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Navient Ends Contract to Service Federal Student Loans

Navient, the student loan servicer responsible for managing approximately $237 billion of private and federal student loans, announced this week that it will end it’s contract to service federal student loans.

The company is seeking to transfer the federal student loans of approximately six million borrowers to Maximus, a company currently servicing student loans in default. Navient will continue to service private student loans.

Navient has been criticized and even sued for failing borrowers in the past. Some of the allegations include, creating obstacles to repayment, processing payments incorrectly, and cheating borrowers out of their rights to lower payments. Student debt is an issue the Biden administration has been vocal about. They are pushing for a simplification of loan repayments, providing more student loan forgiveness, increasing transparency for borrowers, and holding service providers, like Navient, accountable to their obligations of servicing borrowers.

Here is what Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project said this week, "Navient’s conduct has left millions of borrowers confused and paying more for longer, and has stopped them from obtaining the relief they are entitled to.”

We know this announcement may cause some anxiety over how your account will be managed. Not to worry, we have outlined some tips for you to be an informative borrower. Also, don’t forget to join Snowball.

What you need to know:

  • If your federal student loans are currently managed by Navient you will receive a notice informing you of the transfer and information on your new student loan servicer.
  • If you’re paying off your student loans through Naviant, we recommend screenshotting or downloading any information from Navient’s website that you think could be relevant.
  • The Department of Education keeps a central record of your federal loans, including FFEL, commercially owned FFEL, and Direct loans, all in one place. Download your National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) file today!
  • If you’re having trouble with your payments or credit towards forgiveness on Navient. Consider using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaint portal.
  • Federal student loan payments will restart on February 1, 2022.

The Snowball team is focused on keeping you informed and helping you make the right decisions for your student loans. Sign up here for our Student Debt Report –– we’ll send you an email whenever there are significant changes in policy.

Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/30/politics/navient-student-loans/index.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2021/09/29/why-navient-quit-your-student-loans/?sh=7f4e9e273c1e

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