by Ashley
Argh! ((shakes fist at Navient))
I hate beating a dead horse, but here we go…..
Navient just sucks so bad. SOooooo soooo bad!
The latest way they’re trying to screw me over…
I recently mentioned that one of my ACS loans has now migrated to Navient. Only, somehow, in the migration it has switched from being categorized as a subsidized loan to an UNSUBSIDIZED loan. This is a big deal because I’m on income-based repayment and, under IBR, unpaid interest is forgiven on subsidized loans. But unsubsidized loans continue to accrue interest. Right now my minimum loan payments are really low – they don’t even cover the interest! So I’ve been strategically targeting only a couple of my loans and paying minimums on all the rest, with the knowledge that unpaid interest is forgiven and I will just live with paying interest (no reduction to principal balance) until my current target loans are paid in full and I move onto the next loan.
Well, after discovering Navient’s egregious error I gave them a call. Only, they say that their paperwork states that the loan has ALWAYS been unsubsidized. I explain that there’s no way! I carefully track my loans every month and you can clearly see that they HAVE to be subsidized because the balance has always stayed EXACTLY (to the penny) the same! That’s because I’m not even paying enough to cover interest and all unpaid interest is forgiven. Period.
They acknowledge that, yes, they can see how unpaid interest has been forgiven. But their paperwork says the loan is supposed to be unsubsidized. Their hands are tied and there’s nothing they can do. I will need to get the original master promissory note to show that the loan is subsidized. In the meantime, my loan has somehow accumulated OVER THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS in interest!? In only a few days!!!!
Well, of course, getting access to the master promissory note includes several more hoop-jumping exercises not even worth going into here. Just note that it’s been a frustrating experience and I still have not even managed to get ahold of it (though I should hopefully have it this week!)
So let this be yet another in my long string of warnings about the potential pit-falls of student loan debt. And another cautionary tale of why you should be very vigilant about careful monitoring of your student loan account(s) on a monthly basis to make sure you catch these types of errors when they happen to you (notice I said WHEN, not if!)
In the meantime, why not add another task to my mile-long To Do list. I just love it when someone else’s incompetence creates more work for ME to do (can you just hear my sarcasm?)
Hope your Mondays are off to a better start!
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Holy boats. Wow. Outside of addressing the obvious error through the appropriate channels, you should bring this up with your state senator and house representative. I believe there is also an outstanding investigation against Navient, so it might be worth sending whatever letter you draft over to the representatives involved in that.
Just think about how many people don’t track their loans to the penny and are likely being seriously overcharged right now. SCARY!!!
This company sounds like they’re doing something illegal. There must be a law somewhere that financial institutions can’t screw you over like this. Could be a class action lawsuit in the making!
I believe they already have several lawsuits against them for overcharging on interest, etc. This is not new to them.
Woah! that sound pretty bad. I agree with Cathy D, hmm it just seems like their doing something Illegal. You got lucky on this one though, I think most people don’t even check their loan accounts as much as you do. At least you caught the error early!
OMG – This is soooooo very wrong!!! And why don’t you have easy access to the original note? Not blaming you at all – just raising questions about this entire process!!! I was given a copy of my promissory note for my loan when I graduated, and every loan I’ve had since (auto, mortgage) I’ve been given a copy of the note.
Definitely take it up with your Congressperson and Senators. And maybe even the local investigative reporter. This is flat out wrong, and YOU should be the one made to pay for this mistake.
Yes, this is a HUGE deal! When they transferred my loan it disappeared from ACS all together. No payment history, no records of it at all. It’s just – poof – gone! But Navient had “lost” or couldn’t find the records so somehow there’s this gap in my information. Really unprofessional at best, or downright criminal at worst!