Late Navient Payments - Deletion Stategy Help!

[Anonymous]

Hello, I'm a new member but have spent extensive time researching the boards in regards to getting late Navient payments removed and was hoping someone could be a little advice on how to handle my situation!

I have some lates reported on a Navient Student Loan that we're reported January-May 2015 (90/120/90/120/150). I was making payments at the time but I think somewhere along the way I had a partial payment and maybe a month that I missed a payment and this ended up causing the loans to go into delinquency. I had just had my first baby at the end of September and this period of my life is a bit of a blur! I didn't realize the account was being reported as late until May of 2015 which is when I immediately applied for a 2 month forbearance to bring the account current and I resumed payments as required. The loan (2 TL) has since been closed due to consolidation with an AES account on 11/2018 and is listed as "Paid as Agreed". The consolidated loan is still owned by Navient. I would love to get these lates removed (10 total!) from the closed Navient account but am confused as what would be the best route. This loan was owned by Navient with the guarantor listed as USA funds so I'm assuming this is private! I tried contacting the Customer Advovate but just received a generic email back. Just a few questions.

1). I understand it can be difficult to remove lates with Student Loans but since this was private, is it a possibility?

2). Since I went into forbearance that brought my account current, should I take the FCRA 623 (a)(2) approach and dispute directly with Navient stating that the FCRA requires the furnisher to both UPDATE and correct accounts to the CBs. I've seen other users argue with success that since their accounts were brought current by the forbearance, that their credit report should have been updated to so reflect this.

3). Should I request a retroactive forbearance letter from Navient and then dispute directly to the CBs that because I was in forbearance during this time period, late payments should not have been reported?

4). One other random question - I was on state disability from the end of September - December due to having a baby and read another post on here that stated if you are on disability of any kind during the time the lates are starting to be reported, the creditor should automatically remove the lates. Since the original lates began around this time frame and then began being reported after the 90 day mark, is there any argument here?! I can't find anything else to back this up.

I'm sorry this is so long - I'm just confused as what would be my best approach and I don't want to screw anything up. Thank you in advance!!!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your first baby!! How exciting! Missed payments happen to the best of us. The first thing I would do is to find out if the loans are indeed private or federal. You can find your federal student loans with the .gov website for student loans or the National Student Loan Database, or NSLDS, government website. The latter is probably most efficient. If your loans are federal this is good because you actually have more options. You might not even need to be on forbearance, which only stops interest from accruing on your subsidized loans. Btw, even when you consolidate, the portion that is subsidized remains subsidized in terms of benefits.
The downside is that if they are federal, there is nothing you can do to get the 2015 lates removed. Retroactive forbearance only applies up to 6 months. If it were private, you might be able to write a Goodwill letter asking them to be removed, but federal loan lates cannot be removed by the servicer this way. That's why when you get a retroactive forbearance, you can only get it removed my doing a dispute with the CB using your forbearance letter.
2. Only for periods within the forbearance (which again sounds like a federal loan). There are also special reporting regulations about federal student loans. See above.
3. Yes, if you have a retroactive forbearance for a period during the lates get the letter. If not... You could always try requesting a retroactive forbearance and see if they'll give it to you, but it's technically too late. If you have one, once they give you the letter, dispute it with each CB.
I don't know about that but I highly doubt out. They're not in communication; even when you look to the IRS to fill out your Income-driven repayment plan application they have to ask your permission. There is also the ability to go on Forbearance at that time if you report the disability status at the time. I would talk with both the Dept of Education and your loan servicer to see if anything can be done. Contact is best by phone I've found, speaking with a supervisor/ account specialist.
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans like Income-based repayment (IBR) or REPAYE can lower your payments significantly. It will also get your account back to reporting payments each month. Payments can be as low as $0 depending on your disposable income, family size etc. Your loans will will be forgiven after ~20 years. Something to think about.
Thank you for making it long because details are extremely helpful. If I can help you with anything else let me know.

[Anonymous]

Thank you SO much for all of the information! I looked up the loan info on the NSLDS and it said FFEL Stafford Unsubsidized/Subsidized. What do you think would be my best option moving forward? Again, thank you for all the detailed info! You've been so helpful!

[Anonymous]

You're very welcome.
Make sure you're looking at your current loan. The servicer should show as the one you have now.

Regarding the lates in 2015, I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do if you didn't already get a forbearance. The somewhat good news is that despite them, if you work at all other areas of your credit score, there is nothing stopping you from getting above a 750. And then when the lates fall off you will get a huge boost.
For the period that you got the forbearance definitely do a dispute with the CBs and send the letters. You might even get try separately doing the same with the disability periods. Couldn't hurt.
I think you said you consolidated, and were on a Forbearance recently while you were on disability. This actually works out great, but you have to act soon. I assume your income from disability was limited.
What I would do if I were you I'd apply for an Income-driven repayment or IDR plan. The most common are the Income-based repayment plan and REPAYE. The payments are based on your income and can be very low, as low as $0. Forgiveness in 20 years. You can get a rough estimate using their calculator. If you sign in it automatically fills in your loans.

Repayment Estimator
https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/repaymentEstimator.action

When you fill out the application online, it will link you to the IRS. Alternatively, you can fill out the application and send it to them via upload or some servicers by email. You would do this if you can get a lower payment through alternative income documents, such as a paystub or disability paperwork (don't forget to also write the frequency that you get the payment on the scanned copy) thats your monthly payment. That's why I said right away; you should be able to use your Dec disability amount. Whatever is lowest because the payment they calculate will be good for a year, even if your income increases. If you do the paper application and upload it, best to print it, sign it and scan it/ take a picture.

The same is true if you are already on the plan. If your year is not up, but you have a low pay period or month, just recertify early and they will use this information to calculate a new payment that will be good for another full year. You are not required to report if your pay goes up. This is straight from the IDR payment let you get.
When you have a Forbearance nothing reports. Even if your IDR plan payment is $0, it reports as a good payment history every month. It will help your report and therefore you score.
Hope this helps. Any more questions? :-)

[FPapiSalOC]

I have lates from 2013 to 2014 on my Navient government loan. I disputed with all 3 CRAs and here are the results.

FICO scores pulled from MyFico.com  2/7/2019 EXP 656 EQ 696 TU 680

Experian no changes

Transunion removed both accounts from my CR.

Equifax updated both loans to show paid with no lates though it shows them being Sallie Mae.

Experian and TU show the loans as Navient.

I have screen shots

[Anonymous]

FPapiSalOC:
Something about that doesn't sound right...the loans wouldn't just change servicers to go from being with Navient to being with Sallie Mae on your credit report. Did you consolidate or rehab? Did your Navient loans get sent reassigned to Sallie Mae?
Depending on when you disputed you may need to let it settle. It's not unusual for them to remove the lates or a whole tradeline due to a dispute and then add them back again when the servicer reports again. It will be interesting to see if the results are permanent.

[FPapiSalOC]

My loans are in rehab. So I actually have 6 loans on my Experian CR. 3 from the original loan comapnies and three from the collection company that was assigned by the guberment.

[Anonymous]

FPapiSalOC:
Okay, that makes sense now.
Until you finish your rehab, the loans are reassigned and it reports for a few months you won't really know the results. All of them will start reporting tradelines that go back to the original dates. Some people do have luck getting the lates removed either when it gets transferred to the new servicer or by disputing them afterwards (though technically nothing is actually inaccurate). If not, they're there to stay. Rehab, or consolidation, does not guarantee removal of lates. Rehab just guarantees removal of the default.
No matter what, almost all the people who have posted here report dramatic increases in their score in a short amount of time. If you sign up for an Income-driven repayment plan afterwards it can help to reduce your payments and can lead to having your loans forgiveness if there's a balance left that needs to be.

[FPapiSalOC]

Something else to watch. I disputed online the last original servicer on TU at 6 AM Pacific and got the results 7 hours later. I was sure it was verified but the results shows it was deleted from my CR. As of right now once Rehab is done my Equifax and Transunion reports will be free of any student loan derogs.

[Anonymous]

FPapiSalOC:
Like I said, any results you get right now really don't matter. Once you finish you rehab and they get picked up, each of your 3 loans will be added again as separate tradelines that date back to the original loan date. Rehabbing does not remove the lates or the old tradelines, and you won't know if you lucked out by the Servicer not carrying the lates over until everything is done and reporting.