Green v. Navient Solutions, LLC

Plaintiff Green filed a lawsuit against Navient Solutions, LLC, a major student loan servicer, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleged that Navient violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and New York state law by inaccurately reporting the status of Green's student loan to consumer reporting agencies. Green contended that the erroneous reporting caused significant damage to his credit score and creditworthiness. Navient moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. On November 29, 2018, the court issued a decision on the motion. The ruling allowed certain claims to proceed while dismissing others, finding that Green had plausibly alleged that Navient failed to conduct a reasonable investigation of the disputed information.

The court granted in part and denied in part Navient's motion to dismiss. The FCRA claims regarding Navient's failure to reasonably investigate the disputed loan status survived the motion, while certain other state-law claims were dismissed with leave to amend.

Whether Navient Solutions, LLC acted as a furnisher of information under the FCRA and failed to conduct a reasonable investigation after receiving notice of a dispute, and whether the plaintiff adequately pleaded actual damages from the alleged inaccurate credit reporting.

The case underscored the accountability of student loan servicers as credit information furnishers under federal law. It served as a reference for borrowers challenging inaccurate loan reporting, highlighting that loan servicers must conduct meaningful investigations of disputes. The litigation contributed to broader scrutiny of Navient's servicing practices, which later faced regulatory actions and multistate settlements over similar allegations.