Consumer complaint received 2023-11-27
Company: Caliber Home Loans, Inc.
State: VA
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:
The following text has been sent to the companies involved, including all identifying details. The letter is also attached along with the concluded payment deferral plan. Homeowners are writing to request immediate correction of the errors, and ongoing delays and deception described below in regard to the mortgage on homeowners property at XXXX. Given Caliber and XXXX ongoing dilatory and deceptive practices, this letter is also being filed as a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . Homeowners have already consulted legal counsel and will pursue legal action if the demanded remedies are not forthcoming in a timely manner. FACTS : Homeowners mortgage with Caliber was recently transferred to XXXX. Homeowners completed a mortgage assistance application with Caliber in XXXX XXXX. The application was reviewed by Caliber, who then sent a payment deferral agreement dated XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. The payment deferral agreement was sent to homeowners in an envelope bearing the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX company name and address, and postmarked XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX. At the same time, homeowners received written notice on Caliber letterhead of the upcoming transfer of mortgage servicing from Caliber to XXXX. The letter was dated XXXX XXXX, and included XXXX address and instructions for changing payments from Caliber to XXXX. The letter also noted that the transfer should be easy because Caliber had been part of XXXX since XXXX, and that homeowners account number, etc. would not change. Nowhere in the document was the XXXX mentioned. Nonetheless, the document was sent in an envelope bearing XXXX XXXX  XXXX company name and address, and also postmarked XXXX XXXX. FACTS, continued : Under the terms of the payment deferral agreement, the first payment was to be due on XXXX XXXX, however elsewhere in the document, homeowners were informed that to accept the payment deferral agreement, they must sign and return the agreement and make the payment by XXXX XXXX. Homeowners signed and returned the payment deferral agreement on XXXX XXXX via the e-mail address provided by Caliber  ( XXXX ), uploaded to the Caliber website, and mailed to the address provided by Caliber. Homeowners also made a payment dated XXXX XXXX on the Caliber website. While the new payment amount provided in the payment deferral agreement was {$3800.00}, homeowners made the XXXX XXXX payment in the amount of {$3800.00}, because that was the only amount the Caliber website would allow. FACTS, continued : Subsequent to homeowners executed acceptance of the payment deferral agreement, homeowners received an e-mail on XXXX XXXX from XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX indicating that the servicing of homeowners mortgage had been transferred to XXXX. The e-mail indicated that XXXX had received notice of the mortgage assistance application and that it may take up to XXXX business days for the updated account information to be reflected in XXXX systems. During phone calls with homeowners on XXXX and XXXX XXXX, representatives of XXXX claimed that it could take up to 60 days for all of the information regarding homeowners mortgage to be transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX During the call on XXXX XXXX, the XXXX representative claimed that XXXX would have to complete a valuation of homeowners property, which may result in different options than those given by Caliber. On XXXX XXXX, homeowners received another e-mail from XXXX indicating that XXXX was working on setting up the loss mitigation solution from homeowners prior servicer. The e-mail went on to claim that it would take time to close the account with the prior servicer and set up the new account in XXXX systems. On XXXX XXXX, homeowners received from XXXX three pieces of mail, all dated XXXX XXXX : XXXX ) a privacy notice ; XXXX ) a notice of transfer of servicing to XXXX ; and XXXX ) a XXXX loss mitigation application package. Only the privacy notice had the company name visible from outside the envelope. None of the three items of mail bore a postmark, but all were received on XXXX XXXX. As of XXXX XXXX, the terms of the payment deferral agreement concluded with Caliber were not reflected in homeowners online account with XXXX XXXX DELIBERATELY DELAYED AND INACCURATE NOTICE OF TRANSFER : Homeowners are entitled to a minimum of 15 days notice prior to a change in mortgage servicing. Furthermore, such notice must include the name and contact information for the new servicer. While the letterhead date of Calibers notice was XXXX XXXX, the notice was not sent until XXXX XXXX or after, the envelope was labeled as originating with XXXX XXXX XXXX - not Caliber, as would reasonably be expected - and provided XXXX as the future servicer. Homeowners note that XXXX does business as XXXX and has acknowledged as much in prior legal proceedings. However, the purpose of providing notice of a change in mortgage servicer is to alert mortgage holders to any and all changes with the company with which they are doing business. In this case, Caliber provided a misleading company name and sent the notice apparently from XXXX- a company with whom homeowners had not previously done business and had no reason to expect to do business. XXXX then subsequently delayed sending the notice of transfer until more than 15 days after the transfer date, and with no company name visible on the unopened envelope. The notice of transfer was therefore deliberately late prior to and subsequent to the transfer date and misleading in both instances. Noting that the transfer of service has nonetheless taken effect, homeowners do not contest the transfer of service and demand simply that XXXX abide by the law in the future and make any communications not only in a timely manner, but without misleading labels or lack thereof. PAYMENT DEFERRAL AGREEMENT COMPLETED WITH CALIBER ; TERMS APPLY TO XXXX : Despite the deliberately misleading envelope and egregious delay on the part of Caliber, homeowners received and executed the payment deferral agreement by all the terms of that contract in a timely manner. That modification of the terms of homeowners mortgage therefore applies to homeowners mortgage as held by Caliber, and therefore as transferred to XXXX. XXXX has not contested this basic aspect of contract law, but homeowners highlight it given XXXX deliberate delay in applying the terms of the payment deferral agreement to homeowners account. Moreover, the XXXX representatives claim on XXXX XXXX that XXXX terms may be different than those provided by Caliber, as well as XXXX provision of a loss mitigation application package dated XXXX XXXX - two days after acknowledging homeowners mortgage assistance application with Caliber, indicates that XXXX  is preparing to attempt to violate the terms of the contract homeowners concluded with Caliber in an effort to force homeowners into terms more advantageous to XXXX. XXXX DELIBERATE DELAY IN PROCESSING TRANSFER OF PAYMENT DEFERRAL AGREEMENT MUST END IMMEDIATELY : Homeowners are entitled to a timely transfer of a loss mitigation solution from one mortgage servicer to another. Homeowners note that timely is not specified in the law referred to above. In this case, XXXX is doing business as XXXX, and Caliber has been a XXXX company since XXXX. Caliber and XXXX  are so closely related that Caliber will send letters bearing XXXX  corporate name. Homeowners also note that homeowners mortgage account number and online login information are exactly the same for XXXX as they were for Caliber. This is no surprise since Caliber and XXXX are part of the same company and use the same software and databases. The notion that XXXX needs time to transfer account information from Caliber is a fiction. Nonetheless, homeowners were willing to accept the initially presented 14 business day transfer period per XXXX XXXX XXXX e-mail. Accounting for holidays that time was up on XXXX XXXX, and as of XXXX XXXX XXXX had still made no effort correctly apply the terms of the payment deferral agreement. XXXX representatives claimed up to 60 days as the time required during phone calls on XXXX and XXXX XXXX, but there is no definition of timely that would allow for 60 days for two intimately related companies using the same software and databases to transfer information from one to the other. However, there is an important 60 day term that does apply to the transfer of mortgage servicing, and that is the grace period during which homeowners can not be charged late fees after the transfer of the mortgage from one servicer to another. In asserting a 60 day requirement, XXXX XXXX XXXX to wait out homeowners grace period by taking no action to transfer the full terms of homeowners mortgage with Caliber- specifically the payment deferral agreement- in order to apply onerous late fees and otherwise unacceptable terms to homeowners mortgage agreement outside the grace period. Homeowners therefore demand that XXXX apply the payment deferral agreement concluded with Caliber to homeowners account immediately, including correct application of the XXXX XXXX payment. FOLLOW-UP : XXXX required action is explained above in detail. In the event further information is needed, and to notify homeowners of compliance with the above actions, homeowners can be reached at the following contact details, as well as the address given above : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation