Consumer complaint received 2023-07-08
Company: ATLANTIC BAY MORTGAGE GROUP LLC
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I inherited my parents home On XX/XX/XXXX, after my dad passed away suddenly. My Mom died 11 months earlier on XX/XX/XXXX. The house had a {$55000.00} mortgage loan and the house had a value of approximately {$120000.00}. 
I started calling Atlantic BayXXXX XXXX in XXXX about my fathers passing and my interest in transferring the loan into my name. They wouldnt, as I expected, talk to me until I got the paperwork in. I sent in the death certificate and the papers from the court naming me as the Executor of the Estate. They apparently never received the documents. I don't know why or what happened. I mailed the documents to the address they gave me, I sent them several times and didnt realize until XXXX that my emails had bounced back saying the address was blocked. 

XXXX refused to speak to me in the role of Executor of the Estate or the unverified Successor in Interest, despite being the only living child of the borrower 's only marriage. They also chose not to give a determination on the Successor in Interest until after the sale date, which they denied without giving me a reason. They took three weeks to deny me Successor in Interest which also allowed them to deny me any chance to appeal that finding before the sale of the home. 

XXXX refusal to speak with me about the account and their subsequent delay tactics barred any opportunity to ever discuss the account. My first conversation consisted of being told how sorry they were that my family would be homeless, but there was no time to look into modification. They had the documents finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, in time to meet their 15 day deadline. They took 5 days to enter the information which put us only 11 days in advance. Theyd said I was to late and they couldnt help me. 

The following is a timeline of the events leading to and after the sake of my home. 
Documents to support that I, XXXX XXXX, was the successor in interest to the property were sent to an email provided by XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. ( Only surviving child of deceased parents ) A notice saying they were blocked was sent to my email spam section and went unnoticed until I spoke to an agent at XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ). Every time I called the company I got a message saying they were experiencing higher than normal hold time and my hold time would be at least - minutes. On at least 6 occasions I left a callback number based on their promise the next available agent will call, Often with several hours left before closing, XXXX failed to have a single agent contact me ; Holding for the next agent was always an hour or more wait. 

I called a couple of times in early XX/XX/XXXX and informed XXXXAtlantic Bay that my father had passed away and I wanted to have the loan transferred to me. I was told which papers to send in and I sent them in on several occasions and was advised that they couldnt find the documents and they may still need to be entered and later was asked to resend them. I called back several more times and either stayed on hold for over an hour or spoke with an agent who wouldnt tell me anything. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I once again sent paperwork to the email they provided. In XXXX, after once again saying nothing arrived I did a search and found it was kicked back saying the email address was blocked. Unfortunately, I didnt know it didnt go through because it landed in my spam folder. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the death certificate for XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX Circuit Courts appointment of me as the Executor of the Estate was sent and finally received by XXXX and they acknowledged receipt. 
With the sale date scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX waited until XX/XX/XXXX to enter the documents into their system. Timeliness is affected by the urgency of the documents submitted and XXXX Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1383 ( g ) was told the company would not offer loss mitigation with under 15 days left before the scheduled sale date, we were at day 11, the paperwork was received 22 days prior to the sale date. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called, spoke with an agent, and was transferred to a supervisor. After a 49-minute hold, the supervisor asked if I could make the payment and did I still reside at the residence. Both answers were yes. 
The supervisor said ok, let me get some information and get you some paperwork to start a modification, I verbally accepted this as the offer to apply for assistance. 
XXXX printed and sent out the documents needed to apply for the modification. When I received the docs I filled them out and returned. The documents gave me until XX/XX/XXXX, to be completed and returned. The documents were returned to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX the house was sold at auction. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter stating I was not the confirmed Successor in interest but they gave no reason for the decision, and the documents had been received on XX/XX/XXXX. It wasnt until last week, when I called them, that I found out why I wasnt confirmed. They said the court documents werent dated within 90 days. I was never told about the time frame for the documents, and the death certificate that they got at the same time, shows me as the only living child. 

One of the agents said they had spoken with someone in XXXX about the loan modification. I dont know who they spoke with. I called numerous times expressing my intentions to keep the house we were living in and having the loan transferred into my name. They wouldnt speak with me about the loan because they said theyd never gotten the paperwork ( that I had already sent ). It couldnt have been my parents they spoke with, they had passed away, XXXX in XXXX of XXXX and XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I dont understand how they could have spoken to me about a modification in XXXX but couldnt speak to me about one in XXXX, XXXX, or XXXX when I called. 

I was never given information about transferring the loan into my name or offered a loan modification. I was not given information, that I know of, about becoming the SSI. After the house had sold at auction, I received the rejection letter. I had to look up what it meant to be the SII, I then did not understand why I was denied. I was not notified until XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX about the denial, although the letter, thats attached, is dated XX/XX/XXXX. They received my documents on XX/XX/XXXX and they were in no hurry to enter them, I was never given a chance to save my home. 

Since XX/XX/XXXX until today, Ive emailed 11 times and I have gotten one email with a copy of the SSI letter attached. Every other email has been a form letter saying they have gotten my email and will contact me. They still have not contacted me. ( There have been more emails ; these are the most resent. ) I attached a couple of examples below.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation