Page 19 - Ohio Vol 4 No 7

MARC DANN | Opinion
Navient and Wells Fargo Continue to Abuse Borrower’s Trapped in Their Grip
Some may suspect I’ve become jaded a er years of dealing with everypossibletypeofconsumer fraud, but I have to admit it’s been a long time since I’ve been shocked or surprised by a scam, scheme, or rip- o or the companies that are doing the scamming, scheming, and ripping o .
Two cases lighting up the phones at DannLaw are prime examples. e players, Navient and Wells Fargo, are the bad pennies of the nancial world: they just keep turning up. While the rms’ refusal to abide by the law is good for my business, it’s really bad for consumers who lose their homes, their savings, their credit ratings, and billions of dollars because these com- panies repeatedly refuse to play by the rules.
e latest Wells asco—I use the term “latest” because the bank is like a nancial serial killer that just can’t stop bleeding its customers—involves a so ware “glitch” that caused the company to erroneously deny loan modi cations to quali ed borrowers. Wells admits 400 families lost their homes as a result of the mistake, but we believe thousands of other people were damaged by the glitch and are now preparing to le RESPA and oth- er claims on behalf of victims around the nation.
Like Wells, Navient, the nation’s largest student loan servicer, is a se- rial o ender. In January of 2017, two days before President Trump took of- ce, the Consumer Financial Protec- tion Bureau sued the company alleg- ing that it had abused borrowers in so many ways it boggled the mind. e suit was led when Navient walked away from settlement negotiations
days a er Trump was elected.
In its suit the CFPB claims Navient cost hundreds of thousands of bor- rowers $4 billion by failing to steer them toward loan repayment options that would have been best for them, repeatedly misallocated payments, and incorrectly reported to credit bureaus that some disabled borrow- ers — including military veterans — had defaulted when their loans had been forgiven. e attorneys general of ve states have led similar actions
against the company.
How strong are the allegations
against the company? Consider this: the CFPB which has become the best buddy of fraudsters and miscreants under the leadership of Mick Mul- vaney, is aggressively pursuing the suit, thus dashing Navient’s hopes that Bureau would back o once Trump took o ce.
I don’t know who is more surprised, me, or the folks at Navient who were undoubtedly exchanging high ves as results of the 2016 election rolled in.
Anyway, if you were laboring under the delusion that the company would clean up its act because it was being sued for billions of dollars you would be, well, you’d be delusional.
Here’s why.
On October 3, nine public service workers led a class action suit in New York accusing Navient of failing to meet its obligation to help federal student loan borrowers avail them- selves of the Public Service Loan For- giveness (PSFL) program.
Under the program, which was cre- ated in 2007, federal student debts are wiped clean if borrowers work full time for the government or certain nonpro ts, make income-driven pay-
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ments for ten years, and le required paperwork along the way.
It’s not a bad deal, because as I’ve noted in previous columns, there are basically two ways to erase federal student loan debt: pay it or die.
Unfortunately for people dealing with Navient, the last thing the com- pany wants to do is help them erase their debt. eir entire business mod- el is built on harassing, hectoring, and suing borrowers.
Don’t believe me? I’ll let the compa- ny speak for itself. Although Navient promotes its commitment to guid- ing borrowers and says on its website that the company is “...here to help you successfully navigate paying your student loans,” the rm sings a com- pletely di erent tune in court. One of the rm’s lawyers told a told a federal judge in Pennsylvania those assur- ances are just marketing hype. “It’s friendly talk, it’s pu ery, but it is not the stu of a legal obligation to now become your nancial counselor,” Na- vient’s lawyer.
As a result of Navient’s actions, bor- rowers have missed out on PSLF debt relief and remain saddled with mil- lions in debt, all while Navient makes millions in fees by attempting to col- lect it. While the debt may be imper- vious to bankruptcy, if suits alleging Navient engaged in illegal activities or violated collection rules are suc- cessful, borrowers may be eligible to receive signi cant
nancial settle- ments that will help them pay o their loans.
Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has been ghting for homeowners, consumers and small businesses since he began his private practice in 1990. Upon leaving of ce in May 2008, Dann volunteered to represent homeowners facing foreclosure and became even more concerned about the standing of certain servicers to foreclose on his clients. Recognizing that the problem of fraudulent foreclosure practices was epidemic in Ohio, Marc Dann established the Dann Law Firm representing more than 500 homeowners in foreclosure in more than 65 different counties in Ohio.
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