Consumer complaint received 2023-06-12
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Dear XXXX XXXX : My family and I are in desperate need of assistance from the CFPB with the impossible situation we have with our loan servicer, Select Portfolio Servicing ( SPS ). We reside in XXXX, Florida, which was ground XXXX for Hurricane Ian in XX/XX/XXXX ; nearly a category XXXX storm. As fully documented in the press, the damage to our area was very significant, and our home was no exception. Specifically, our home suffered over {$500000.00} in actual damages, including extensive roof damage, water leakage throughout the inside of the home, and black mold infestation. Following this devastating storm, we lost all power for over two weeks and had no running water or air conditioning. While we have a public adjuster working on our insurance claims, given the extensive damage and volume of claims, it may be months or years before we receive any insurance money to complete the needed repairs if ever. Apparently, a number of insurance companies in Florida have been closed by the State due to insufficient reserves. 

Prior to this unfortunate set of events completely out of our control, we paid our mortgage on time to our servicer, SPS every month via Auto pay. In fact, from the inception of our loan, we never missed any payments and always paid on time or in advance. My wife and I work in the XXXX XXXX industry, and when Hurricane Ian devastated our area, all our real estate transactions came to a standstill. Quite simply, nobody wanted to purchase hurricane damaged homes, and sellers did not list their homes because they wouldnt receive fair market value without first repairing the damage. As such, we had no income for months after the storm, and were unable to make any mortgage payments. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order 23-21 renewing the Hurricane Ian State of Emergency , a state of emergency originally declared on XX/XX/XXXX, for an additional 60 days. 

In view of the foregoing, we requested reasonable assistance from SPS to either provide a reasonable forbearance period, defer any missed payments to the end of the loan, and send us a new payment amount that would allow us to catch up over a reasonable time period. We actually applied for assistance from SPS through their online in XX/XX/XXXX. From that point forward, SPS requested additional information fourteen ( 14 ) different times as per our conversation log with our servicer. At least half of the requests were asking for the same information already sent, which suggests that SPS either lost the information initially sent, or one hand doesnt know what the other is doing internally at SPS . On at least 3 occasions, SPS sent a specialist to our home to prepare a broker price opinion and valuation. It was not until XX/XX/XXXX, months after we initiated this process, that SPS finally sent us a letter stating they rejected our request for any modification or forbearance of our loan, and demanded that we pay the past due balance of {$83000.00} by no later than XX/XX/XXXX or SPS would initiate a foreclosure process. See attached letter. We communicated with SPS through our attorneys office, and confirmed that SPS and the investor on this loan refused to even review our modification application. 

It is clear from these facts that our servicer did not review our loan modification application in good faith or with genuine intent to review our file for loss mitigation. It is clear that our family suffered real and significant hardship which justifies, at a minimum, a good faith loss mitigation review. Our servicer clear refusal to afford us that request is a clear and direct violation of CFPB guidelines. 

All we request is a meaningful and good faith review of our loss mitigation application, rather than a blanket denial without review. If SPS is unwilling to provide our family a simple good faith loss mitigation review, we request appropriate penalties and sanctions be imposed by the CFPB that prevents SPS and other similarly situated servicers from engaging in bad faith loss mitigation practices in order to deprive homeowners of their right to retain their home. 

Please initiate a formal complaint against our servicer for these acts, and kindly open an investigation to determine if SPS is engaging in systematic deprivation of rights to homeowners like ourselves who have suffered genuine and significant hardships in connection with their home loans.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation