<prompt> Human: I know it may seem impossible that I was unaware that I had a 2 student loans that amount to be around 5000 at disbursement, but through the wondrous Sallie Mae Navient it became possible.I will admit I was an uneducated borrower. I have made mistakes. I am currently paying on cumulative student loan debt of around 20K. The payments put me at about 25 of my base income after taxes etc. I say base income because I often make more through over time and on call pay.I was contacted by this debt collection company in February. Initially I thought it was a joke. But, I contacted the university it was through and found that I was actually not paying on these 2 loans and they were in default. I could go on but this is my concern:When I first spoke with them they were trying to get me into a payment plan. I informed them that I cannot afford to pay anything in any plan as I was already paying 25 of my income to other student loans.In the research of these loans I consulted my parents to see if they had any documentation to these loans. Once it was realized that these were in fact my loans, they offered to pay through an inheritance from my grandparents a lump settlement.The total disbursement was about 5300. The principal balance is about 5800. They are willing to settle for 6000. However, when I initially talked to them they said they would send me a written agreement. They never did. Of course they started calling me again. Here is the the thing that is bothering me... Its a new collection agency. I again ask for a written settlement offer for a lump sum. They say they will send me a letter in the mail. I get nothing for 2 months. I get calls again from this same company. I explain to them that I want a written settlement and that I had been through this once before. I was told it would take 30 days.I finally get a call, and Im again told that they will accept said amount as a lump sum. I told them again that I needed a written document stating the agreement. This seemed like a foreign concept. I was put on hold several times. I was finally informed I would get an email shortly with the required information. I did finally get an email, but by this point the principal balance had increased and the settlement was more.I was also told they accept all major credit cards. Should I be dealing with a collection company like this? What are my options? And have I even gone about this the right way?  <response>: - If youre really not sure this loan exists...Check there, it lists all of the federal student loans taken out under your SSN and their current statuses. If youre dealing with Navient and their collection agency diaspora: Youre gonna get a different answer depending on which CSR flavoursupervisor of the day you happen to get. It sounds like youve been taken around the block already. Been there, done that, I dont enjoy dealing with them as its like a bag of cats.Ask them again about a written, certified agreement for settlement. If they dont do anything, well, you dont have to agree to anything, and you can complain to the DoE omsbudsman about what you have experienced so far. Escalating the issue to the DoE level will put pressure on the collection agency to offer settlements by how the DoE has defined how they should be done, not their way. Navient in particular, is under DoE investigation for mishandling accounts. If youre curious about how federal loans are supposed to be settled, see this page: Good luck. 