Navient Corp. is turning up the heat on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issuing a direct public call for the dismissal of the agency’s 18-month-old lawsuit against the student loan servicing firm, American Banker reported. During a call with analysts on Wednesday, Navient CEO Jack Remondi complained that nearly five years have passed since the consumer bureau issued its first demand for documents from the Wilmington, Del.-based company. “You’ve had five years to look for your evidence; you’ve found none,” he said. “It’s time to move on.” The CFPB filed suit against Navient in January 2017, when former Director Richard Cordray was still at the helm. The bureau alleged that the nation’s largest student loan servicer added $4 billion in interest charges to the principal balances of borrowers who were enrolled in multiple, consecutive forbearances, and that a large portion of the charges could have been avoided if the company had followed the law. Navient has contested the allegations vigorously. In a recent court filing, the CFPB said that the Department of Education, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, is refusing to authorize Navient to turn over certain documents that the consumer bureau wants to see. The bureau asked the judge in the case to grant a five-month extension to the discovery process, arguing that the agency has not received documents that it needs to identify harmed borrowers and quantify the damages they suffered.
