A group of former students who took out loans serviced by student loan servicer Navient has been given the green light to proceed with its class action lawsuit against the student loans servicer, which alleges sneaky business practices and self-dealing.
U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton ruled in New Jersey federal court that the Navient class action lawsuit brought by the nine borrowers could proceed to discovery, but dismissed one claim of breach of fiduciary duty, Law360 reports.
The borrowers, who are now attorneys, doctors, and other professionals with advanced degrees, have filed fraud claims and claims under New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and New York consumer and business laws.
According to their class action lawsuit, Navientโs monthly bills fluctuate arbitrarily. The borrowers allege that the company conceals repayment terms, includes billing statements that donโt reveal the actual sums included in the bill, and is โcalculated, non-responsive and misleadingโ when answering questions about loans.
The borrowers also allege that the company has โlabyrinth-likeโ websites with inaccurate information.
In December 2020, Navient attempted to have the class action lawsuit tossed out, and in its most recent dismissal brief, it said that โplaintiffs must allege that the conduct underlying the claims somehow is unlawful, which they have not done, and cannot do,โ Law360 reports.
However, the borrowers responded that Navient was being โcrafty,โ adding that โNavient cannot credibly claim that the extremely detailed complaint does not allege actionable claims for, among other things, fraud and consumer fraud.โ
In March, Navient was hit with a separate class action lawsuit filed by investors who alleged that the company misled them about an alleged conspiracy to push borrowers into pricey forbearance plans.
Navient hiked its stock price with deceptive information about how it treated borrowers โ allegedly putting them in more expensive forbearance programs, rather than cost-effective income-based repayment plans. Then, according to the class action lawsuit, the company lied about it.ย
Have you ever had your money managed by Navient? Tell us what your experience with the company was like in the comments section!
Navient is represented by Rebecca G. Zisek and Lisa M. Simonetti of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
The borrowers are represented by Xavier M. Bailliard, James Van Splinter and Joseph Tripodi of Kranjac Tripodi & Partners LLP.
The Navient Student Loan Fraud Class Action Lawsuit is Manetta et al. v. Navient Corp. et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-07712, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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1,057 thoughts onNavient Must Face Student Loans Borrowers in Class Action Lawsuit, Judge Rules
add me please
My student loan the balance of my student loans are tens of thousands higher due to being told just do the forebearance.
Please include me. Navient held my loans fromโ 08-โ20. I never received an account for the months I was in forbearance. Waiting on transaction history from new servicer. Also, I have email confirmations of approved deferments that were incorrectly reported to the credit bureaus.
Mi prestamo fue transferido a Navient y no se me aplico los anos anteriores que pague, llevo anos pagando y la deuda no reduce. quiero ser parte de esta demanda de clase.
I paid $3000 a year for many years in INTEREST only. Please help. I get soooooo many spam calls per day that I ask you to please leave a message and I will call you back. I already receive your email newsletter.
Please included Me as well Iโve had my Since 2012 I did not know I was going to be charged so much for school cause I went to Phoenix they sold me on something That is very different than actually what it cost