Consumer complaint received 2017-12-03
Company: Community Loan Servicing, LLC (formerly known as Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC)
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Many times through this process, Lawyers, friends and anyone who would listen tried to encourage me because it was common belief that Banks dont want to own your home. They will work with you. Perhaps some banks will, but not XXXX XXXX XXXX. They took government help to bail out mortgages in America under the directives of the CFPB and XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX but because they were not laws, simply chose not to follow them. 

Today I am waiting to be approved for a Hard money loan. At 11 % it may be the only way to save my home. 
I am telling you my story because I dont know where else to turn for help. Anyone who would seek to work with or be placed into a mortgage restructuring situation with XXXX XXXX XXXX  should beware, find financing elsewhere whenever possible. XXXX XXXX XXXX seemed to take great pleasure in my misery and delighted in telling me that I was not his customer and that he did not have to settle this mortgage debacle with me, because federal directives and guidelines are not laws and they do not have to follow them. The government, whether state or federal, should not issue such directives and guidelines without penalty of law to back them. The consumer should not take heart of such directives and guidelines as real help. 
Is there any hope of help with this matter? 

This is my story. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, my former husband, remortgaged our family home with a loan executed by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX at our home, while I was at work. Our home had been paid off in its entirety in XX/XX/XXXX with money I had received as a settlement from a car accident. Earlier that month, we had discussed finalizing what I was led to believe was a small home equity loan we had taken out some years earlier to take advantage of the low mortgage rates. My husband had discussed taking some equity out of our home to help his struggling real-estate business but I was not on board with this and refused this idea. My husband resorted to taking out a loan to cover the equity loan and more as a single payer note after I refused his request. 
He continued the ruse by asking me to take an hour from my work day to meet him at our Town Hall to sign some of the papers with a notary. I had no reason to believe that they were not as he said, papers to finalize the small equity loan, and I signed them. ( In XX/XX/XXXX I believe, regulations were changed so that in the case of a single payer note, the non-borrower on a mortgage would have to sign a document of understanding exactly what their signature meant to the loan ). 

In early XX/XX/XXXX, circumstances came to be that my husband had to confess in part that he had taken the mortgage for more than we owned on the home equity loan. He said only that he had done it in such a way that my own credit would not be affected. Nonetheless I was incensed at the betrayal of my trust and not long after in XX/XX/XXXX, made arrangements for myself to be a caretaker of a home own by a friends parent who had just been placed in a XXXX XXXX. I moved out but continued to pay my share of our joint expenses. I gave my husband papers to begin a formal separation agreement that he never signed. I pushed for him to begin the process to sell our home so that we did not lose our assets and he ignored my requests. From the trail of paperwork he left behind after his XXXX, I was able to determine that in XX/XX/XXXX, he began to make short payments to XXXX  XXXX XXXX ( who held the loan ). They returned his short payment checks that he kept in a file. At some point in XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX assigned the mortgage to XXXX XXXX XXXX for restructuring. XX/XX/XXXX is the date on the first restructuring packet they had sent to him to fill out. 
In the late hours of XX/XX/XXXX, my husband was stricken by a XXXX XXXX and on XX/XX/XXXX, he was pulled from life support. 
I moved back into our jointly owned home during those days ; the restructuring packet had been spread out on our dining room table, unsigned. After the XX/XX/XXXX, I set about the process of managing bills owed. I contacted a representative from XXXX XXXX XXXX to find out what the status of the mortgage was and how to proceed. They requested a copy of the XXXX certificate which I sent to them promptly. I received a response a few weeks later. The banks representative informed me that the mortgage had been assigned to XXXX XXXX XXXX and that I would need to work with them to rectify the mortgage. 

I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX who also requested a copy of the XXXX certificate ; I was given a number by a representative from Bayview to fax it to. When I didnt receive a call from Bayview, I followed up a few weeks later and was informed that they had not received the XXXX  certificate. I was given yet another number and an address to send along copies of the XXXX  certificate. Again, I received no response from Bayview and called again 2 weeks later. This time, I was told that they ( Bayview ) were unable to tell me if it had been received and was told that they would not be able to discuss anything about the mortgage with me. I argued with the representative from Bayview on the phone. 

This is my home, I am the deeded property owner and by NYS law the executor of my husband 's estate. How can you not discuss this with me? I said. The representative replied, Get a lawyer, lady. So I did. This was in early XX/XX/XXXX. 

My lawyer and I discussed probate of the estate. My husband had died without a will and approximately {$9000.00} in personal assets along with a fair amount of unsecured debt. His life insurance barely covered what I had to pay out. There was a small amount to go into a new furnace ( which ceased working in XX/XX/XXXX ) and roof repairs. The rest went to pay back taxes for school and property that were owed for several years in the amount of {$22000.00}. The lawyer fees were also paid from his life insurance. 

XX/XX/XXXX went by with monthly statements arriving to our home, addressed to my husband from Bayview. I called Bayview throughout the year requesting their assistance. Within a few months, my calls to XXXX XXXX XXXX stopped being picked up by their representatives. The phone would ring twice and the call would go to voice mail with the promise of a returned call. 

One of my daughters used a cell phone to call ; it was answered immediately. She handed me the phone and I gave the account number of the loan and asked the representative from Bayview to read the account before I asked any questions. The representative did and replied XXXX [ ], I am so sorry for your loss. I asked her if it said in the account that they had received the faxed XXXX certificate and she confirmed that they had. She said she was not authorized to comment further but that she would have the account representative XXXX XXXX get back to me when she was available. XXXX XXXX did not return my call, nor did she ever return any of the subsequent calls that both myself and my lawyer, XXXX XXXX, made. 

The restructuring packages continued to come monthly to our home, addressed to my XXXX husband. 

My lawyer, XXXX XXXX, did not believe probate under these circumstances was required. Instead, he took on trying to communicate with XXXX XXXX XXXX. Bayview did not respond to him. A year later, XXXX suggested that perhaps selling my home was the answer. With a heavy heart, I listed my home in XX/XX/XXXX. The listing and eventual showing of the property resulted in an offer of {$320000.00} in early XX/XX/XXXX. Again, XXXX attempted to contact Bayview. Again, Bayview ignored his repeated attempts. The potential buyer had a short timeline to close on the purchase. It became clear that without Bayviews cooperation, the timeline could not be met. I informed the buyer and we agreed to discontinue his pursuit to purchase the home. I pulled the listing. XXXX and I continued to call and write Bayview for help for another year. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, a process server came to my front door with notification from the XXXX XXXX XXXX of the intent to foreclose. He had in his hand a packet for my husband and one for me. I signed for my packet and informed the process server that my husband was XXXX. He seemed confused when I told him this and he said there was no record of his XXXX. I told him of course there is record and to try the department of vital statistics to find it. I also mentioned that XXXX XXXX XXXX had been notified of this multiple times. I brought the packet to XXXX XXXX office the next day. He thought that this might be a good thing, that now we might be able to work with the bank directly to settle the issue. 

XXXX filed a counter suit on my behalf to stop the foreclosure of my home on XX/XX/XXXX. A conference with Justice XXXX of the Supreme Court of NYS and the XXXX XXXX XXXX was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX and I met with Justice XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX XXXX XXXX representative did not show. While meeting with Justice XXXX, we explained that we had been attempting to contact the mortgage servicer since the time of my husband 's XXXX and explained how we had been stiff armed by them and were repeatedly refused the opportunity of working out any agreement to either buy out the mortgage or sell the property. XXXX XXXX suggested ( off the record ) that we should start the negotiations with the XXXX XXXX XXXX offering to pay them out with another mortgage ( if I could obtain one ) in the amount that was owed at the time of my husband 's XXXX. This amount was approximately {$150000.00}. 

On our way out of the courthouse, we ran into the lawyer who was hired to represent the XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( a young local lawyer secured by the bank that morning ). He asked us to wait while he asked the judge for permission to speak with us. XXXX reasoned that by agreeing to do so, we could speed up the process of settlement. So we did. 

When the lawyer for the XXXX XXXX XXXX returned, XXXX pitched the offer of settlement that Justice XXXX had recommended. The banks lawyer responded saying that the XXXX XXXX XXXX was looking for an amount closer to what the interest and fees covered to date ; I would be allowed to assume the note as it was owed to date. The banks lawyer suggested we discuss this with XXXX XXXX XXXX, the banks official council. XXXX sent correspondence to XXXX XXXX with our offer. XXXX XXXX office never responded, nor did they send a formal offer to allow me to assume the note as the banks lawyer had suggested. There was no correspondence from XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

I was able to secure a promise of financing from XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$180000.00} for a home mortgage. XXXX sent another letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, informing XXXX XXXX that I had secured a line of credit that would allow me to pay the outstanding debt. There was, again, no response and no progression in these negotiations. 

The XXXX XXXX XXXX simply did not respond to our initial offer nor to our proof of commitment from XXXX XXXX XXXX. After extending the promise from XXXX, the commitment expired. In XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX XXXX XXXX escalated the foreclosure again and another conference with Justice XXXX was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. 

The surrogate lawyer for the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( the one we had met at our previous court appearance ) again showed up late to our conference, but was allowed to attend. With his time running short, Justice XXXX asked about our progress to date and inquired as to why at this point a settlement had not been reached. After explaining what we had offered, that I had gotten commitment from XXXX to secure the mortgage, and that I had sent it along to XXXX XXXX office, the judge asked the surrogate lawyer why there had been no counter offer from the bank. After messaging from his phone another lawyer from the XXXX XXXX XXXX, he responded simply that XXXX XXXX office had never received any such offer from us. XXXX XXXX stood up and told us to continue negotiations. The conference was adjourned and XXXX reached out again to XXXX XXXX office. There was no response from XXXX XXXX. 

Early XX/XX/XXXX, a motion for Summary Judgement was filed by the XXXX XXXX XXXX, against my husband. XXXX counter-sued with the defense that in NY, one can not file suit against a XXXX  party. Included in that counter-suit was an argument from myself stating that the defendants, the XXXX XXXX XXXX, had failed to negotiate in good faith, that reasonable attempts had been made to settle the mortgage debt with the XXXX XXXX XXXX, and that they did not follow through on Justice XXXX order to negotiate with me. In XX/XX/XXXX, Justice XXXX granted the banks motion to foreclose. 

At this point in time, XXXX and I discussed my need to obtain a lawyer who specialized in foreclosure. XXXX, being a trial lawyer, thought it best that I secured someone with expertise specific to foreclosure defense. 

Late XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX who agreed to take on my fight with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. We filed an appeal to the foreclosure within the court-specified time frame. 
In early XX/XX/XXXX, an order to attend a CASP settlement was sent from the State of NY  Supreme Court Appellate Division, a department of Civil Appeals settlement program. The date was set for 3 weeks later, XX/XX/XXXX. Two weeks later, on XX/XX/XXXX, the conference was rescheduled for XX/XX/XXXX, because the XXXX XXXX XXXX requested more time to prepare. They then requested to send an appraiser to my home. I agree and they scheduled the appraisal for XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, they sent my lawyer, XXXX, a Successor in Interest Mortgage Assumption package which she forwarded to me. 

Four years, 11 months, {$58000.00}, and countless dollars in lawyers and bank fees from my first contact with XXXX XXXX XXXX, I finally had in my hands for the first time the Assumption Package I needed to settle this ordeal. I was still home, recuperating from XXXX XXXX XXXX done in XX/XX/XXXX. Without access to a printer and a fax machine to complete the package, I completed it as quickly as I could and returned it to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Frankly, I thought that 3 weeks completion time was a rapid turn-around considering it took nearly 5 years to get the packet from Bayview in the first place. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the CASP conference began with myself, my lawyer, a lawyer from the XXXX XXXX XXXX, and an account manager from XXXX XXXX XXXX. I was finally able to ask questions. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX issued a directive to mortgage servicers to work through the assumption of delinquent single payer mortgages with Successors in interest. Can you please tell me why your company refused to do this with this mortgage? And why, after I secured financing to pay off the loan in its entirety, the XXXX XXXX XXXX ignored requests from my lawyer to settle this in XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX? 

The account manager from Bayview responded. " XXXX [ ], you are not our client. Those directives and the subsequent directives from the CFPB are guidelines, not laws. We are under no legal obligation to work with you at all and have never been. Those are guidelines, not regulations. 

My lawyer, XXXX XXXX asked But you will now? The arbitrator from the state also queried, We are all here to see that XXXX XXXX gets to keep her home, right? 

The account manager from XXXX XXXX XXXX replied, We have not had enough time to review the packet XXXX [ ] returned to us late. The XXXX XXXX XXXX lawyer added that there were ways we ways in which we could modify the mortgage to either reduce the amount or put the interest and escrows behind the mortgage in a balloon payment to be paid off at the end of the mortgage. At this point, I began to look more hopeful. 

The account manager from XXXX added, Only if we approve your modification package, perhaps at this point you should inquire elsewhere for financing. 

At this point, I do not know where this case will go. In the event I assume the entirety of the mortgage complete with interest and escrow, I will not be able to afford to keep my home. Im also not entirely sure the bank would not proceed with foreclosure on my home. Im at my wits end.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation