Consumer complaint received 2021-10-19
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I was contacted by the mortgage servicing company regarding whether I had experienced any financial hardship due to COVID-19. Since I loss approximately {$40000.00} due to COVID, I inform them of that issue. After discussing it with them on the telephone, they sent me a letter date XX/XX/XXXX stating that I was " Approved for a Forbearance and Deferral Plan ''. On three separate occasions, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, they sent me letters stating that my forbearance plan was being extended. I also talked to their agent, via telephone, on each occasion. The agent informed me that the deferred payments could be moved to the end of the loan and/or the loan could be modified -- which could include a lowering of the interest rate on my mortgage loan. I was also told, over the phone and in writing, that " we will cease any negative reporting to the credit bureaus ''. That turned out not to be true -- the mortgage service company reported, to all three credit bureaus, my mortgage as in default. The mortgage servicing company has now completely ruined my " good credit standing ''. Keeping in mind, I had not missed any mortgage payments prior to the forbearance plan being implemented -- -and, I have had this mortgage for 16 years. At the conclusion of the forbearance plan, I talked to the mortgage service company 's agent and told her that I could resume paying my mortgage again, as before, beginning XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that was fine, however, I needed to make three ( 3 ) consecutive payments before the forbearance balance would be added to the back of the loan, and/or before I would be eligible for an interest rate reduction [ mortgage modification ]. Accordingly, I made my standard XXXX mortgage payment. However, when I made my XXXX payment, which we do through " Bill Pay '' with our bank, I received written notification from our bank, several days later, that the payment was rejected by our mortgage servicing company. The mortgage servicing company was now refusing to accept our mortgage payments. I called the company and I was told that I had a new " point of contact '' that would be assisting me with my various options. Upon contacting this new " point of contact '', I was informed that, although it may be difficult to make the decision to leave your home, that I was conditionally approved for the following -- - I had to immediately pay all of the back forbearance payments, or agree to a Short Sale of our home, or provide the mortgage servicing company with a Deed-in-Lieu of foreclosure. On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, the mortgage servicing company, and/or the bank they represent [ XXXX ], sent someone out to our house to take pictures. They said that they were with " asset management '' and that our house was in foreclosure. 
This all appears to be some sort of scam to steal our home. I have not yet contacted a lawyer, but unfortunately, I believe we will have to incur that expense. I can't fathom how any of this can be legal. As previously stated, we have been in our home for 16 years and have always made our mortgage payments in a timely manner.

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