Consumer complaint received 2022-07-13
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Newrez LLC is the latest in a long line of mortgage servicers for a mortgage I have on second home located in Indiana. Unlike previous servicers, at the inception of their servicing of my mortgage they took the position that the mortgage was delinquent ( thus opening themselves up to the full ambit of the FDCPA. From the inception of their servicing of my mortgage, they did not allow me to make regular monthly mortgage payments. 

This incorrect perception of delinquency is due to a wildly incorrect accounting -- and although they have been accepting regular monthly payments -- they continue to insist there is a significant balance owed. I want this resolved -- not least because they have destroyed my consumer credit profile. 

The reason Newrez LLC believes there is a significant balance owed on my mortgage owes in large part to their failure to recognize the validity of a Payment Deferral Agreement enacted by a previous mortgage servicer ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) during the covid-19 pandemic. Under such enactment, twelve ( 12 ) months of payments ( principal, interest, tax, insurance ) were moved to the back of the repayment schedule -- extending the endpoint of the repayment calendar by 12 months. 

I have on numerous occasions since XX/XX/XXXX provided written documentation of such Payment Deferral Agreement to Newrez LLC ( including its personnel XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ) and I was under the impression that the firm was working to fix the accounting records for the mortgage -- at which point I would be allowed to commence regular monthly mortgage payments. When I learned however in a telephone call with XXXX XXXX on or around XX/XX/XXXX that Newrez LLC would not honor the Payment Deferral Agreement abovementioned, I told him that I would be filing an onslaught of regulatory complaints against Newrez for violation of FDCPA and other laws. He capitulated and arranged for Newrez to automatically debit my banking account for the regular monthly mortgage payments starting with the XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

However in XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX told me that because I did not agree or apply for mortgage modification ( which is crazy- why would I do so when I was at all times financially capable of making the payments ) that Newrez LLC would no longer accept any payments. Upon pressing XXXX, he also told me that he would neither honor my Prepayment Rider ( which allows me to additional principal payments at any time irrespective of the status of the loan, and in a manner overriding over all other covenants in the mortgage agreement ). At this point I lost all patience and hired a mortgage industry expert to investigate my mortgage. Several irregularities were noted : 1. Despite the note/mortgage ostensibly changing hands many times since origination date of XX/XX/XXXX, none of the mortgage assignments have been recorded ( thus violating Indiana Law ). 
2. There was no photocopy of the promissory note available in the files of the title company or in my personal files from the closing for the property in XX/XX/XXXX. 
3. Based on information known about the now-defunct original lender, XXXX XXXX XXXX and based on the date upon which my loan was originated it is extremely likely that the promissory note has been lost many years ago. 
4. The mortgage was never registered in XXXX  or held by XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX, which combined with the lack of any recorded mortgage assignments makes it exceedingly likely that the promissory note was last many years ago. 

I was told orally by the Newrez Loan Servicing department that XXXX XXXX ( or its subsidiary, XXXX XXXX XXXX ) is the " purported '' owner of the note. I have been demanding for 12+ months that Newrez LLC make the note available for inspection by an attorney of my choosing, and they have provided no answer whatsoever as to the location of the note or the contact details for its custodian. 

The mortgage industry expert I consulted said it was likely that my servicer if forced would have an employee in the records department certify that upon review of the servicer 's electronic records, XXXX is the owner of the note. Such a certification does not qualify as the in-person inspection I want to arrange for an attorney of my choosing. 

Accordingly, last month, I gave Newrez LLC a deadline of XX/XX/XXXX to facilitate inspection of the note by an attorney of my choosing. In response, I got a letter on or aroud XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX ( a full service multi-state default firm ) that *XXXX* is now collecting the debt associated with the mortgage. This is in direct contradiction with contemporaneous conversations I have had with the Loan Servicing Department of Newrez LLC. So I am being pursued in parallel by two, separate debt collectors ( namely : Newrez LLC and XXXX XXXX XXXX ) for the same debt. And most comically, it is almost a certainty that the " purported '' owner of the note is not a holder in due course. 

At this time, I am still not in receipt of a full accounting of my mortgage, nor any information about the promissory note, nor an explanation as to why both Newrez and XXXX are now pursuing me simultaneously for the same debt associated with my mortgage. I have written numerous letters and communications to corporate officers of Newrez LLC without a single response. 

This situation is untenable, so I am filing this complaint today.

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