Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced on Thursday a $1.85 billion settlement with the student loan servicer Navient and 38 other states — including Washington and California.
Navient had been accused of deceptive loan services practices, including guiding students into more expensive repayment plans, Rosenblum said.
“Today we’re getting some of that money back and putting it into the hands of Oregonians who’ve been harmed,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “I sincerely hope this will help many of them move on with their lives. We will never break the cycle of student debt, if we don’t hold student loan servicers accountable.”
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum waits for the start of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's inaugural address at the state Capitol in Salem, Ore., Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
Rosenblum said 5,488 federal loan borrowers in Oregon will receive more than $1.4 million in restitution. More than 800 Oregon borrowers will receive more than $22 million in private loan debt cancellation out of the settlement.
Rosenblum said borrowers who qualify for those funds do not need to do anything to receive them, and they will receive a notice from Navient directly. Rosenblum said borrowers should make sure their information is up-to-date with federal officials through the studentaid.gov website.
Navient will also be required to tell borrowers about recent changes to the U.S. Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which aims to make it easier for borrowers to get loans forgiven if they have worked in public service and made loan payments for 10 years.