Consumer complaint received 2023-10-11
Company: STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Sub-issue: Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure

Complaint:
I have worked as a XXXX XXXX  for 26 years. Earlier this year I began having severe headaches and many health issues and it led to missing a lot of time from work which caused me to have struggles with my mortgage payment to State Employee Credit Union. I have been a long time customer and have multiple accounts and personal loans with them and thought they would be understanding and work with me when I told them that a XXXX XXXXXXXX was discovered and that I had to undergo XXXX XXXXXXXX to remove it. I spoke with an agent who told me it would be OK and they would work with me on a repayment plan. However while in recovery I received a letter from a law firm telling me that my home was in foreclosure. 
State Employee Credit Union has engaged in unethical servicing practices and has denied access to programs to help homeowners and instead pushed me into foreclosure. They are putting profits over people. I bought my home in XX/XX/XXXX with an {$85000.00} down payment and used SECU because of my long relationship with them. I am extremely disappointed in the way they have handled this situation. 

When I first became ill in XX/XX/XXXX I missed three months of payments. I was back to work and made the XXXX and XXXX payment and then talked with a man in the collections department and we worked out a plan so that I could get caught up by making double payments. I made the double payment for XXXX .I found out in XXXX that I had a XXXX XXXX and required multiple tests and a hastily scheduled XXXX. As a result I was unable to make the XXXX double payment. I spoke to XXXX at SECU in XXXX and explained my situation. She did not disclose or discuss any options for assistance programs instead telling me to apply for the state program. 

Later that month I received a letter from a law firm while I was recovering from XXXX. They told me they were going to foreclose on my home. I called SECU and explained what had happened and told them that I talked to someone in their office and they gave me a plan and this should not be happening. The SECU agent told me that this man no longer worked in that department and that he did not make any notes regarding this plan so they had no evidence of the plan because it was a verbal agreement. The agent continued and said as far as the collections department was concerned, there was nothing in place so they initiated foreclosure. 

On their website SECU says Members can meet face to face with a Senior Financial Services Officer of the Credit Union to develop an individualized financial plan. We are committed to meet with members having problems wherever and whenever to discuss, review and develop a short term repayment plan that works. We want to help members keep their homes.They go on to list Options that may be considered are temporary modification of the payment amount or temporary deferment of monthly payment or modifying the terms of the existing loan None of this happened. None of these options were presented to me. One employee offers help by suggesting I make double payments. A different employee says that help does not exist because they now work in a different department etc. I have worked as a registered nurse for 26 years and have always paid my bills on time. My health situation was unexpected and scary because they were not sure what the problem was. I missed a lot of time from work and used up all of my PTO and that is why I missed my payments. I thought I was getting better and resumed my payments and made an agreement to make double payments and then I got sick again and found out about the XXXX. I was unable to work for two months and had to wait to get approved for short term XXXX which contributed to the financial issues. While I was recovering from my XXXX they started the foreclosure process against me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation