Consumer complaint received 2020-03-23
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I'm a senior, XXXX, accepted into the Massachusetts annual program to defer my home 's real estate tax until I sell or die. My mortgage servicer Chase refuses to let me put this lien on my home equity ( which is now at 50 % loan-to-value ). ( I understand Chase sold my loan to XXXX  XXXX  ). // This program ( M.G.L. c. 59, 5 -- Clause 41A ) helps seniors use **their own resources** to tackle the urgent financial challenges facing low- and middle-income seniors in Massachusetts. // Massachusetts tops all states in the share of single people over 65 [ 61.7 % of Mass. seniors living alone ] whose income doesnt cover living expenses such as food, housing, health care, and transportation [ XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, citing a new study by the XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX ]. // After the Assessors Office in XXXX MA approved my annual 41A application, in writing I repeatedly asked Chase Home Lending US headquarters to let me communicate with someone having the expertise and authority to evaluate the potential risk to Chase in approving my 41A participation. I have been denied that access. Instead, spokespeople have relayed the message that Chase does not allow any Mass. mortgagee to make a 41A property tax deferral. // ( Nor, apparently, does Chase allow their mortgagees to defer property tax in 22 of 23 other states that offer senior property tax deferral programs [ data : CRR, 2017 ]. Chase makes an exception for Oregon, where property tax deferral loans are handled through a self-supporting state fund. ) ( By refusing to participate in 41A, Chase thwarts the will of the Massachusetts legislature, which passed 41A enabling legislation decades ago and has kept it updated. Chase also undercuts the intent of cities and towns -- of 351 towns in Massachusetts, 310 offer the 41A program ). // I understand that in the experience of my Assessors Office , Chase is the only bank, local or national, that now refuses to allow their XXXX MA mortgagees to enter a 41A agreement. // The lenders risk is moderate because a 41A-eligible senior mortgagee, often with an attractive loan-to-value ratio, continues to make regular mortgage payments, and over the long term, residential property values in Massachusetts have tended to increase. My Assessors Office publishes evidence that, over the term of a typical 41A deferral, the equity in the subject home is likely to decrease only slightly from that at deferral, and may even increase! // For example, I would begin a 41A deferral with about 50 % equity in my home. The equity obligated to a years property tax deferral would be approximately offset by the equity increase from my regular mortgage payments over a year -- without considering potential home market value increase or home improvements I might make. 
( What is Chase 's responsibility? Chase Bank is engaged in an aggressive ( XXXX XXXX ) effort to capture the Massachusetts retail banking market. Before Chase opened its first retail office here, the XXXX featured photos of the Chase president touring a local charity. Chase finances a Foundation with a website that says JPMorgan Chase & Co. believes that financial insecurity is a global but solvable problem. It also funds the JPMorgan Chase Institute that describes itself as offering Expert insights for the public good. // Lenders are obligated not to discriminate by age. They are obligated to perform community reinvestment. They have to underwrite community benefit. If Chase were to cooperate with 41A, might any risk and inconvenience thereby accruing to the bank be credited toward partial fulfillment of the Chase obligation to community reinvestment and benefit? ) // As a gesture toward measuring potential need and benefit for Massachusetts seniors, I ask you to consider the example of my situation. My strategies to afford homeownership have included // I bought a property that others didnt wantan old house with major functional and cosmetic needs. 
During 16 years in this house, Ive steadily invested effort and money to improve it. 
Since I first became a homeowner at XXXX, during thirty years I have legally rented space to housemates. 
My consistently excellent 800+ credit rating has enabled me to get well-priced financing. // Since the start of the 2008 recession I have had challenges. In the last five years, despite a solid professional record, I have faced under- and unemployment, while needing to be a XX/XX/XXXXfor multiple XXXX family members at once. // For the majority of seniors, financial security remains a fantasy. Weighing risk to each party against benefits to each party, it is in Chase 's interest to support the U.S. economy by allowing 41A-eligible seniors to use their own resources to try to stay in their homes and communities.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation