Page 18 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2022 AG HEALEY | FROM PAGE 11 ing our broken student loan repayment system.” “Navient cheated students who borrowed money to pursue their dreams and allowed them to be crushed by avoidable debt, all while the U.S. Department of Education turned a blind eye,” said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. “I commend Attorney General Healey for achieving this historic settlement, which is a major step toward delivering relief for borrowers and holding Navient accountable.” According to the coalition, the interest that accrued as a result of Navient’s federal loan forbearance steering practices was added to borrowers’ loan balances. Had the company instead provided borrowers with the help it promised, income-driven plans could have potentially reduced payments to as low as $0 per month, provided interest subsidies and/ or helped attain forgiveness of any remaining balance after 20 to 25 years of qualifying payments (or 10 years for borrowers qualified under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program). Navient also allegedly originated unfair subprime private student loans that it knew were likely doomed to fail. The company made these risky subprime loans as an inducement to get schools to use Navient as a preferred lender for highly profitable federal and “prime” private loans, without regard for the borrowers and their families, many of whom were unknowingly ensnared in debts they could never repay. Under the terms of the Attorney General’s settlement, Navient will cancel more than $1.7 billion in subprime private student loans owed by over 66,000 borrowers nationwide. Navient will also pay a total of $142.5 million, of which $95 million will be distributed to approximately 350,000 federal loan borrowers who were placed in certain types of long-term forbearances. As part of the settlement, Massachusetts will receive a total of more than $6 million, including $2.2 million in restitution for more than 8,300 federal loan borrowers. Additionally, 1,523 Massachusetts borrowers will receive more than $41 million in private loan debt relief. The settlement includes conduct reforms that require MBTA | FROM PAGE 6 Youth Pass office, if approved. In collaboration with the MBTA’s Commercial Strategies and Programs team, the MBTA’s Customer Technology Department accelerated the development of the online application, accomplishing the project’s design, user testing, and launch through the use of SimpliGov’s no-code, cloud-based platform. “SimpliGov is proud to partner with MBTA to create a user-friendly customer experience and seamless online application process available to nearly 20 municipalities participating in this critical program for the community,” said SimpliGov CEO Gary Leiken. “This is the first of many processes we will be automating with MBTA to help serve local young adults eligible for free and reduced-fare transportation programs in Massachusetts, which is an incredibly important community mission and citizen service.” Based on findings from multiple rounds of user tests with Youth Pass administrators and riders, and three pilot online applications, the Customer Technology team tailored the Youth Navient to explain the benefits of income-driven repayment plans and to offer to estimate income-driven payment amounts before placing borrowers into optional forbearances. Additionally, Navient must train specialists who will advise distressed borrowers concerning alternative repayment options and counsel public service workers concerning PSLF and related programs. The conduct reforms imposed by the settlement include prohibitions on compensating customer service agents in a manner that incentivizes them to minimize time spent counseling borrowers. The settlement also requires Navient to notify borrowers about the U.S. Department of Education’s recently announced PSLF limited waiver opportunity, which temporarily offers millions of qualifying public service workers the chance to have previously nonqualifying repayment periods counted toward loan forgiveness – provided that they consolidate into the Direct Loan Program and file employment certifications by October 31. Until recently, Navient had a contract to service federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of EducaAG HEALEY | SEE PAGE 19 Pass application for simplicity, ease of use, and security. The MBTA devised a single, streamlined process in the SimpliGov platform that allows Youth Pass administrators in participating municipalities to process, verify, and deliver Youth Pass CharlieCards within five business days with minimal error. The MBTA also anticipates launching similar online applications to the other free and reduced fare programs within the coming months. The MBTA’s growing list of municipalities and community partners participating in the Youth Pass program includes Arlington, Attleboro, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Lexington, Malden, Medford, Melrose, the North Shore, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, Wakefield, Watertown, and Worcester. Cities or towns interested in joining the program are encouraged to email youthpass@ mbta.com for information on how to begin the process. For more information, visit mbta.com/youthpass-eligibility, or connect with the T on Twitter @MBTA, Facebook / TheMBTA, or Instagram @theMBTA.
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