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Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

bloomberg.com

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Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#31

Post by cbennett »

metaphorm wrote: post #24
techsupporter wrote: post #4

> There is no expectation that the servicer will act in the interest of the consumer... Navient says its public statements encouraging borrowers to contact the company didn’t mean it would act in their best interest. So, pardon in advance for the vulgar language, but why the fuck is this OK? From any company? I'm getting real damn sick and tired of "what the big print gives, the spidery print takes away" and how we'r…

> So, pardon in advance for the vulgar language, but why the fuck is this OK? From any company? shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders.

> shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders.

Random thought that just came to mind. Have coalition of debt holders (borrowers ) ever considered buying stock in these companies to influence them in the form of another company that is jointly owned or invested in by thousands or tens of thousands of folks?

Eg, mass activism campaign launches request for everyone to invest X% of what they normally would have paid into loans for the month (above the minimum thresholds of course), and/ or y% of disposable income into this fund. Now obviously one or ten people doing this will own just a few hundred stocks, but thousands doing this get tens of thousands of stocks-- thats when it could get interesting ;)

Obviously, would not be available to those really struggling under massive loan burdens and struggling to make every payment, BUT for those in the AND gate between reasonably high loan burden and comfortable income, which is a huge overlap with HN by the way, the impact could be massive.

In the end the results could be beautiful though: cannibalizing capitalism , - an inside job.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#32

Post by jordanmoconnor »

heurist wrote: post #29
jordanmoconnor wrote: post #5

It's mind-blowing how the majority of high school students are lied to each year about the ROI of college. The internet has re-written the rules, and high school educators don't know how to teach that. I would have benefited so much more from a program that taught how to be self-sufficient and the major, major benefits of living debt free. Context: $150k in student loans - lucky enough to have an electrical engineeri…

High school should teach students how to get what they want from life and give them the rudimentary foundation they need to attain it. In retrospect my education was greatly lacking in certain aspects. High school should involve at least one course on directing your life - studying the benefits and downsides of trade school, college, university, proprietorship, basic business operations, political action, personal fi…

Exactly! Maybe they are relying on that to be taught by parents?

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#33

Post by jordanmoconnor »

paulpauper wrote: post #17
jordanmoconnor wrote: post #5

It's mind-blowing how the majority of high school students are lied to each year about the ROI of college. The internet has re-written the rules, and high school educators don't know how to teach that. I would have benefited so much more from a program that taught how to be self-sufficient and the major, major benefits of living debt free. Context: $150k in student loans - lucky enough to have an electrical engineeri…

IMHO, reality paints a sightly more optimistic picture...the average debt per graduate is $30,000--about the price of a new car, but as measured by wages, a degree gains value (this is because since 2009 wages for grads have seen much stronger growth than wages for non-grads) http://greyenlightenment.com/is-college-a-big-waste-of-time-... I read stories on Reddit about grads who have debt but are also making decent 5…

I went to an engineering focused private university, borrowed my way through the whole thing (housing, food, everything), parents didn't pay a dime.

Stupid? Yes.

But that's reality for a lot of people. I'm shocked those averages are that low.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#34

Post by bluGill »

jknoepfler wrote: post #8

While I appreciate that people are sour about student debt, I don't think Navient, qua big business, should behave in any other way. I personally think public universities should be free and highly selective, rather than the opposite. But I also think taking out loans with no plan to repay them is criminally stupid. If the education product being sold is fraudulent, go after the fraudulent institution (as has been do…

I believe that school loans should only be allowed for jobs. If you love art and are interested in "under water basket weaving" as a degree that is great, but it won't pay the bills and so you should save your money to pay for it. When you decide to become a medical doctor, it is understood your eventually worth will pay off reasonable loans.

My solution: student loans may be discharged in bankruptcy, but your school records are discharged too. Thus if you get an expensive degree that won't pay off the loan just give up the degree and credits. Doctors will not do this because their pay.

Note that loan companies now have incentive to ensure you graduate and get a job. Getting Ds in a few classes: they will cut you off now rather than try to see if you can turn it around. Maybe you can find the money to pay for your next semester one your own and improve your grade, and if you do this long enough they might change their mind and give you loans to finish.

The only angle I'm still working out is if someone finishes a degree, declares bankruptcy, and then goes back to the same degree (elsewhere) - they don't have the credits but they presumably know the material and can easily pass all the classes the second time around with a better grade.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#35

Post by rco8786 »

noonespecial wrote: post #9
techsupporter wrote: post #4

> There is no expectation that the servicer will act in the interest of the consumer... Navient says its public statements encouraging borrowers to contact the company didn’t mean it would act in their best interest. So, pardon in advance for the vulgar language, but why the fuck is this OK? From any company? I'm getting real damn sick and tired of "what the big print gives, the spidery print takes away" and how we'r…

>I'm getting real damn sick and tired of "what the big print gives, the spidery print takes away" I propose "the bigger the print, the stronger the statement". Therefore, if you make one claim in 24 point and then attempt to rescind or modify it in 8 point, the 24 is legally binding because it was larger and so nullified the smaller. This also means that if you want to place limitations (like 'one per customer' etc)…

Brilliant idea

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#36

Post by kchoudhu »

Why is a student loan servicer any different from a mortgage servicer? I don't go to my mortgage servicer for leniency or charity; why should my student loan servicer be any different?

If we want student loan servicer behavior to change, we need to legislate it. Just like we did (or didn't, depending on your point of view) for mortgage servicers.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#37

Post by theseatoms »

bluGill wrote: post #34
jknoepfler wrote: post #8

While I appreciate that people are sour about student debt, I don't think Navient, qua big business, should behave in any other way. I personally think public universities should be free and highly selective, rather than the opposite. But I also think taking out loans with no plan to repay them is criminally stupid. If the education product being sold is fraudulent, go after the fraudulent institution (as has been do…

I believe that school loans should only be allowed for jobs. If you love art and are interested in "under water basket weaving" as a degree that is great, but it won't pay the bills and so you should save your money to pay for it. When you decide to become a medical doctor, it is understood your eventually worth will pay off reasonable loans. My solution: student loans may be discharged in bankruptcy, but your school…

Allow borrowers to default on student loans. Then banks can charge an appropriate interest rate for the credit risk of the borrower, based on pursued major (among other things).

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#38

Post by metaphorm »

cbennett wrote: post #31
metaphorm wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, pardon in advance for the vulgar language, but why the fuck is this OK? From any company? shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders.

> shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders. Random thought that just came to mind. Have coalition of debt holders (borrowers ) ever considered buying stock in these companies to influence them in the form of another company that is jointly owned or invested in by thousands or tens of thousands of folks? Eg, mass activism campaign launches request for everyone to invest X% of…

the combined assets of the entire class of student debtors is probably NEGATIVE (they are debtors, remember) whereas the assets of even a single major shareholder (Carl Icahn as a benchmark) are in the billions of dollars and outweigh the rest of it combined.

this is one of the side effects of the massive income and wealth inequality American style capitalism causes.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#39

Post by dominotw »

cbennett wrote: post #31
metaphorm wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, pardon in advance for the vulgar language, but why the fuck is this OK? From any company? shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders.

> shareholder capitalism. they have zero accountability except to their shareholders. Random thought that just came to mind. Have coalition of debt holders (borrowers ) ever considered buying stock in these companies to influence them in the form of another company that is jointly owned or invested in by thousands or tens of thousands of folks? Eg, mass activism campaign launches request for everyone to invest X% of…

people who can do this are benefitting from the way current things are setup. Why would they cut the branch they are sitting on.

Re: Student Debt Giant Navient to Borrowers: You’re on Your Own

#40

Post by jnagro »

when they took over my loans from salliemae they told us (in writing) that auto-pay would transition.... then it didn't transition, and they tried to ding me for a missed payment. what a nightmare. ultimately my issue was resolved, but only after i filed a complaint with a team at the federal student aid office that handles disputes that cannot be resolved through the lender:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/disputes/prepare/co...

then a navient person in that department reached out to me almost immediately.

Edit:

You can also file complaints for general consumer financial help here:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

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