The student debt crisis is worsening at the hands of loan servicers

Every 28 seconds, another American borrower defaults on a federal student loan.

Today, nearly 20 percent of the 44 million people burdened by $1.4 trillion in student debt are in default.

One problem is that loan servicers, which collect and process payments, are incentivized to guide borrowers into more costly payback schemes, according to consumer advocates.

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped the nation’s largest student-loan servicer, Navient — formerly part of Sallie Mae — with a lawsuit alleging the company incorrectly processed payments, and steered troubled borrowers toward expensive repayment plans.

Navient, which services roughly $300 billion in loans taken out by 12 million borrowers, disputes the allegations.

“Just because they say it doesn’t make it true. It ignores the fact that we follow the servicing rules and regulations issued by the Department of Education, the owner of the majority of the loans we service,” Navient Chief Executive Jack Remondi told analysts last week on its quarterly earnings call.

The sector is ripe for improvement. While most borrowers of federal student loans are eligible for income-driven repayment programs, these plans are overly complicated and time-consuming for both servicer and borrower.

In addition, servicers get paid far more when a struggling borrower enters a rehabilitation program than selecting other options that may be better for the borrower.

“This is déjà vu all over again, because with the mortgage crisis we saw that conflicting incentives with mortgage servicers lead to chaos and confusion,” said Rohit Chopra, a former assistant director at the CFPB in Washington.

“Laws were passed to give borrowers on credit cards and mortgages… protections, and we need to put the service back in student-loan servicing,” Chopra added.

Struggling borrowers should do their own research on sites including nslds.ed.gov and studentloans.gov before approaching their servicer for help, experts said.

Chopra said borrowers shouldn’t take “no” for an answer when it comes to signing up for income-driven repayments, which can be done through studentloans.gov.

Struggling borrowers have 270 days after the first missed payment before a loan goes into default, and need to act during that window.

“It is so easy to get overwhelmed … and a lot of people don’t even open their mail,” said Persis Yu, director of the student loan project at the National Consumer Law Center.

“It’s really important to engage with the loan … [because] for most people, something can be done to make the situation more affordable.”