Fishman Haygood Client Puerto Rico Reaches $7.7M Settlement with Navient on Behalf of Private Student Loan Borrowers

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with Navient Solutions, LLC and Navient Credit Finance Corporation (“Navient”) that will result in at least $7.7 million in debt forgiveness for private student loan borrowers, as well as the introduction of new policies and procedures ensuring borrowers are well-informed about their payment options. Click here to read more Law360 coverage.

In August 2023, Puerto Rico’s Attorney General Domingo Emanuelli Hernández filed a lawsuit against Navient for improper servicing of student loans under the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The suit alleged that Navient violated federal and state law by engaging in several distinct types of wrongdoing, including the origination of subprime loans that it did not expect students to be able to repay; steering students into forbearance, rather than income-driven repayment; servicing failures relating to recertification; misrepresentations relating to co-signer release; and payment processing errors. Read more about Fishman Haygood’s role in the lawsuit here.

This is not the first settlement the firm has reached with Navient. Last year, Fishman Haygood attorneys settled two nationwide class action lawsuits with Navient, which resulted in approximately $236 million in debt relief for private student loan borrowers, as well as $44 million in cash compensation. As stated in the claims, Navient and its agents refused to recognize the discharges of these private student loans to non-Title IV schools and programs and continued to collect on the loans even after borrowers obtained bankruptcy discharges Read more about both settlements here.

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is represented by Fishman Haygood attorneys Jason Burge, Kaja Elmer, and Lara Richards. Attorneys from Vicente Law LLC and Jones Swanson Huddell LLC serve as co-counsel to the plaintiff.

Fishman Haygood represents both plaintiffs and defendants in class action and mass action litigation, both in Louisiana and across the nation. Click here for more information.