Consumer complaint received 2023-11-27
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
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 ***. Given XXXX  and Newrez/Shellpoints ongoing dilatory and deceptive practices, this letter is also being filed as a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX 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 XXXX was recently transferred to Newrez/Shellpoint. Homeowners completed a mortgage assistance application with XXXX in XXXX XXXX. The application was reviewed by XXXX, 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 Shellpoint Mortgage Service company name and address, and postmarked XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. At the same time, homeowners received written notice on XXXX letterhead of the upcoming transfer of mortgage servicing from XXXX to Newrez. The letter was dated XXXX XXXX, and included Newrezs address and instructions for changing payments from XXXX to Newrez. The letter also noted that the transfer should be easy because XXXX had been part of Newrez since XXXX, and that homeowners account number, etc. would not change. Nowhere in the document was the Shellpoint mentioned. Nonetheless, the document was sent in an envelope bearing Shellpoint Mortgage Service 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 XXXX ( XXXX ), uploaded to the XXXX website, and mailed to the address provided by XXXX. Homeowners also made a payment dated XXXX XXXX on the XXXX 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 XXXX website would allow. 

FACTS, continued : Subsequent to homeowners executed acceptance of the payment deferral agreement, homeowners received an e-mail on XXXX XXXX from Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing indicating that the servicing of homeowners mortgage had been transferred to Shellpoint. The e-mail indicated that Shellpoint had received notice of the mortgage assistance application and that it may take up to 14 business days for the updated account information to be reflected in Shellpoints systems. During phone calls with homeowners on XXXX and XXXX XXXX, representatives of Newrez/Shellpoint claimed that it could take up to 60 days for all of the information regarding homeowners mortgage to be transferred to Newrez/Shellpoints systems XXXX During the call on XXXX XXXX, the Newrez/Shellpoint representative claimed that Shellpoint would have to complete a valuation of homeowners property, which may result in different options than those given by XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, homeowners received another e-mail from Newrez/Shellpoint indicating that Shellpoint 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 Newrez/Shellpoints systems. On XXXX XXXX, homeowners received from Newrez/Shellpoint three pieces of mail, all dated XXXX XXXX : 1 ) a privacy notice ; 2 ) a notice of transfer of servicing to Shellpoint ; and 3 ) a Newrez/Shellpoint 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 XXXX were not reflected in homeowners online account with Newrez/Shellpoint . 

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 XXXX  notice was XXXX XXXX, the notice was not sent until XXXX XXXX or after, the envelope was labeled as originating with Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing - not XXXX, as would reasonably be expected - and provided Newrez as the future servicer. Homeowners note that Newrez does business as Shellpoint 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, XXXX provided a misleading company name and sent the notice apparently from Shellpoint- a company with whom homeowners had not previously done business and had no reason to expect to do business. Newrez/Shellpoint 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 Newrez/Shellpoint 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 XXXX  ; TERMS APPLY TO NEWREZ/SHELLPOINT : Despite the deliberately misleading envelope and egregious delay on the part of XXXX, 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 XXXX, and therefore as transferred to Newrez/Shellpoint. Newrez/Shellpoint has not contested this basic aspect of contract law, but homeowners highlight it given Newrez/Shellpoints deliberate delay in applying the terms of the payment deferral agreement to homeowners account. Moreover, the Newrez/Shellpoint representatives claim on XXXX XXXX that Newrez/Shellpoints terms may be different than those provided by XXXX, as well as Newrez/Shellpoints provision of a loss mitigation application package dated XXXX XXXX - XXXX days after acknowledging homeowners mortgage assistance application with XXXX, indicates that Newrez/Shellpoint is preparing to attempt to violate the terms of the contract homeowners concluded with XXXX  in an effort to force homeowners into terms more advantageous to Newrez/Shellpoint. 

NEWREZ/SHELLPOINTS 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, Newrez is doing business as Shellpoint, and XXXX has been a Newrez company since XXXX. XXXX  and Shellpoint are so closely related that XXXX will send letters bearing Shellpoints corporate name. Homeowners also note that homeowners mortgage account number and online login information are exactly the same for Shellpoint as they were for XXXX. This is no surprise since XXXX and Shellpoint are part of the same company and use the same software and databases. The notion that Newrez/Shellpoint needs time to transfer account information from XXXX is a fiction. Nonetheless, homeowners were willing to accept the initially presented 14 business day transfer period per Newrez/Shellpoints XXXX XXXX e-mail. Accounting for holidays that time was up on XXXX XXXX, and as of XXXX XXXX Newrez/Shellpoint had still made no effort correctly apply the terms of the payment deferral agreement. Newrez/Shellpoints 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, Newrez/Shellpoint is attempting to wait out homeowners grace period by taking no action to transfer the full terms of homeowners mortgage with XXXX- 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 Newrez/Shellpoint apply the payment deferral agreement concluded with XXXX  to homeowners account immediately, including correct application of the XXXX XXXX payment. 

FOLLOW-UP : Newrez/Shellpoints 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 : ***

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