Court Orders Navient to Turn Over Key Loan Records in Attorney General’s Discovery Efforts in Lawsuit
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced an important, favorable court ruling in his lawsuit against the nation’s largest servicer of federal and private student loans, Navient Corporation, and its subsidiary Navient Solutions, LLC. The legal victory will enable the Attorney General’s legal team to review loan records which Navient had previously refused to provide.
The court ruling is important because the lawsuit could impact hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who received private student loans from Sallie Mae, one of Navient’s predecessors, and anyone who has had their federal or private loans serviced by Navient and experienced repayment issues. The ruling yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ordered Navient to turn over loan records to the Attorney General’s legal team. Until now, Navient has refused to produce records for direct loans – a key issue in the Navient lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges widespread abuses in Navient’s student loan origination and servicing.
“Navient’s deceptive practices and predatory conduct harmed student borrowers and put their own profits ahead of the interests of millions of families across Pennsylvania and the country who are struggling to repay student loans,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “We are working diligently to protect borrowers, and yesterday’s court ruling will let us thoroughly review the Navient records at issue.”
As a result of yesterday’s court order, discovery will continue to move forward in the case against Navient.
Navient maintains a student loan servicing center in Wilkes-Barre with approximately 1,000 employees. Student borrowers who believe they have been subject to these or other unfair or deceptive practices are encouraged to file a complaint with the Office of Attorney General at www.attorneygeneral.gov. They can also call 800-441-2555 or email scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
Pennsylvanians collectively owed $61.8 billion in private and federal student loans as of December 2016. The average student loan debt for Pennsylvania college graduates in 2016 was $35,759 – the second highest of any state in the nation.
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