Consumer complaint received 2022-04-05
Company: FIRST COMMUNITY MORTGAGE, INC.
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Your previous questions asked about missing payments and in my case the answers provided werent applicable to my situation. 

I had been on a COVID forbearance with First Community Mortgage. When the forbearance ended I contacted First Community Mortgage by phone to resume my monthly payments ( {XXXX} ) - XX/XX/XXXX. During that call the representative asked me if my circumstances had improved and I stated that unfortunately I had become ill & was going to need surgery which would require me to take time off from my job. The representative proactively stated that FCM had a loss mitigation/loan modification program that might be of interest to me and continued to explain how the loan modification application process worked and then emailed me an application which I was to complete and return with my supporting documents ASAP, in an effort to have my application approved within the 30 days so that Id have my new modified loan amount figure for my XX/XX/XXXX payment. He did say that it could possibly take slightly more than 30 days but that Id definitely have the necessary info in time for my XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

Fast forward to today, XX/XX/XXXX. I have been not only been lied to on numerous occasions, I have been provided inaccurate & conflicting information, regarding documents received & not received. Representative after representative have been inconsistent in the information theyve given to me, stating they have all the required documents they need and I just need to wait for the final word, that they never received x, y, z and I need to submit those items, Ive been removed from the program, Im in the program, Ive been added back into the program, my application expired and I need to start the process all over again, I do not need to start the process all over again, I simply need to resend my initial application & put the current date, etc.. 

I began receiving certified letters in the fall of XXXX stating that I was in default of my loan and to call FCM. I would then call FCM & was told on multiple occasions to disregard the certified letters that these letters were automatically generated and that FCM was indeed aware that I was in the program. I continued to call both FCM & the loss mitigation/loan modification departments trying to get a straight answer from anyone. I eventually was told by FCM that Id need to speak to the loss mitigation/loan modification dept. ; theyd transfer me. Id then go through the entire story and they would say I needed to speak to FCM. I let them know that FCM actually just transferred me to them. I continued to call & email the loss mitigation/loan modification department on a regular basis. Every time I called I would be on hold for upwards of an hour or more, many times disconnected only to call back and be on hold for another hour plus before speaking to a live person. Then it would start all over again, I was told that my application was in the review process with the specialist assigned to my case, that she had reviewed it and it had been forwarded to the next tier in the process. To only be told when I would call back a few days later for a status update that in fact I was no longer in the program because I had not submitted the requested documents, or that I was in the program but they were only missing x, y, z, so to simply submit that document and thats all that was needed to complete the process. Time & time again after speaking with a representative I was told they were very sorry for all the confusion and for the way Id been treated. That theyd submit an internal complaint regarding these issues. I was also promised a multitude of times by these same representatives that they would personally put me on their watch list and follow up with me personally, often giving me their name, employee identification and phone extension. They explained it would typically take my appointed case specialist 24 hours to reply to the phone representativess email but regardless they would follow up with me even if it was to acknowledge the case specialist had received their email and then typically within 48 hours theyd have a reply detailing what was missing from my document submissions & an update to the status of my application approval. This went on for MONTHS and NO ONE EVERY FOLLOWED UP WITH ME AS PROMISED with the exception of 1 woman and she did follow up in XXXX after I emailed the loss mitigation/loan modification dept yet again explaining all of this over again & this time threatening to hire an attorney. This woman told me all I needed was to resend 3 pages from the application requiring signatures & update the previous application with the current date as well as page 2 ( signature page ) of my XXXX & XXXX tax returns. She would then follow up with me in 24 hours because it took the system 24 hours to add my submitted documents to my account but she assured me Id be on her watch list..I waited 4-5 weeks never hearing from her. I again called, asked for her by name & extension, emailed the given email contact address, stating her name, ID, etc., and still no reply from anyone. Finally apx 5 weeks after our 1st chat from XXXX I was able to reach her and she apologized, she had been off on FMLA & that was her 1st day back to work. Meanwhile Im still receiving certified letters informing me that Im in default but now these letters are making me aware that my house is going into foreclosure then followed by letters giving me an actual auction date. All this time Im still calling, emailing & jumping through all of the hoops thrown at me with regard to my partially incomplete application status - resulting from me not submitting the requested documents. 

Let me be very clear- I HAVE SUBMITTED EVERYTHING & THEN SOME that was on the application document checklist, in fact I proactively submitted documents, i.e. when I was approved from XXXX & received my award letter, my XXXX W2 before I completed my XXXX tax return followed by ongoing submissions of current back statements, home owners insurance changes, etc. I can not begin to tell you how many times I have submitted the exact same documents to these people only to have them confirm receipt, then mail me a packet asking me to submit that exact document ( s ). 

2 weeks ago I called in yet again and the woman I spoke to informed me that she was a supervisor. Par for the course stated how sorry she was for the poor service & treatment Id been receiving, shed file an internal complaint & because she was a supervisor she was able to get things done that the regular representatives couldnt and she would put me on her watch list & follow up within 24 hours, then again in 48 hours. This time all that was missing & preventing the processing of my application was the total of household expenses from page 7 of my application. She stated that I had all the entries listed but that I failed to total up the column.once again, NOT TRUE. I was able to tell her the exact day & time that I submitted page 7 and what the total of that column was. She asked that I still resend it, which I did. I NEVER heard from this supervisor again. But I continued to email & call, asking for her extension and she was not available for a week. Then last Friday, a week later, I was finally going to be transferred to her after waiting on hold for 58 minutes, however I was told by the regular representative that the supervisor was unable to speak to me because her headset was broken. I asked that she be given a message, to please return my call by 4 oclock that day - giving her 7 hours to find a working headset and I never had a call. Interesting side note, during my conversation with this supervisor she mentioned that one of my previous applications had expired, implying I was at fault for not submitting it or the supporting documents in a timely manner. Once again, I was able to give dates & times for every submission at which time I asked her - how is it that I submit & do everything requested by me but because those individuals on your end that are supposed to be reviewing & processing that information dont complete their job within the required time period my application gets marked expired & out of date? She apologized and said, maam, Im sorry, unfortunately we are short staffed & do not have enough employees to return calls and process the incoming documents. 

So here we are, XX/XX/XXXX and I have been at this now since XX/XX/XXXX. I have documented how many times every document has been submitted & resubmitted. My house is set to be taken from me a week from today and as recent as Friday I received another packet asking for page 7 off the application & the 2 signature pages from my tax returns ; all of which have been submitted 5-6 times by now. Since my forbearance ended in XXXX I have never even received a monthly statement from FCM showing my pre-forbearance monthly payment amount.

Out of desperation I contacted a branch of FCM in TN this morning and asked who they were regulated by & for their licensing #. It wasnt an hour later that the general council for First Community contacted me to apologize and said hed try to get to the bottom of this inexcusable situation and that the servicing company had been fired this past Friday. A lot of good that does me if its even true. 

In the meantime I am a single mother of 2 sons, with a 25 year career in medical sales, whos currently on XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX as a result from complications post XXXX, living in an upper class neighborhood outside XXXX and I have been inundated with strangers coming to my door at all hours, wanting to help me by buying my home, leaving notes in my door, calling, texting me nonstop and most disturbing walking around my home and discussing my foreclosure with my neighbors, asking which car I drive & if thats indicative of me being at home worst of all informing my son that his house is going to be taken away because his mom didnt pay her bills. 

You explain to me how its okay for a lender & their servicing department to offer assistance to their clients and then as a result of months of incompetence & negligence can force a family out of their home when the head of that family did everything right, everything that was asked of her. She was just desperately trying to find out what her new loan payment would be.

Company public response: Company believes complaint relates to a discontinued policy or procedure
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation