Misrepresenting the order in which the company would apply extra loan payments and failing to properly discharge federal student debt for borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

According to articles in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times – at issue is a practice to mislead student loan borrowers about the important difference between forbearance and income based repayment programs.  Navient encouraged borrowers to postpone payments through forbearance, knowing that interest continued to add up, which would result in a dramatic increase in the overall debt.  When there was a most cost effective option – enrolling the borrower in an income-driven repayment plan that would avoid unnecessary fees and costs.

Navient “games” the system – steering borrowers to forbearance in order to charge higher rates

According to The Washington Post’s Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, “consumer advocates say loan servicers steer borrowers toward forbearance because it requires substantially less paperwork than enrolling them in low-cost plans that peg monthly payments to a percentage of income.  Navient has long countered that it has one of the highest rates of enrollment in income-driven plans, denying there is a nefarious plan afoot to deny borrowers the option.”

Claims against Navient and subsidiaries for providing false information.

The lawsuit also includes claims from Becerra that Navient’s subsidiaries violated California law by, among other things, providing false information about collection fees on loans people were trying to get out of default

Navient lied to those with disabilities.

The lawsuit also claims that Navient and its subsidiaries inaccurately tell borrowers that disability loan forgiveness requires a permanent inability to work, although no such requirement exists.

Our students can’t afford to be cheated out of any more money than they legally owe simply because Navient knew how to game the system, Becerra said in a release about the lawsuit.

Navient Overcharged military service members.

Navient claims lies were merely “processing errors”.

REALLY!!!  Just how many “errors” do you have to make before it becomes obvious this is a standard business practice?  Just ask Wells Fargo.

More posts about Wells Fargo’s scams on their customers:

• Wells Fargo in trouble again and again.
• Wells Fargo discloses fraudulent accounts

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More from the Washington Post:

They would like to hear if you have experienced issues with paying your student loan? Send your comments to [email protected]. Please include your name, city and state. In the subject line put “Student Loans.”

Additional articles from the Washington Post: 

• Student loans not always wise
• Defaulted on student loans? Here’s a new chance to make things right.

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