They did a lot of questionable practices such as processed payments incorrectly, deceived
private student loan borrowers about requirements to release their cosigner from the loan, illegally cheated many struggling borrowers out of their rights to lower payments which caused them to overpay for their student loans and created obstacles to repayment by providing wrong information.
In general, many of the complaints
from private student loan borrowers are arrestingly similar in nature to the troubles faced by struggling homeowners when dealing with their mortgage servicers.
For example, 91.1 % of undergraduate
private student loan borrowers do not borrow from the PLUS loan program (89.1 % at 4 - year institutions), 22.7 % do not borrow from the Stafford loan program (19.5 % at 4 - year institutions) and 21.7 % did not borrow from either program (18.4 % at 4 - year institutions), based on FinAid's analysis of the 2003 - 04 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Gary Peters reintroduced the Federal Adjustment in Reporting (FAIR) Student Credit Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to
assist private student loan borrowers who default on their loans, according to a press release from Gary Peters.
Unlike federal loans, which can be rehabilitated one at a time to repair a borrower's credit, there are currently no options available for
private student loan borrowers in default.
Given its limelight this year, it wasn't surprising to see that Navient received the most complaints overall; 61 percent of complaints from both federal and
private student loan borrowers involved Navient.
The CFPB has received a number of complaints
from private student loan borrowers, indicating that market participants may not always have adequate proof that they own a loan that is allegedly in default, as well as complaints of improper — and potentially illegal — conduct when active - duty servicemembers seek their legal right to an interest rate cap on their student loans.
Other complaints against the student loan giant include not informing borrowers of important income - driven repayment plan application deadlines, deceiving
private student loan borrowers about the eligibility requirements to release a cosigner, and incorrectly reporting that disabled borrowers had defaulted on their loans when they were actually forgiven.
Many private student loan borrowers have taken a significant risk by selecting variable interest while the Federal Reserve has very publicly signaled that higher interest rates are on the way.
There's no doubt that refinancing can be helpful
for private student loan borrowers, but given the repayment flexibility and loan forgiveness options the federal government provides, it's a tougher decision to make regarding federal student loans.
New legislation could be good news for
private student loan borrowers, particularly if you have a co-signer.
If you're
a private student loan borrower, petition your lender for a lower rate.
According to the most recent report by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2014,
private student loan borrowers are finding out they are in default on their loans after the death of their cosigner.
Both federal and
private student loan borrowers have options when it comes to secondary repayment options, although the methods and advantages to doing so differ between the two categories of lenders.
We have also written about the need for more relief for
private student loan borrowers.
Because of this, refinancing can be a good option for
private student loan borrowers or for those with a combination of federal and private student loans.
In addition,
private student loan borrowers are not eligible for consolidation.
Federal and
private student loan borrowers can consolidate their loans into one monthly payment.