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Student Loan Refinance

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I’m sure I sound like a total flake after just saying (in my most recent post) that I likely would NOT be refinancing all of my student loans at this time….but now I’m leaning the other way again.

Here’s the deal – Navient just won’t get their act together and stop pissing me off! It’s just such a terrible company to do business with. I hate them so much I’m really considering giving up my interest-forgiveness just so I can get rid of working with them as a lender!!!

Remember my most recent Navient snafu? As a quick catch-up, they overcharged me for 2 months over the summer (to the tune of about $500 each month). I called to have the money re-allocated toward the correct loans (I want the money to all go toward my unsubsidized loans – as currently dispersed the over-payment was spread equally across all loans). I was told this problem was being resolved (second time I called about it). On call #3 I’m basically told it’s just not going to happen. They claim that my initial Income-Based-Repayment plan application was denied.

This, in spite of the fact that I have NEVER received any documentation from the company saying anything about a denial. In fact, quite the opposite, I have documentation showing my IBR renewal was approved.

I’m told that it was initially denied due to over-payment on my loans (go figure). Then when I called in early October about the discrepancy, somehow they went ahead and approved the IBR, which went into effect in October. Essentially meaning that during the previous two months (August & September) I was not on IBR and, therefore, was not overcharged on my monthly payment. There would be no payment re-allocation, I am told.

That’s it.

I have no fight left in me. I’ve been down this road before – I’ve written my legislatures, I’ve involved a third party conflict-resolution group, I’ve jumped through all the hoops and taken all the necessary steps, spending hours of time, attention, and never-ending phone calls and ultimately I lost. I’m not even going to fight it this time. I haven’t the time.

So I kind of feel defeated. But at the same time, I feel like I absolutely cannot stand to do business with Navient any longer.

And so, perhaps a little sooner than I’d thought just one week ago, I’m going to start researching student loan consolidation programs.

I’ve already received lots of great comments on what many readers have done, but this time around I want more specifics. If any of you have refer-a-friend codes, please leave them in the comments. I’m going to look into at least a few different loan consolidation programs/places to check for interest rates. I’ll probably do a consolidation in December. I’m still not sure if it will be a full or partial consolidation (I still may opt to only consolidate unsubsidized loans initially – I want to look into different options). Just any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. I’ll certainly report back on what I’ve found when I am done with all my research, too!


14 Comments

  • Reply Angie |

    This sounds super frustrating I would be leaning towards giving up too. Have you calculated how much the difference is actually costing you? Is it a couple hundred or will it cross the $1000 mark. That would define how much I’d want to fight or just move on.

    As I’ve said in the past I’ve switch DH and our loans to Earnest. Very happy with the rate. Supposedly you can change your payment structure every 6 months and it carries over standard deferment and forbearance protections. As a bonus, refinancing gets rid of your cosigner if you had your parents on it. If I were you I’d try to do the subsidized and subsidized loans separately. This should be my referral link: http://tinyurl.com/gmy96kh

    • Reply Ashley |

      Thank you! I’m going to be looking into this soon – Earnest was listed as one of the top 5 student loan consolidation companies (from a quick google search), so they’re at the top of my list. My parents were never co-signers for any of my loans (side bar: can we talk about that for a sec? Who in their right mind lends a 20-year old with no job $100,000 for school? Talk about irresponsible lending practices!! Yikes!!). My main priority is to try to get a reduced interest rate. My current interest rates are pretty high (6.55%) but I’ve seen some places advertise rates in the mid 2’s. I’d love to drop that APR by at least a couple percentage points!

  • Reply Sarah |

    I have no idea if this company is any good but I’ve seen commercials for Sofi (Social Finance).

  • Reply Leah |

    Hi Ashley,

    You had mentioned SoFi before, so here’s my referral link for them. I’ve been very happy with their service!

    https://www.sofi.com/refer/426/16220

    Leah

    • Reply Ashley |

      Thank you, and thanks for sharing your experiences in the past! Their customer service sounds great (and I love the ideas of the parties/etc. Nice little perks).

  • Reply Brooke |

    I paid off my student loans, but I absolutely loved working with Earnest. I got GREAT rates and they had GREAT customer service. Also, I loved the fact that you can re-refinance every 6 months, as well as switch between fixed and variable rates up to every 6 months. MOST IMPORTANTLY, they forgive all debts upon death. Federal loans do this, but many private loans do not. This means that if the worst were to happen, your student loans would have to be paid out of your estate. Earnest also has options for you to delay up to 3 months of payments for hardship reasons.

    For me, the terms of service that forgive the debts upon death were key. That was a protection I wanted so that I would never have to leave my family with that burden.

    Another note is that you can still have interest write off for your federal/state taxes, whether or not the loan is private or not.

    Anyone have a current Earnest code??

    • Reply Ashley |

      Thank you – I didn’t realize all of the benefits they offer! My main priority is definitely interest rate, but it’s nice to know that Earnest still allows for different options (e.g., refi every 6 months, forgiven on death, possible forbearance, etc.) I really appreciate the info!

    • Reply Walnut |

      Yes, this. The Fed is expected to raise rates in mid-December, so I would refinance sooner than later.

  • Reply Monica M. |

    Hi Ashley,
    So I have a question for you. What would you do different in hind sight about your education? We are big Dave Ramsey people and have a son that is about to go to college. The price has and will play a huge part of the decision. I know your a professor as well so I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much!!!

    Also, I have really missed seeing posts from Hope!!! I pray that she and her family are doing well!!!

    • Reply Ashley |

      Hi Monica, thanks for reading! I wrote a post a long time ago (nearly 1.5 years ago at this point) that I think perfectly answers your question regarding hindsight about education/school loans and what I would tell others. Check it out (and maybe have your son read it, too?)
      https://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2015/07/why-i-have-so-much-student-loan-debt-and-why-you-should-avoid-it-like-the-plague/

      • Reply Monica M. |

        Thank you Ashley, Joshua is actually interested in pursuing his Physics degree to possible be a professor or go to medical school. We live in Texas as well and it is definitely been sticker shock. I pray many blessings on you and your family. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

        (your article has a lot of great advice…I really appreciate your transparency!)

So, what do you think ?