Consumer complaint received 2018-12-27
Company: Seterus, Inc.
State: IN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Seterus Claim On XX/XX/XXXX my father passed away in Florida leaving me as the Executrix of his estate. At that time my daughter was living in the home he owned at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Indiana. She had been paying rent for several years on that home. Unbeknownst to me, six months prior to his death he took the rental payments from my daughter but didnt pay the mortgage. Therefore, the day after his death I received notice that the house was being foreclosed on. Since my daughter was living there I worked with Seterus ; the mortgage holder, for almost a year to recover the property and return it to good standing. At the time of the estate settlement, my daughter and I were made the owners of the property and our names were the only ones on the deed. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, an electrical fire occurred destroying the home. I contacted XXXX at that time and they granted me a Forbearance Agreement while the home was being rebuilt. The Forbearance period was to be from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. When the house burned down my daughter decided she no longer wanted to live there even though the home was being rebuilt. I decided I would take the home and live there myself. I called Seterus several times after the forbearance agreement went into effect to ensure I didnt need to make a payment. I was assured each time that no payment was due until the forbearance period was over and that if I received any letters to the contrary I should simply disregard them. 

In late XX/XX/XXXX my home was finished being rebuilt. My daughter had signed the home over to me making me the sole owner of the property by deed. At that time I wanted to refinance the remaining mortgage and contacted Seterus to tell them that the home was rebuilt and that I was looking at refinancing. I again asked if I needed to make any payments prior to XXXX and was told no. Further I was told that if I did make a payment it would muddy the waters and cause confusion. 

In XXXX I was working with a person from XXXX on the refinance. In early XXXX I received notice from Seterus that my home was being repossessed for non-payment. The XXXX   rep and I both spoke with Seterus about this but they stated that when I called in late XXXX to say that I was keeping the home and moving in myself, the person I spoke with initiated a loan modification that Seterus claims negated my forbearance agreement. I was not made aware of that during the phone call. I then started receiving threatening phone calls from Seterus requesting the 5 months payments because my home was in foreclosure. To save my home I paid the five months premium and caught the home up to date as they stated. This payment was made in XXXX prior to the end of the forbearance agreement deadline. I was told by a supervisor that the record of foreclosure would be erased because I made full payment prior to XX/XX/XXXX when the forbearance agreement would end. That did not happen because when XXXX requested a payment history, the 5 months of late premiums was included. This caused XXXX to refuse to offer me a mortgage at a then lesser rate than what I am ending up with. 

XXXX and I decided to go a different way around Seterus to get my home refinanced. We are refinancing as an inherited property. During the months from late XXXX through XXXX several requests for payoff were requested from Seterus.  Each time they provided a 24 hour window to make the payoff payment or the amount would increase. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX sent Seterus the payoff amount they had requested. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX was told by Seterus that the payoff amount was rejected and that an additional {$2900.00} was needed to get the loan current. The {$2900.00} included a XXXX payment ( which should not have been assessed since we were paying off the mortgage prior to the XXXX payment due date ) and {$1700.00} of attorney fees for what appears to be the action they took prematurely in attempting to foreclose the mortgage prior to the end of the Forbearance Agreement. 

As of this date, XX/XX/XXXX, I have paid the additional {$2900.00} out of duress and am awaiting to hear what other charges Seterus may attempt to make me pay. Seterus has caused me great stress and a lot of money by their actions. I am trying to sever ties with Seterus by refinancing with XXXX and have done everything I was asked ; and forced, to do.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation