Consumer complaint received 2023-05-04
Company: MIDFIRST BANK
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Good Afternoon, I am a 100 % XXXX Veteran who served in the United States XXXX XXXX. I am currently living in XXXX XXXX ; GA and I am writing for your assistance. In XXXX, I requested Disaster Recovery Assistance through XXXX Mortgage, my loan servicer. During this time, I was suffering with some financial difficulties and fell behind on my mortgage payments. Also, during this time, I was awaiting a VA XXXX decision which would award me backpayand also assist with getting caught up on my mortgage payments. As an option for the Disaster Recovery Assistance, I was offered a repayment plan to make payments starting XX/XX/XXXX, through XX/XX/XXXX. Although, unsure if I would be able to make the payments as they were higher than my normal mortgage payment, I agreed to the repayment plan. Ultimately, I was denied as the XXXX and XXXX payments were late, but never 30 days past due. The denial notification prompted me to immediately apply for a loan modification. I applied for a loan modification on XX/XX/XXXX and at that time XXXX requested additional documentation which was provided. I also received a request for a hardship letter in XX/XX/XXXX to supplement my loan modification request. 
While my application for a loan modification was under review, I continued to make payments to bring my account current. For reference, I was awarded backpay from the VA and was able to make a double mortgage payment on XX/XX/XXXX. I made a single mortgage payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and another double mortgage payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. All payments made between XXXX and XXXX brought my account current. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notification from the credit bureau that XXXX reported a late payment for XX/XX/XXXX. It is important to note that the loan modification application was under active review in XXXX and XXXX. It is also important to note that during this repayment plan trial period XXXX confirmed that credit reporting was being reported to the credit bureaus as under review. 
I raise concerns with the manner in which my account has been handled and the manner in which information has been reported to the credit bureau. On a positive note, I was able to bring my account current and while making payments in XXXX and XXXX towards my outstanding balance, XXXX did not report past due payments. XXXX also refrained from reporting a late payment for XXXX. However, since bringing my account current, XXXX has chosen to go back in time and report a late payment for XXXX and will probably do so for XXXX. This inaccuracy has injured my credit but is also inaccurate as my account was still under active review for a loan modification in XXXX and XXXX. I was not aware that financial institutions could arbitrarily decide when and what to report to the credit bureaus. It is hard for me to understand why XXXX chose to report that my account was past due in XXXX when my account was under review for a loan modification, and I was making active payments. 
Consequently, this reporting has affected my credit score negatively. More importantly, I am concerned about XXXX business practices, ethics, and the treatment of their customers. XXXX has contested that they have reported the correct information and that reporting is behind a month. However, they also confirmed that my account was under review for a modification in XXXX and XXXX pending a decision. It is important to note that XXXX requested a written hardship letter for my loan modification in XX/XX/XXXX confirming that my request was still under review. 
The goal during this time was to try to keep me in my home and I achieved this by bringing my account back current. However, as a punishment to me as a customer XXXX has decided to report my account as past due for XXXX instead of under review as they did in the months prior. I just want this company held accountable as I have seen many similar accounts of the same behavior from this company. The attachments I have included confirm that my account was under review for a modification in XXXX. My account was still under review for a modification in XXXX when I brought my account back current as well as they requested a Hardship letter from me. Why this company chose to harm a customer in need is beyond me... but they need to be held accountable. Regardless of the fact that I was able to pay the debt off while under review for different assistance ... my account should be updated as under review. As XXXX 's goal was supposedly to keep me in the home, their goal should be not to materially harm their customers by reporting negative information.

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