According to a new report from LendEDU, the student loan company Navient, which services both federal and private student loans, generated the most complaints of any servicer in 2018. LendEDU pulled numbers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s database to produce an independent report in the absence of one from the CFPB.
Between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 19, 2018, 8,340 total student-loan specific complaints were filed with the CFPB. Navient received a whopping 3,827 of those complaints (46 percent) and was the most complained-about company in 46 states. It also received nearly 20 percent of all student debt collection complaints.
Prior year data from the CFPB revealed a similar trend. In 2017, Navient was the most complained-about student loan company in every single state and Washington, D.C.
The company has also earned a pathetic -98 percent rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 1/5 rating from Consumer Affairs.
To be fair, Navient is one of the nation’s largest servicers of both federal and private student loans. But even when complaint data was normalized by the number of borrowers that each institution handled, Navient topped the chart with far more federal student loan complaints per million loan recipients than its competitors.
It has also gained a reputation as the shadiest student loan company in the nation.
Navient has found itself in six lawsuits over the last two years. The CFPB is accusing Navient of misallocated payments, steering struggling borrowers toward multiple forbearances instead of income-driven repayment plans, and providing unclear information to its borrowers.
To sum it up, the company isn’t looking out for its clients.
The attorneys general of Illinois, Washington, and Pennsylvania also claim the company made subprime loans to students in their states back when it was part of Sallie Mae Bank.
The mega loan servicer is on watch but clearly isn’t doing much to build a rapport with its clients. Why would it, when borrowers essentially have their hands tied? They have no choice over their loan servicer, as a loan servicer is not necessarily the same company that loaned them the money in the first place. Sure, a borrower can try to switch, but they risk ending up with a servicer that isn’t much better, and if they choose to refinance their federal student loans, they are rendered ineligible for income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs.
Unfortunately for Navient’s many victims, the lawsuits against it will likely last for several years, but there is a bright side: If the company is found guilty or settles, its borrowers will collect some green for their troubles. In the meantime, student borrowers would be wise to educate themselves on their rights as borrowers and to keep a close eye on their credit report.
Navient may have the worst reputation, but it isn’t the only one out there trying to take advantage of unsuspecting borrowers.
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is writer from California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.
