Consumer complaint received 2022-12-22
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Please consider this a response and a XXXX complaint in answer to Specialized Loan Servicings ( SLS ) reply for the original complaint # XXXX ( see attached ) filed with CFPB. 

In SLS reply, they conveniently neglect to address the financially impractical aspect of the modification they approved. The modification SLS mentions included this impractical {$64000.00} lump sum payment, which they attribute to the large delinquency that had accrued at the time that the modification was offered in XXXX ( see attached ). SLS neglects to mention that from the time they assumed servicing the loan in XX/XX/XXXX until they initiated the first foreclosure in XXXX, no monthly statements were issued and mailed. For reference, we originally modified the First Trust Deed with XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$900000.00} in XXXX and have made on time payments ever since. We would have done the same if we had been afforded the opportunity with SLS.

SLS falsely represents that they have sent monthly billing statements in their response to our first complaint ( see attached ) : At this time, a sale date of XX/XX/XXXX [ sic ] has been set for the subject property. Account notices SLS records indicate that SLS has been sending billing statements to the address on file since the loan was transferred to us and and [ sic ] has continued to send billing statements throughout this time. Therefore, SLS wrongly assumes we should have been aware of this situation and the growing interest rate at 13.5 % ( as per Note attached ). This is not the case. Statements were not sent.

We believe that SLS has acted in bad faith using questionable business practices by willfully and purposefully not sending a monthly billing statement to their clients and by doing so, not affording homeowners the ability to maintain and monitor the situation of their mortgage, and thereby initiate action, such as action by settlement, modification, or even bankruptcy. SLS intentionally waited silently while homeowners paid down the principal on the first mortgage and properties appreciated for years before initiating foreclosure. Then, SLS blames the homeowner for this 13.5 % interest accruing monthly, at which point SLS then demands a {$64000.00} upfront payment to facilitate a modification ( see attached ).

While all banks were looking for resolutions during the Great Recession, SLS strategy was to wait and pounce. In doing so, SLS violated the terms of the original Home Equity Credit Line Agreement by ignoring Paragraph 4b of said document : B. At minimum you will send me a periodic statement at the end of each billing cycle in which there is a debit or credit balance of more than XXXX dollar ( {$1.00} ) or in which a finance charge has been imposed. The periodic statement will show all Account activity during the billing cycle and contain other important information, including my New Balance, my Annual Percentage Rate, the amount of my Minimum Payment Due, my Payment Due Date and the place and manner of making payments ( see attached ). This paragraph mandates that the lender is obligated to send a monthly statement, and in doing so would allow a homeowner the opportunity to take action long before SLS pounces nearly a decade later claiming {$170000.00} in interest alone. This paragraph also complies with the rights of a homeowner to have a monthly accounting of the interest, the balance, and the required payment as required for credit equity lines. This may have implications of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( RESPA ) violations and a clear breach of the terms of the Home Equity Credit Line Agreement.

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