one I submitted in time earlier this year - so that the process can continue without interruption. In order to be sure Navient processes my forms - forbearance and IBR - I now need to follow up with phone calls to watchdog them. This is not ok under any circumstance. Consumers are having to do entirely too much watchdogging these days. Navient dropped the ball here and I have to jump through more hoops to fix their fails.

All of a sudden I went online today and the amount changed online. Again. It went down less than a dollar, but is different from the statement I received dated 8/15/17 for payment on 9/12/17. So I called and they told me I owed more than both. This isn't the case, I owe that amount in October. So then they told me I owed the lowest amount, which I proceeded to tell them this has already happened and every time they do that to me, I end up owing even though I have talked to representatives several of the last 5 months.

Don't even get me started on their new automated system that hangs up on you when you can't tell it what it wants to hear. Seriously, you can call me multiple times per day when I HAVE paid but I can't even get through to talk to someone without being hung up on. The people are always nice when I call but generally don't know what they are doing and just have to put a ticket into probably nowhere. So irritating. If it wasn't for student loan forgiveness (which I am not entirely for, but will be eligible for) then I would refinance just because this company is so awful. They are worse than Sallie Mae was by far.

You can never get the same answer to the same question from two different people at this company. Try and get on an income based payment plan on a private loan, provided all the information as requested and the bottom line is you have to let the loan go in default, then to collections and here is your plan, more like Jeff Foxworthy would say "Here's your sign". How can any financial institution recommend this? It ruins your credit, brilliant. I see in press releases that the Navient CEO has mastered not working with the consumer, their supposed "Consumer Advocate Department” should grab the latest edition of Webster's dictionary and look up what a consumer advocate is or does because it surely isn't them. Very soon I expect them to surpass cable companies as the worst people to deal with.

Once the Feds took over my loans, followed by Sallie Mae taking them back (because of a Sallie Mae error after I filed a complaint)! When will the Education Dept. intervene and hold Navient accountable? Now I have to get a Student Loan specialty attorney! P.S. I never missed a payment, in fact paying much more than the minimum... so, I am in good standing... and have ALL my records!

Lately I haven't been able to make payments on time and instead of them calling, emailing or sending me a letter to let me know of the late payments, they have been calling my co-signer which is my aunt. They call her several times a day and yet I have heard nothing from them. My aunt is not happy that she is being harassed about it when it's my problem not hers. I was in school almost 10 years ago and back then I needed a cosigner, no I don't feel she needs to be on the account anymore and you have to jump through SO many hoops to have the cosigner released. It's absolutely ridiculous! She is also being told that her credit is being affected by this but yet Navient tells me that it has never been negatively reported to the credit bureau. I am beyond frustrated and wish this could all go back to Sallie Mae were it was simply, pain free and affordable. They were at least knowledgeable about ways they could help you, Navient - not so much!

At that point, I was actually put in touch with a customer service representative who candidly explained my best option was to refinance with a different lender. Navient called throughout the day and from different phone numbers. In three years of payments with their company, I was not past due once. They would call at 9 a.m. while I was trying to put my newborn child to sleep. The sad part for Navient is this: I NEVER ran away from them. I ALWAYS wanted to make payments. I constantly called to negotiate payments based on changes to my income. I sought out advice from financial advisors for best practices to pay off this debt. I was not a so called "millennial" looking to dodge my debt. While I may have been a clueless 18 year old when I originally signed for my loans, I never played the "Woe is me" card. I took responsibility for my debt and always sought the best ways to repay it.

I have no way of knowing if my new lender will be as horrific in their practices. One can certainly hope not. Nonetheless, this does not change how damaging my experience with Navient was. Moving forward, I am seeking legal counsel and considering suit for Navient's unwillingness to alter my payments based on income. Navient has a right and duty to collect debts from borrowers. I would never argue that. However, their despicable customer service practices continue to haunt me and my family.

I called back and got another representative, who told me he had calls going back years where I called in to ask about direct loan consolidation and public service forgiveness. Then, I got in touch with a so-called "customer advocate" at Navient. Some advocate she was. She denied that I was ever told there was a record of me calling Navient, and that it was my word against Navient's. I requested copies of all phone communication logs, and she said she'd make a note of it. Weeks later, I followed up with a phone call. I was told by another "advocate" that requests for phone logs had to be made in writing. I was also informed that when a public servant asks that their loans be converted to "direct" loans, the loan is purchased from Navient.

For someone like me, who is in Navient's clutches until 2040, loan conversions have to be against Navient's financial interests. If I convert to a direct loan, they lose my loan and decades of interest that go with it. My guess is that Navient representatives are told not to advise public servants of the need to convert to "direct" loans for this very reason. The U.S. Dept. of Education tells me that I can convert to a "direct" loan now, that it just takes a phone call or simple online application. Because of Navient's lies for 7 years, I never made that phone call or filled out that simple application. My family and I have made major life decisions based on Navient's promise of public service forgiveness.

Now, we are at a crossroads. Navient tells me I can convert to a direct loan now, but that I'd have to start my 10 years of public service and 120 loan payments all over again. I'm scheduled to retire in 6 years, when I'll have 30 years of public service in! No wonder that Navient is being sued left and right for dubious loan servicing practices. The problem? I have written to my senators, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Dept. of Education Ombudsman, the Illinois Attorney General, and the U.S. Attorney General about Navient's misleading lending practices. The response? None forthcoming. I guess we public servants who are dealing with shoddy lenders are being left out to dry.

If they are going to make a call please have the common courtesy to answer the phone when we try to call back. There have been dozens of phone calls to Navient over the last few years to deal with the issues, I cannot say how very dissatisfied we are with this experience. If anyone else ran a business like this it would be shut down because of poor management. In addition these people are managing funds used to send students to school, what a poor example! We have put several students through school (6) and always paid the student loans back. I will never recommend to anyone that they use a loan Navient will manage.

These people are handling my two accounts and I do not trust them. I refused to give them any more money for the month they say I didn't pay and they have probably turned my accounts into the credit bureau which they have done probably many times before. They are very sneaky. Always trying to trick and get money out of you. I went off and do not want anything to do with these people. Every holiday, overtime pay, taxes these people are breathing down my neck. Also, they introduced themselves using my email address which I have told them to never use my email to send communications to me. I will not get their messages by email. I just want to quit my job.

They get you to sign these bad deals knowing you are not reckless... that you care about your credit score, not going to collections and that you want to be able to buy a house later in life - Guess what? You can't anyway, because you will find out after being denied several times with an almost perfect score, that your debt to income ratio is too high... yeah, your loans will ruin your chance even with a 780 like I had. In just one month, my monthly bill will go up $487.49!!! It's like I'm borrowing more money, but I'm not...

I called - thinking there was a mistake. Did they not receive last month's payment? No, everything is fine and my account is in good standing - the rep simply told me that the rate went up... (for no reason other than it can). These are not late fees for being irresponsible - this is outright loan sharking and 14% is so unfair. For all that profit, what service or "greater good" comes from it? It is just incredible greed that pulls the whole system down when borrowers like me default... this is bad business. Lift up the economy with fair lending, not bring it down with loans that will default - it's the housing market garbage all over again, but with students this time (as if those co-signed parents haven't suffered enough) - Oh, and if you love your parents, don't let them co-sign for you.

I love my Federal loans because I borrowed what I needed and was able to pay back what I borrowed at a fair rate. I understand business needs and that people need/should make a living, but this is a company charging well beyond reasonable means without an alternative (just as unethical as a monopoly). Private student loans are a trap, because unlike a business venture that fails, there is no way out for the student. Navient could go bankrupt and change its name to walk away from a bad deal, but I can't. Bankruptcy does nothing to the loan and older folks need to understand that before passing judgment on students - students of parents like them who don't have money that grows on trees or lavish inheritances. I can't consolidate (like I did with my Federal loans), I was denied refinancing (for years and recently too) and I can't get out of this legal bind without filing a suit (that I will likely lose).

I was hoping I could just make the payments I can afford (not the full $728.50) only to find out it would be like defaulting anyway... I can't even get a second job in time to make up the difference. One month is just not enough time and after that, what if they just raise it again? Given their track record (my account history), they will. It's how they can afford that "talk to me like I'm a person" automated system that tries to keep you from talking to real person... I see no end in sight, I have no control or idea of what I will owe my private student loans from one month to the next. By contrast, my federal loans (4%-6%) have been consistently the same amount so I can (and have) pay them off (good business). I have talked to attorneys and default will give me negotiation leverage. I am also looking at saving up the money I would otherwise be paying them to put it towards being sued later down the road - if that happens.

PLEASE - if I knew then what I was getting into, I wouldn't have signed, but I had adults that I respected pressure me to sign. Tell every 18+ year old to AVOID private student loans at all costs! Take time off from school, just don't sign. You have plenty of time to learn new skills, but a debt that only grows will ruin your life and NO ONE takes out a loan with that in mind - We all intend to pay it down, Navient just won't let me. I was modest (no fancy schools) and only borrowed $30,000, but it's about $50,000 now and growing each month.

When I graduated I began to pay off what I could on the loan. It was relatively easy to negotiate a fair price with Sallie Mae, as they have a lot of experience in working with students and their debt. One day I received a letter from Navient saying that they will now be the loan company taking over my account... fine. But, over time this switch became a nightmare. I've had a substantial amount of student debt owed but never worried because Sallie Mae was always patient or offered realistic plans to help when I was hard done by.

Granted there have been some hardships in life since I graduated college, including periods of unemployment, unexpected home and medical costs, we all go through these times. The first time I was laid off unexpectedly from my first job right out of school, working in the field of my study. It took me some time to find new work. Throughout this ordeal, Navient was not helpful in assisting me with an appropriate plan to keep my credit in check and my loan interest from spinning out of control. Well, no matter what you try to work out with them, or pay, it seems the loan interest will just "do what it wants to." Most of the time I am paying on interest anyway with only a small percentage going towards the principal amount due on the loan. I think since I've graduated my total amount due on all of my private loans has gone up about $9,000, even though I am paying on them regularly.

In any case, there was another time in my professional career that found me tight and Navient assured me they would help by enrolling me in an auto-pay program that will get me back on the right track without endangering my credit. Their monthly rate was still a little high compared to my other expenses I mentioned to them in the personal financial evaluation, but I made do as long as I could until I had no savings left. This is not only because of the high monthly rates they charged to "help" me get back on track, but also because they mis-charged my bank account, often taking out double payments or payments on dates that were not agreed on by myself or the folks at Navient.

I am not a rich guy and I don't come from a wealthy background. My father retired after I graduated and suffers from mental and physical handicaps from his time served in the Vietnam War. I am left to work out what I can on my own. When these multiple payments come out on the wrong date, my finances for the month are a mess or non-existent. Often to the point where I need to borrow petty cash from friends just to eat.

Of course both times this mis-charge happened, I called and complained. The customer service representatives agree it's their fault and then say they will reimburse the money. Sometimes the money is never sent back and (I hope) the double balance that I paid is going towards the loan which is often hard to tell. When I do get it back, it takes almost a week or more. This is funny because even if your payment date is approaching and you don't owe 1 penny to Navient yet, they still call you and harass until they lock in your card info to make or schedule the payment. When they are owed money they expected it immediately, but when they owe me something from an error it takes a week or more or never?! I finally had enough and opted not to enroll in auto-pay, in fact I've requested that my bank block payments in the future that are automatically taken out by Navient.

I'm happy to say that through my hard work both professionally and in my educational life, I now live and work in Berlin where I currently reside. It has been my dream for years and I'm very happy to be here. Of course, Navient has no sympathy for people moving to a new country and starting a new life for new work. Communication with them since relocating overseas has been almost impossible. My charges for international dialing just from hold times alone are over 40 per month, they are indirectly costing me money just by keeping me on the line for so long. Often it seems if I am a bit too pressing or they aren't offering me anything that's reasonable, the customer service representative gets flustered and sometimes I am "disconnected" but it's clear they hung up. There have been a handful of times that the call just was never picked up, I have been on hold with them for 93 mins and spoke to anyone for help.

Moreover, they seem to disregard my international contact information I've given them about any correspondence. I never receive calls or letters from them but my parents do. Obviously my parents cannot help and with my father's condition, the stress and uncertainty of being called multiple times a day without anyone on the other line is more than unsettling. Any information I receive from Navient comes to me from my mother who is unsure why she is also getting calls, as she is not even signed on to the loans. It is stressing out my parents and they have now taken on a great deal of anxiety because of relentless methods to reach out to me to schedule an upcoming payment.

Overall this entire experience has made me loathe a bit my choice to go to college. Which is a real problem this country is facing now as cost of living and education goes up but salaries stay low. Who could blame the "millennial" generation for not buying homes, getting married or going for a Master's Degree, the entire system has been built in a way that makes these important life decisions tough to many my age. Often leaving many to even question their decision to get a higher education.

I would absolutely attribute the many problems with our educational and university system, and Navient as a deterrent to many who would rather forego the education costs and learn a skill that will start them with a positive balance from day one, rather than graduating from college with no work experience with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Is this really the way to set up an aspiring college graduate for success and well-being? Anyways, avoid Navient at all costs if you can. I only hope more lawsuits will surface and something can be done for all of us out there who have been harassed and wrongfully treated by this company.

This company not only engages in erroneous repayment behavior. It purposely hides its contact information for requesting help on loan servicing assistance. This company is also now in position to buy up private student loans to be added to their currently defunct loan management system. I really hope the lawsuits against this company gain momentum as well as favor in the courts reviewing them.

The laws defining financial hardship need to be redefined when colleges teach old technology and methods to students when the industry requires current technology be taught to make graduates marketable. One can’t pay back loans when one can't get hired based on not having access to current industry knowledge as part of one's education. This is the position I'm now. I can't pay back loans when I can't get a job in the industry my degree falls under refuses to hire me. Resultant of college programs that are 10 years behind what any industry requires for entry level positions.

I've been signing up for IBR for about 5 years (no thanks to Navient) and every single year it is a song and dance to ensure they've received, processed and approved my application for IBR. Reps often say things that contradict the email communication and there's a general sense of 'left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing' over there. Like I said, if you are assigned to them, stay on your A game and stay on top of them. It is little wonder they're being sued by the government. Definitely BEWARE!!!

When payments were posted, they are not consistent at all. For example, some months $20 would be posted to one loan and the next month would posted to that same loan (the total payment made, which was to be prorated between all of my loans stayed the same - just the proration/allocation changed). Now in repayment and was given a payment schedule however, they do not follow that schedule. In fact, loan 2 had a monthly payment of $84.84, which they followed for 10 months. Then, the payment dropped (?) to $73.33 for about 18 months. Now, it has dropped (?) again to $17.33 (barely enough to even cover the accrued interest!!! What a scam... the lower the payment, the longer you pay, and the more interest they accrue.

I have spoken to 2 customer service reps, a senior account rep, an account specialist, faxed a manager (since you can't ever talk to one and I was given their name and fax number), and am now working with the consumer advocate's office. The advocate sounded like she wanted to help. However, her "help" has resulted in loans being even more messed up. I told them they had until 6/01 to get it straightened out before I filed complaints with anybody and everybody involved who could possibly help. Their reply was that they needed "time to research" my loans. What have they been doing for 2 months? I am done "working" with them. Time to find another avenue to get this resolved before they bankrupt me because their information is incorrect.