Consumer complaint received 2019-07-27
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc.
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I was XXXX years old when I lost my job in XX/XX/XXXX. I applied for unemployment in DC in XX/XX/XXXX and received unemployment benefits until XX/XX/XXXX when my benefits were exhausted. I currently live in a town home at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, VA XXXX and have a mortgage thru Dovenmuehle ( loan XXXX ). It is a 15 year fixed that was initiated in XX/XX/XXXX and matures in XX/XX/XXXX. My property value is about {$460000.00}, and the outstanding balance on my loan is {$170000.00}. My monthly payment is {$2200.00}, which is a 15 year fixed at 2.875 %, of which over {$1400.00} is principle ( see attachment ). 

Because I am unemployed ( and may remain unemployed for some time ), I have little to no money coming in. Therefore, on XX/XX/XXXX, I sought assistance thru Dovenmuehle 's Loss Mitigation Department and requested a loan modification where my loan could be streamed so that I do not have to pay so much principal every month at a time I am not receiving much money ( see attachement ). 

My case was assigned to a XXXX XXXX at Dovenmuehle. However, instead of receiving a loan modification, I received in late XXXX via an overnight urgent delivery XXXX package from Dovenmuehle dated XX/XX/XXXX ( see attachment ) asking me to sign on an urgent basis ( i.e. Due XX/XX/XXXX) a 3 month forbearance agreement where I would not have to pay any mortgage payments for 3 months. This was the only Option Dovenmuehle presented me, as I was not offered any loan modification option. I immediately called Dovenmuehle, and I told them i ) this is not what I wanted or needed, ii ) that this was bad for me as I would be subjected to a balloon payment at the end of the 3 month forbearance  period to make my loan current at a time I was not earning money. I was told by XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX at Dovenmuehle as well as XXXX at XX/XX/XXXX that they could not offer me a loan modification at this point because I failed the Imminent Default Test, but if I accepted the forbearance agreement, I would later be eligible for a loan modification as per XX/XX/XXXX rules. They explained that Forbearance would allow me to go into default without incurring any fees and penalties, so that I could later pass the Imminent Default Test and therefore later be able to recieve a loan modification. I was encouraged to accept the forbearance agreement ( Dovenmuehle 's only Option offered ) and then apply for one or more renewals of forbearance in additional 3 month blocks, after which I should then apply for a loan modification. They indicated that I would have to undergo a minimum of 6 months of forbearance, but could undergo 12 months maximum of forbearance by such renewals.

They also characterized my situation as " temporary '', which I took umbrage to as I felt that my unemployment is likely to be longer term.

Being suspicious of all of this, I called HUD. HUD urged me not to sign the forbearance argeement because in addition to damaging my my credit and FICO score, forbearance may not lead to a loan modification. In other words, HUD explained to me that even if I went thru 6 or 12 months on forbearance, Dovenmuehle could still refuse to offer me a loan modification if I at that time I do not have a sufficient income stream ( this again goes to Dovenmuehle characterizing my situation as  temporary when it is likely to be longer term ). HUD also explained to me that Dovenmuehle could offer me a loan modification at any time, but it was not in their interest to do so as it incurred time, fuss and expense on their part.

At this point, I realized that I was esentially being set up for a trap whereby I would be lured into signing the forbearance agreement under the belief that a loan modification would follow, but after accruing 6 to 12 months of missed payments in forbearance, I would be forced to make a balloon payment of {$30000.00} to make the loan current after 12 months of forbearance because Dovenmuehle is likely to deny me a loan modification because I still did not have a sufficient income stream to modify my loan. In other words, I realized that I would be severely damaged by their forbearance offer. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from XXXX ( initials XXXX ) at Dovenmuehle. I again explained the situation to her, and she urged me to file an appeal. Consequently, on XX/XX/XXXX, I appealed the XX/XX/XXXX decision ( see attached ), and this appeal was denied on XX/XX/XXXX ( see decision attached ). 

Since then, I complained to XXXX  and XXXX, and since that, I received a lot of unusual behavior from Dovenmuehle, such as their Collections department calling me on XX/XX/XXXX saying I missed my XX/XX/XXXX payment when in fact I had paid them electronically on XX/XX/XXXX, etc.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation