cheka.
31st July 2017, 08:20 PM
https://mfi-miami.com/2017/07/navient-busted/
Navient Corporation is the largest student loan servicer working under contract for Sallie Mae and the Department of Education.
Lakisha Johnson took out two student loans $6,625 in 2006 in hopes of becoming a medical assistant.
She soon found herself falling behind on her payments. Johnson wasn’t too concerned about her balance because Navient would enroll her into one of the forbearance plans they promoted in a continuous stream of emails.
She received an email on October 4, 2011, stating:
You may be able to qualify for a deferment or forbearance, which can postpone your loan payments and keep your loan from going into default.
Lakisha Johnson and her 12-year-old daughter found themselves in a homeless shelter just before Thanksgiving when Johnson’s landlord jacked up their rent from $675 to $875.
Johnson only planned on staying in the shelter until April when she expected to receive her tax refund of $8,220.
The check never came.
The IRS agent told her the Department of Education (DOE) was “holding back” the $8,220 refund to recoup some of her student loan debt. The agent told Johnson to expect the same thing next year. Johnson was unaware her debt had now ballooned to over $17,000.
Johnson was only now learning that those plans didn’t stop interest and fees from piling up. And she was now in default, prompting the DOE to move to collect.
That was only the half of it. Until contacted by Reuters, Johnson didn’t realize that she could have avoided the entire ordeal by enrolling in one of the government’s income-based repayment plans — an option she said Navient never discussed with her. Most of these plans allow for monthly payments as low as zero and forgive any remaining debt after 20 years.
Navient Corporation is the largest student loan servicer working under contract for Sallie Mae and the Department of Education.
Lakisha Johnson took out two student loans $6,625 in 2006 in hopes of becoming a medical assistant.
She soon found herself falling behind on her payments. Johnson wasn’t too concerned about her balance because Navient would enroll her into one of the forbearance plans they promoted in a continuous stream of emails.
She received an email on October 4, 2011, stating:
You may be able to qualify for a deferment or forbearance, which can postpone your loan payments and keep your loan from going into default.
Lakisha Johnson and her 12-year-old daughter found themselves in a homeless shelter just before Thanksgiving when Johnson’s landlord jacked up their rent from $675 to $875.
Johnson only planned on staying in the shelter until April when she expected to receive her tax refund of $8,220.
The check never came.
The IRS agent told her the Department of Education (DOE) was “holding back” the $8,220 refund to recoup some of her student loan debt. The agent told Johnson to expect the same thing next year. Johnson was unaware her debt had now ballooned to over $17,000.
Johnson was only now learning that those plans didn’t stop interest and fees from piling up. And she was now in default, prompting the DOE to move to collect.
That was only the half of it. Until contacted by Reuters, Johnson didn’t realize that she could have avoided the entire ordeal by enrolling in one of the government’s income-based repayment plans — an option she said Navient never discussed with her. Most of these plans allow for monthly payments as low as zero and forgive any remaining debt after 20 years.