Navient wrecking your credit with wrong loan data?

Who Navient is and how it reaches your credit report

Navient Corporation was created on April 30, 2014, when the former SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) split into two public companies: Navient, an education loan management, servicing and asset recovery business, and today’s Sallie Mae. Navient’s loans include private student loans and loans made under the older Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

Navient no longer services Department of Education-owned loans. In October 2021, Maximus announced that the Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid had approved transfer of Navient’s servicing contract, covering 5.6 million Department-owned loan accounts, to Maximus and its servicing division, Aidvantage. In May 2024, Navient disclosed an agreement to outsource its student loan servicing operations to MOHELA.

Whoever does the day-to-day work, the account that shows up on your Equifax, Experian or TransUnion report is data someone furnished. Under the FCRA, lenders and servicers that send account data to the bureaus are “furnishers,” and they have duties when you dispute.

The CFPB’s 2024 order against Navient

On September 12, 2024, a federal court in Pennsylvania entered a stipulated judgment in the CFPB’s lawsuit against Navient, requiring $100 million in consumer redress and a $20 million penalty. The order permanently bans Navient from servicing federal Direct Loans and from acquiring additional FFELP loans, and bars consumer-facing FFELP servicing.

The CFPB alleged, among other things, that Navient:

• steered borrowers who may have qualified for income-driven repayment into forbearance, where interest built up;
• misallocated and misapplied payments, leading to late fees, extra interest and negative credit reporting;
• damaged the credit reports of borrowers whose federal loans were discharged for total and permanent disability; and
• through its collection arm, failed to deliver all the credit reporting relief it promised borrowers who completed loan rehabilitation.

The CFPB’s release also notes a 2022 settlement between Navient and 39 state attorneys general worth $1.85 billion. These were allegations resolved by settlement and order.

Common Navient reporting errors

• Misapplied payments. Money sent to the wrong loan, leaving another loan “late.”
• Late marks during forbearance or deferment. A loan reported past due for a period when no payment was required.
• Discharged loans still owed. Disability discharge, closed-school or other relief not reflected on your report.
• Rehabilitation not reflected. After you complete loan rehabilitation, the reporting should change as the program promises. A default that keeps showing as before may be an error.
• Transfer problems. Wrong balances, or the same debt listed twice by Navient and another servicer.

How to dispute Navient’s reporting

1. Pull all three reports. Get free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and compare how each bureau shows every Navient loan.
2. Dispute with each bureau that shows the error. File with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion as needed. This step matters most: your right to sue Navient for bad reporting arises after the bureau notifies Navient of your dispute and Navient fails to investigate reasonably and correct it (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). A dispute sent only to Navient does not trigger that claim.
3. You can also dispute directly with Navient. Use the contact information on your statement or Navient’s official website. A direct dispute can fix the error faster, but it is not a substitute for the bureau dispute.
4. Send proof. Bank records showing payment dates, forbearance or deferment approval letters, discharge notices, and rehabilitation completion letters.
5. Keep copies of everything. Your reports, each dispute, confirmation numbers, mailing receipts and every response.
6. Track the deadline. The bureaus generally must complete their reinvestigation within 30 days (§ 1681i(a)(1)). Pull your reports again after the results come back.

Your rights under the FCRA

• Furnisher investigation (§ 1681s-2(b)). After a bureau forwards your dispute, Navient must investigate, review the information you provided, report the results, and modify, delete or block information it finds inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Bureau accuracy and reinvestigation (§§ 1681e(b), 1681i). The bureaus must use reasonable procedures for accuracy and must reasonably reinvestigate your dispute, not just pass along Navient’s answer without care.
• No private suit for first-time reporting. The FCRA’s general accuracy duty on furnishers (§ 1681s-2(a)) is enforced by regulators, not by individual lawsuits. That is why the bureau dispute is the key step.

What you may recover

For a negligent violation, you may recover actual damages, such as credit denials, higher interest rates, lost housing or job opportunities, and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

Get a free case review

FCRA claims have deadlines: generally two years from when you discover the violation, and no more than five years from when it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). If Navient’s reporting is still wrong after your dispute, save your reports and paperwork and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel, and charges no fee unless we win.

Questions about suing Navient

Can I sue Navient over my credit report?

You may be able to. As a furnisher of credit information, Navient must reasonably investigate when a credit bureau forwards your dispute, and correct or delete what is wrong (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). If it verifies inaccurate information anyway, you may have an FCRA claim.

Does Navient still service federal student loans?

Not Department of Education-owned loans. In October 2021, Navient received approval to transfer servicing of 5.6 million Department-owned loan accounts to Maximus, whose servicing division is Aidvantage. A 2024 court order also permanently bars Navient from servicing federal Direct Loans.

Who is actually handling my Navient loan now?

In a May 2024 SEC filing, Navient said it would outsource its student loan servicing operations to MOHELA, which was expected to begin servicing in the third quarter of 2024. Navient can still be the company reporting your account, so check how the tradeline is labeled on each credit report.

What does it cost to bring a case?

Nothing up front. FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

Related reading

• How to Dispute Credit Report Errors With Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
• How to Remove a Late Payment From Your Credit Report, and When You Can't
• Examples of FCRA Violations, Matched to the Section of the Law They Break
• Do You Still Have an FCRA Claim After the Error Was Fixed?

Sources

• CFPB press release, September 12, 2024: CFPB bans Navient from federal student loan servicing and orders it to pay $120 million
• CFPB enforcement action: Navient Corporation, Navient Solutions, Inc. and Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc. (M.D. Pa.)
• Maximus press release, October 20, 2021: federal student loan servicing contract novation completed (5.6 million accounts, Aidvantage)
• SLM Corporation SEC exhibit describing the April 30, 2014 separation into Navient Corporation and SLM Corporation
• Navient Form 8-K (May 2024): Master Terms Agreement to outsource servicing operations to MOHELA

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.