Consumer complaint received 2018-05-09
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I have a very serious problem involving a VA loan currently being serviced by JPMorgan Chase. All previous efforts to work with Chase to resolve this matter have been unsuccessful. 

My father-in-law ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) obtained a VA loan in XX/XX/XXXX to  purchase a house after the death of his wife ( my mother-in-law ). He wanted me, my husband ( his son ) and our family to live with him and take care of him the rest of his life but he died unexpectedly in XX/XX/XXXX. Nonetheless, we continued to make the monthly mortgage payments on my fathers VA mortgage as he had done because we inherited the house through his last will and testament in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Unfortunately my brother-in-law, the estate executor, began interfering with the mortgage assumption process with Chase. Unknown to us at the time but later verified by the local USPS office in our hometown, my brother-in-law used his letters of testamentary from the probate court to have mail addressed to our home forwarded to him. As a result, all mail sent from Chase to us went to him and he did NOT forward anything to us. Eventually, my brother-in-law was able to stop Chase from accepting our payments, speaking to us about the mortgage, or doing anything for us since we were not listed on the mortgage and did not have the deed to the property at that time. 

However, prior to the end of our contact with Chase, I personally made numerous calls to Chase from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX, most of which have been documented. During those calls to Chase, multiple representatives during that time period informed me that they were holding approximately {$18000.00} of mortgage payments we paid to them on behalf of my father in a special account which they would not credit to the mortgage until our loan assumption paperwork was processed and the deed to the property was received ( these facts were confirmed by the attorney we had working on this matter at the time who spoke directly to JPMorgan Chase representatives via phone in XX/XX/XXXX ). Chase has since been forced to admit to us that every Chase representative we spoke to during that time provided me with false information ( see CFPB Complaint XXXX ). 

In early XX/XX/XXXX, we were able to submit all of the required paperwork to Chase and were approved to assume the mortgage pending receipt of the deed to the property, which could only be issued by my brother-in-law. Unfortunately, he refused to issue the deed for personal reasons ( a serious breach of his fiduciary obligations and in direct violation of my father-in-laws will and Georgia law ), so my husband and I have had to file bankruptcy to stop all foreclosure efforts on the property by Chase. 

Thanks to the efforts of our current estate attorney, we were finally able to obtain the deed to this property in XX/XX/XXXX. Unfortunately, since it had been so long since we were approved for the mortgage assumption ( two years ), and Chase refused to accept our payments in the interim, the deed no longer is enough for them and they are trying to foreclose on the property again on XX/XX/XXXX. 

During a previous foreclosure attempt by JP Morgan Chase in XX/XX/XXXX, we were sent documents through our bankruptcy attorney from Chase informing us that we had a new dedicated relationship manager ( XXXX XXXX ) at Chase. Within these documents was a Request For Mortgage Assistance Form. The letter from the relationship manager instructed us to complete the form and submit it to their office at the address provided in XXXX, Colorado along with other requested documentation, which we did via certified mail, signature required ( see attached documentation ) and fax, all many days prior to the stated deadline. We have proof from the USPS that the mortgage assistance form and all requested documentation was received and signed for a representative at by JP Morgan Chase at the address indicated on the form days prior to the deadline. We also received another letter through our attorney from another dedicated relationship manager ( XXXX XXXX ) at Chase in XX/XX/XXXX requesting that we respond to a Request For Mortgage Assistance Form which we did so immediately once more. Unfortunately, even though we submitted all of this information and the mortgage assistance application to Chase more than three times in the fall of XX/XX/XXXX we never received one single response from ANYONE at Chase regarding the application ( not by letter, phone, or email ). 

In XX/XX/XXXX, after communicating with White House staff and the office of U.S. Senator XXXX XXXX ( a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs ) we were eventually directed to XXXX XXXX at the Veterans Administration ( XXXX ). She communicated with Chase and then informed us to submit all of our documentation from our previous Request for Mortgage Assistance applications in the fall of XXXX to Chase once more, which we did on XX/XX/XXXX. However, our attorney instructed us to communicate with Chase only in writing, and inform Chase representatives to contact him directly for an immediate response since Chase previously admitted to us that their representatives gave us false information for more than two years. Therefore, to avoid being taken advantage of or misinformed again by Chase, our attorney wanted to handle the communication himself and get everything in writing. 

Consequently, along with the Request for Mortgage Assistance application we submitted to Chase again on XX/XX/XXXX, we included the contact information for our attorney and directed Chase to contact him since he is working on our behalf. Our attorney has received no response from Chase since that time, and the only communication we have received from Chase has been a letter from XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX in which she states that our Request for Mortgage Assistance was turned down because we did not receive all of the documents we needed within the required time frame ( apparently less than 30 days ). If Chase would have contacted us by letter, fax, or email ( or contacted our attorney by phone or email ) about the need for additional documents, we would have eagerly provided them with what they desired. However, without communicating with us or our attorney, they simply declined our application for Mortgage Assistance and sent us a letter informing us that Chase has rescheduled our foreclosure for XX/XX/XXXX. 

Obviously, working with dedicated relationship managers at JPMorgan Chase has not helped because they do not communicate. As a result, we need additional outside assistance to save the home we inherited from my father-in-law, which is the only home we have and the only home for our family. If there is anything you can do, or if you can forward this matter to someone else who can assist us in persuading Chase to postpone the XX/XX/XXXX foreclosure and work with us through our attorney to resolve this matter once and for all, we would be most grateful. We can provide additional information about Chase and our longstanding problems with them if needed. 

Recent efforts by our attorney have resulted in the finalization of my husbands inheritance, and he is scheduled to receive 57.755 additional acres of land adjacent to the property in foreclosure ( approximate value $ 500K twice the mortgage balance ) once the deed is issued to him in the coming days. According to our attorney, we should have the deed to this additional acreage within the next three weeks. At that point, the land could be used as additional collateral for a loan to pay off the arrearage on the Chase mortgage and bring it current, or the land could be sold if needed to pay off the arrearage or even the entire mortgage itself. We also have people interested in helping us develop the land, an opportunity which could generate significant additional funds to resolve the arrearage and mortgage issue with Chase. 

We do not have much time to work out this matter before final decisions will need to be made regarding the pending foreclosure by JP Morgan Chase on XX/XX/XXXX. Any assistance you can provide in even postponing the foreclosure until we receive the deed to the additional acreage ( valued at approximately $ 500K ) would be very helpful and deeply appreciated. Thank you for taking time to consider our problem and please let us know if you can help in any way.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation