Consumer complaint received 2022-01-27
Company: Guild Mortgage Company LLC
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I bought a house outside XXXX, AK in XXXX of XXXX, using a VA loan through Guild Mortgage. After I moved in XXXX, due to the military, the property became a rental. When Covid hit, my renters lost their jobs, and could not pay rent. I exhausted my personal savings paying the mortgage, and was eventually forced to go on forbearance in XXXX of XXXX. 

In XXXX of XXXX, I was informed that my forbearance had reached the maximum 18 month limit, and could not be extended past the end of the month. I was told that if I call before then, to start the loan modification process, there would not be any issues. 

I called them back at the end of XX/XX/XXXX, and began the loan modification process. I submitted a signed statement stating my forbearance had expired and I was requesting my loan be modified. During this process I told them I was exploring the possibility of selling the property in the future, but that it could not happen for several months at the soonest, and nothing was decided. They did not make any comment in response to this information. 

In XX/XX/XXXX they denied my loan modification due to my possible intent to sell the property at some point in the future. I was told I needed to submit a signed letter stating my intent to keep the property, and that I was not authorized to sell the property if I wanted to modify the loan. This is the first time I had been made aware of this restriction. I submitted the requested document, and was permitted to reapply for a loan modification, if I included rental leases for the property tenants lasting for at least 12 months. 

After missing XXXX 's mortgage payment, I called to discuss the payment process going forward, and how it needed to be handled. I was told that unless I paid the entire past due amount ( 19 months ), that they would continue charging late fees on my account, and reporting it to the credit bureau. I asked if there was any way to work around this, since the modification was taking so long, and they said no. 

In early XX/XX/XXXX I resubmitted the requested statement, and lease agreements. A couple weeks later I was informed that they had decided to do a full financial analysis of my case, and gave me a long, unintelligible list of documents that they required be submitted. It took over a week to get a clear answer on the documents they needed, which ended up being over 230 pages. I submitted the requested documentation via email to them in mid XX/XX/XXXX, prior to their stated deadline, and was given confirmation that they had received them. 

When I called to follow up a week later, I was informed that they had denied my application again, due to the requested documentation not being received. When I asked for clarification, they stated that the packet I sent in was incomplete, but could not tell me what specifically was missing. After another week of calling, I was finally told that all of the documents were received, but they simply did not know what some of the documents were, and so they had denied the application instead of reaching out for clarification. I was advised to resubmit my application a third time. 

I had a long conversation with one of the loan counselors, and went over each document in detail to ensure I knew what they needed. I was assured that if I resubmitted the same documents with a couple additions, that I would be approved. These additions included letters explaining what specific documents were, additional income verification, as well as having my property manager sign the documents depicting the lost rental income. They then put my property into foreclosure status while they waited for me to resubmit. 

Due to the Holidays, I was unable to get the required documentation signed and updated until XX/XX/XXXX, at which time I attempted to resubmit them. Their email server would not accept my attached documents, so I was forced to fax them. I was told they typically take several days to receive faxes. I called to follow up the next week and was told they had received my documents, but that there were now more new documents that they needed, as well as updates to the existing documents, dates, and signatures. 

I was given a list of additional documents to provide, but they were unable to give me any detail, on answer my questions. I was told I had 1 week to submit the updates. I was transferred to the loan counselor in charge of my case, but it want straight to voicemail, where I left a message asking for clarification and an extension on the deadline. This happened again several times, with multiple loan counselors, over the following week. I have yet to speak to a loan counselor, or receive a call back. I called the day before the deadline to plead my case one final time, and was told there is nothing they can do, but that they would be happy to send an email to that department informing them of my situation. The deadline has now passed, and I still do not know what exactly they need. 

I am doing everything I can to resolve the situation, but they are unwilling to cooperate. Everyone I talk to reads the same robotic script, and asks the same questions, and then transfers me to someone's voicemail. I am incurring late fees, damage to my credit, and wasting valuable time trying to give them the required information, but they keep changing the requirements, and slowing the process down, without offering any way to fix it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation