Consumer complaint received 2021-04-08
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX I was approved for a US Federal Program managed by the state of North Carolina to prevent foreclosure managed by the XXXX. At this time, I was not in arrears on my mortgage payments and had been approved for the program due to my employer closing a zone and laying off employees. The guarantees of this program, listed with the federally initiated program is a Stay Of Foreclosure, verification of residency, and property maintenance as usual while in the program. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX spent many months trying to get current amount owed with my mortgage status. 

After I mailed XXXX, XXXX payment, Flagstar reversed a portion of the payment, keeping the {$1200.00} portion where it disappeared and in XXXX, they added a 30 days late payment to my credit report. Even with the Federal Stay protections and the guarantee of a federal housing agency that the loan was under their protections, Flagstar sent a man to the home to " inspect '', which was nothing more than take photographs, peek into our windows, and beat on our door and place a notice of debt collection, which was not supposed to happen. The XXXX federal program and automatic stay prevented any negative actions by the mortgage company while the mortgage was monitored for whatever changes the agency saw fit to initiate to protect me as a homeowner. Flagstar began to add miscellaneous fees that we disputed. First, they know we are homeowners, living inside the home with a family. Secondly, we are governed by an HOA and have a standard of living to uphold. Third, there was always constant work being done inside and outside of the house as there is an exterior fountain and water feature, extensive landscape and gardening, and a pool which we spent many hours maintaining. We even paid for roof and insulation repairs and were in the middle of lawn work when the agent came to " verify '' the home wasn't abandoned. Lastly, the terms of the contract with XXXX XXXX that you must remain in the home and maintain the home. There was no legal need nor concern for Flagstar to violate our protections this way. 

Flagstar charged my mortgage account over {$1700.00} in " investor fees '' in which they can not explain the legitimacy of. As I stated, I have receipts of money spent on supplies and invoices for professional work done in the home, such as new floor, paint, shingles, and an entire overhaul of the flashing while Flagstar was charging us as a " vacant '' home. We have school aged children and pets and live an active lifestyle and work outside often and there was never any suspicion the home was at risk for vacancy after having just closed our loan XX/XX/XXXX and investing {$30000.00} in updates and maintenance. We have maintained a subscription for security and also have a XXXX  doorbell system that has been active since XXXX, XXXX. Also, Flagstar has added many fees to the mortgage with no explanation of the sources. 

Finally, after many complaints and investigations into what the actual mortgage balance was, XXXX relented and agreed to an inflated amount to bring our mortgage current. The amount does not match the actual mortgage due including late fees, and I'm concerned that Flagstar has inadvertently taken funds that could have paid down our mortgage. Flagstar continued to increase the amount due to bring the loan current even after finalizing in XX/XX/XXXX. The " suspense '' amount continued to increase and many unexplained charges were padded into my mortgage. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX had a final dollar amount and the documents were were processed confirming the loan would be updated as current and that all previous late notations on the credit reports would be removed due to the Automatic Stay and Federal Housing program stipulations. The total sum of {$17000.00} was electronically issued to Flagstar Bank via wire transfer, and {$1000.00} of this amount was for " lender cushion '' with no future explanation how the funds would be disbursed. This {$17000.00} included multiple drive by fees in which Flagstar charged $ XXXX {$200.00} to have a man take pictures of my home to see if it was occupied as well and many fees randomly added to my mortgage balance. 

After verifying the funds has been cleared in XX/XX/XXXX, Flagstar 's drive-by agent came to our house again, peeking into windows and taking photos and we were charged the fee again. In XX/XX/XXXX, the same man came by and charged another drive-by fee to our mortgage but he didn't get out of the car. 

As of XXXX, XXXX, Flagstar continued to report my mortgage as late with the credit bureaus and harass me for non-payment. I received collections calls from Flagstar through XXXX, XXXX. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, Flagstar referred me to HUD for a program to become compliant, while not posting the advance payments I made on my mortgage a month early and continuing to report me late to the credit bureau. HUD forced me to comply with terms of an interview while being just as confused as I was when they found out my mortgage payments were up-to-date. Flagstar continued to keep my mortgage in the loss mitigation department through XX/XX/XXXX. The forced compliance with HUD counselors was embarrassing, time-wasting, and it should have been for customers who actually needed their assistance. HUD counselors stated they were legally obligated to continue the process because Flagstar loss mitigation had placed my mortgage with HUD and refused to remove it months after complaints were filed. 

After receiving a full payment of over {$2600.00} which is Principal, Interest, and PMI, another {$320.00} added again for " suspense '' and then I was forced to pay another {$79.00} over the phone in XXXX, XXXX and was still reported late to the credit bureaus even though XXXX 's payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX agents told me I wasn't required to pay any additional funds to Flagstar and that Flagstar was required to communicate with XXXX as I was under federal program protection and XXXX acted as my agent. 

Flagstar continued to improperly report my mortgage balance throughout XXXX in spite of multiple attempts to rectify by agents at XXXX and their own refusal to allow me to speak to a resolutions specialist to correct my mortgage because it was placed in Loss Mitigation where it was consistently improperly handled and my housing rights were violated.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation