I am co-signer on a student loan taken out by my daughter about ten years ago. It was taken out through XXXX but is now serviced by Navient. Due to problems my daughter experienced in collecting her pay for her job, she stopped making payments. She did n't tell me. The loan has recently gone into default. The only written ( US Mail ) notice I received from Navient was recent, telling me that the loan was already in default. ( There may have been email correspondence telling me to login to their web site to see a message, but these things come all the time for less significant events. ) Then a series of phone calls started from Navient collections. First, they offered me XXXX lump-sum options, XXXX to release me as co-signer, the other a settlement in full. I did not have the tens of thousands of dollars available to me, so I declined. Both those offers came in the form of an email letter on Navient letterhead. 
The most recent phone call ( yesterday ) from Navient conveyed an offer that if I paid the back amount due on the loan and then made a monthly payment slightly above the most recent monthly payments that I could pay off the loan balance that way. The interest rate would be 0.1 % ( why? ). This sounded hopeful to me but there were obviously terms and conditions that I wanted to see in writing so I could talk them over with my spouse. Besides, my hearing is n't perfect, the phone connection was poor, I had to go outside my place of employment so there was road noise, I had no writing material or place to write, and the agent had a thick accent. It seemed so reasonable for me to ask for this offer in writing, but they refused. Instead, they said I had to make these payments for some number of months and then I would get something in writing. 
We went back and forth for a while, with my insisting on an offer in written form. The agent seemed to think that obviously I ought to trust him ( " This call is recorded and I would get fired if I lied to you. " ). This insistence on no written offer seemed so outside the norm -- more like a loan shark than a reputable company -- that eventually ( after much repetition ) I just hung up. 
I will be making those payments ; obviously I should, and they are close to the payments for the original loan. One big worry is what effect this will have on my credit rating. I already ca n't refinance my mortgage and save 2 % interest because of my credit score. At my age I probably never will. I also worry about the effect on my daughter 's financial future. 
I think that this " no offer in writing '' policy is outrageous ( and obviously not XXXX compliant ).