Consumer complaint received 2021-05-20
Company: Fay Servicing, LLC
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I am writing the CFPB today as Fay Servicing continues to harm consumers with illegal and unethical mortgage servicing practices. This comes after they have already been fined for similar violations. 
Fay Servicing acquired the servicing of my loan on XX/XX/XXXX. The loan was originally owned by XXXX XXXX who sold this loan to XXXX XXXX XXXX. At this time, I had a loss mitigation short sale in process with the prior servicer ( XXXX ) which was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX. Fay Servicing did not follow proper protocols with in flight loss mitigation files. They informed my real estate agents that the loss mitigation review process only started on XX/XX/XXXX. Per CFPB guidelines and Regulation X, a servicer has 30 days to decision a loss mitigation option. Fay Servicing violated Regulation X by not decisioning my loss mitigation option. 

In addition, in an attempt to state I did not submit a complete package, Fay Servicing requested the same information that was already provided to XXXX ( Prior servicer ) and continued to delay the loss mitigation review process. I was informed on XX/XX/XXXX that Fay Servicing sent the file to their investor for a decision, which was over 2 months after I submitted a completed package. 

Fay Servicing stated their investor responded to the current offer on XX/XX/XXXX which is over 3 months after my loss mitigation package was submitted and a clear violation of Regulation X. 

The investor stated they wanted a {$100000.00} NET in order to approve the short sale. The buyer was countered to meet this requirement. Despite Fay Servicing being out of regulation, it was my intention to sell this property and avoid foreclosure. On XX/XX/XXXX, Fay Servicing issued a short sale approval letter, but only good through XX/XX/XXXX only 23 days were allowed for the buyer to get financing, prepare title, and schedule a closing date. Please keep in mind that I am trying to avoid a foreclosure on my credit and work with the Servicer for a graceful exit. I also had XXXX which did not help either. 

The buyers and Title company went right to work but had to wait 21 days to obtain tax certificates in Pennsylvania. This is completely out of my control and is unusually delayed due to local Covid-19 protocols. In addition to that delay, the Township requires a certificate on the property in order for the buyer to proceed with a sale. Another short delay, and due to covid pandemic, the inspection process on behalf of the Township took longer than expected. We immediately informed Fay Servicing that we needed a few extra days to close and fund this transaction. We inquired if we needed to push out the closing on XX/XX/XXXX and one Fay Servicing negotiator, in writing, advised us not cancel the closing. This seemed positive that we were going to obtain the short sale extension letter for closing and avoid foreclosure. 

However, a second Fay Servicing employee stated that Fay Servicing would not honor an extension letter from the original approval they provided due to the delay. They are forcing me into a foreclosure for the benefit of their investors profits. Giving me 23 days to prepare for a closing is an unreasonable amount of time, and I let them know about this. They refused to work with me as profit over outcome is more important to them and their investor. They are now asking for more money to close stating I did not meet the closing requirements which were almost impossible to meet due to restrictions out of my control. 

Fay servicing and the investor denied a valid request for a short sale extension and believe a foreclosure is a better outcome. These servicing practices are simply unethical and unreasonable. They are not trying to help consumers but forcefully strong arming consumers and forcing foreclosure. 

It is obvious that Fay Servicing has a lack of operational controls on their short sale timelines. A traditional short sale approval letter is typically valid for 30 days. Why did we have 23 days to close when other consumers are allowed 30 days to close. If we had 30 days to close, we would have closed and funded with no issues. Unfortunately, Fay Servicing and the investor of my loan, XXXX XXXX XXXX, are forcing consumers into foreclosure. These unethical servicing practices must stop. They have already been fined by the CFPB in the past and they continue with the same practices.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation